Ah yes, the title of this post reminds me of a very funny scene from a great film, A Fish Called Wanda. Watch the clip and see the consequences of messing with another man’s fish:
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Se-abHY4NiQ[/youtube]
Although I’ve only written a few sentences, this blogging is making me thirsty:
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRaLpHoZA8E&feature=PlayList&p=F9BD456AB4E3E43A&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=52[/youtube]
Now, where was I? Oh, yes. Here’s what happened in today’s lesson:
Individual Style Survey
Please buy a copy and start completing its parts. We will use it in the second term of EDUC 310 as a part of your inquiry task on classroom management.
Course Schedule Change
In light of the Secondary TCs being out on prac for the next two weeks, the cohort agreed to have a double class on Monday, 21 October and, as a result, take Wednesday off.
So, Monday’s 310/316 schedule is as follows:
- 10:00 – 12:00 in Scarfe 1003
- 1:00 – 3:30 in Scarfe 204
It’s business as usual for Monday, 26 October and Wednesday, 28 October mind you.
The Practicum Placements Reveal
A drum roll, please! Drum Roll
After handing out the placement sheets and a map so you can find your way, we gave you a few minutes to meet with other TCs at your schools to sort transportation and the like.
After that, we asked you to:
- make contact via email with you SA
- keep a journal of your observations, questions, and thoughts as you embark on EDUC 315.
Once the Tuesday visits are up and running, Shep and I will outline a classroom observation inquiry task that we’ll ask you to complete using information gathered during 315.
Here are the forms we handed out if you happen to misplace yours:
Voice Revisited
As a call back to last week’s lesson, several of you shared examples of how you’d seen teacher’s use credible and approachable voice to geod effect. Here’s a renowned movie teacher using both voices very effectively. WARNING! It might get a bit dusty in the room as you listen to watch this clip:
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ppqb0t_B0KY[/youtube]
This We Believe… About Middle School
According to information on its website, the National Middle School Association (NMSA) “has been a voice for those committed to the educational and developmental needs of young adolescents. NMSA is the only national education association dedicated exclusively to those in the middle level grades.”
As a part of their advocay for middle level education, the NMSA has developed a position paper called This We Believe: Successful Schools for Young Adolescents “in which the association’s vision for a successful school for 10- to 15-year-olds is delineated in 14 characteristics.” Here’s the summary of the position paper that we used in class:
In an effort to have you critically consider these 14 characteristics, we did the following in class activity:
- broke the class in two groups
- one group examined the 8 cultural facets of successful middle schools
- the other group examined the 6 programmatic facets of successful middle schools
- asked each group member to rank order the facets from most important to least important
- discussed the factes using the Fishbowl strategy. (Please note that there are many permutations of the Fishbowl strategy. We even tweaked the format you see described in the linked handout.)
As per the Fishbowl strategy, the group in conversation – the “fish” – sat in an inner circle and were observed by the other half of the class – the “humans” – sitting in an outer circle. After the conversation, the “humans” shared their observations related to both the content shared by and behaviours exhibited by the “fish”. The process was repeated twice so all TCs had the chance to be both observer and participant.
Both conversations were characterized by both politeness and thoughtfulness and, hopefully, they served to deepen your understanding of middle school philosophy.
We ran out of time in class to get your thoughts on the Fishbowl process. We’ll pick up that thread on Monday, 21 October.
‘Til then,
– Lawrence