Chapter one defines groupwork as students working in a collaborative mode so each can participate on a clearly defined task. It is a delegation of authority that allows the students to accomplish the task in the way they think best, but yet they are held accountable. The teacher is ultimately responsible for the design and the logistics. It must be compatible with the class and work in the class environment. In my experience I found in training executives and sales staff the group design worked very well. Empowering them to do the tasks is a reflection of their motivation and creativity. It also creates a team atmosphere and a pleasant workplace environment. There is no reason this design cannot apply to a classroom.
Chapter two focuses on achieving intellectual and social goals. Students are able to assist each other in learning and foster conceptual thinking and problem solving to escape the routine of traditional education. Social skills develop and the prize is oral and language skill proficiency improves. Synergy occurs and the whole becomes greater than the parts. The teacher must be able to manage a heterogeneous classroom both academically and socially. My co-operating teachers use groupwork 60% of the time. The groups are setup with each student having a responsibility and they are held accountable to that task. The group is graded as a team so one of the group leaders is sure to have everyone on task. If someone is behind, the team helps them catch up. It is a win win arrangement for each student and the team.
Chapter three explores the problems of group work. Groups segregate and friends tend to hang out so it is best for the teacher to be in complete control and select the groups, establish roles for each student, and provide the task to be completed to be pertinent and worthwhile. Poor planning can cause an undesirable domination of some of the group members and withdrawal and remission by some others. Academic, expert, peer, and societal status of the students all impact the team and the role each plays. Expectations must be set in these areas to insure understanding that it is a team effort and this is what we are going to accomplish. If not, the problems of groupwork will be compounded. There are mixed opinions toward group work, some teachers feel it is a social activity, especially for high school students. The way they design their group activities it is. Design and implementation is so critical to the success of groupwork. If the teacher invests the time and effort to set it up properly then the results will be rewarding and beneficial to all.
For me I want to develop the skills to be efficient and effective in my implementation. Groupwork is an excellent tool to check for understanding and I need to develop a balance to evaluate each member and also provide a grade for the group. The evaluation of the effectiveness is also a concern since we may be bias in our own group efforts. My philosophy is geared to teamwork and this is a strategy I plan to pursue rigorously.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
What is the most surprising thing you have seen in the classrom this semester?
What is the most surprising thing you have seen in a classroom this semester?
The two co-operating teachers that I am fortunate enough to be under their mentorship have exposed me to class discipline like I have not witnessed in any other of my many class observations. Yes, I have experienced a few observations where the teacher was in control from bell to bell and it was impressive. These two master teachers have control from the time the students enter the room until they are dismissed and follow the same philosophy. When the students enter the room, there are directions written on the board and immediately begin the activity. It is usually 3-5 essential questions that are from the previous day’s lesson. If the student begins work immediately, they get extra credit of 5 points. If they are disruptive and do not begin their work, they receive a negative 5 points. Students are very rarely disruptive.
The class guidelines and rules are set out in writing the first few weeks of school. Expectations are reviewed and procedures set up. It starts with a syllabus and goes over the content areas to be presented. The expectations are laid out, as mentioned above. Understanding how the grading works, procedures and rules of the class, including collaborative team rules and roles of participants. How to answer questions in complete sentences and use central thinking vocabulary is also presented. A lab safety contract and Biology Standards are also presented for student understanding.
All this goes into their two journals. One journal is for homework and the other for content notes and critical thinking. There are explicit directions for maintaining the journals. They are truly incredible learning tools and the creativity of the students is manifested by this student centered style of learning. The students are constantly engaged and are constantly checked for understanding. The district test scores showed over 85% of the students above basic and only 4 of 32 below basic. The test results speak for themselves, the journals can be made into texts and are incredible learning tools, and the students work continuously because these are the expectations and they are competently and confidently enforced.
I do hope to emulate this powerful student centered learning system. I will be working toward it and hope I can become a master teacher like the two I am witnessing. It was a pleasant surprise.
The two co-operating teachers that I am fortunate enough to be under their mentorship have exposed me to class discipline like I have not witnessed in any other of my many class observations. Yes, I have experienced a few observations where the teacher was in control from bell to bell and it was impressive. These two master teachers have control from the time the students enter the room until they are dismissed and follow the same philosophy. When the students enter the room, there are directions written on the board and immediately begin the activity. It is usually 3-5 essential questions that are from the previous day’s lesson. If the student begins work immediately, they get extra credit of 5 points. If they are disruptive and do not begin their work, they receive a negative 5 points. Students are very rarely disruptive.
The class guidelines and rules are set out in writing the first few weeks of school. Expectations are reviewed and procedures set up. It starts with a syllabus and goes over the content areas to be presented. The expectations are laid out, as mentioned above. Understanding how the grading works, procedures and rules of the class, including collaborative team rules and roles of participants. How to answer questions in complete sentences and use central thinking vocabulary is also presented. A lab safety contract and Biology Standards are also presented for student understanding.
All this goes into their two journals. One journal is for homework and the other for content notes and critical thinking. There are explicit directions for maintaining the journals. They are truly incredible learning tools and the creativity of the students is manifested by this student centered style of learning. The students are constantly engaged and are constantly checked for understanding. The district test scores showed over 85% of the students above basic and only 4 of 32 below basic. The test results speak for themselves, the journals can be made into texts and are incredible learning tools, and the students work continuously because these are the expectations and they are competently and confidently enforced.
I do hope to emulate this powerful student centered learning system. I will be working toward it and hope I can become a master teacher like the two I am witnessing. It was a pleasant surprise.
What Makes a School Enthography "Etnnographic"
What Makes School Ethnography “Ethnographic”? 3-2-1
It has been fairly obvious that a teacher must be sensitive to the cultural and social needs of his or her students. The reading points out we conclude the school is a small community that we can apply the fundamental discourse about a social organization-person, status, role, rights, and obligations. We can construct he ground rules for working, overseeing, and participating in the confines of the boundaries of the school as its own little world. The workers are the teachers. They must become proficient in working with students with diverse background. They must have an empathy and deep understanding of the differences and develop the skills to deal with the diverse settings. What are these diverse settings? This is where the ethnographic findings provide the ethnographer’s opinions and deductions of the cultural status and processes of the school. They may be accurate or they may be skewed with built in biases. The reading compares it to an artist drawing a caricature, a lot of room for interpretation. It is not a snap shot that captures the true essence of the structure. The overseers have different eyes and see things differently. I guess that is called politics. The participants are the ones that demand the most consideration. The students bring their own biases and views to the classroom. How do we make them more aware of their beliefs and become culturally sensitive to other participants? Understanding and empathy of their lifestyle and daily circumstances are important considerations in education. Know thyself and know thy student. The rest will fall into place.
Developing that understanding is not easy. Why do some kids wear Frank Sinatra hats? Why do others dye their hair purple and green? Why do some go through the portals of education without a blip? These group interactions have an impact on the students as a group. Are any racial or ethnic? Of course there are. Do we attempt to make them heterogeneous or do we provide support individually? If we focus on student centered education, will the diversity come out in the wash? These questions may not be on the mark for ethnography but they are part of my inquiries about this reading.
Teaching is not easy if you want to be effective. Learning about all this cultural and diverse sensitivity only tends to assist and deepen education. Put some of the responsibility on the student. Hold him accountable for his assignments, homework, and social responsibilities. They know what is up and what is down and will take advantage if allowed. Am I right in saying keep a firm hand on the wheel and keep steering them in the direction of the twenty first century?
It has been fairly obvious that a teacher must be sensitive to the cultural and social needs of his or her students. The reading points out we conclude the school is a small community that we can apply the fundamental discourse about a social organization-person, status, role, rights, and obligations. We can construct he ground rules for working, overseeing, and participating in the confines of the boundaries of the school as its own little world. The workers are the teachers. They must become proficient in working with students with diverse background. They must have an empathy and deep understanding of the differences and develop the skills to deal with the diverse settings. What are these diverse settings? This is where the ethnographic findings provide the ethnographer’s opinions and deductions of the cultural status and processes of the school. They may be accurate or they may be skewed with built in biases. The reading compares it to an artist drawing a caricature, a lot of room for interpretation. It is not a snap shot that captures the true essence of the structure. The overseers have different eyes and see things differently. I guess that is called politics. The participants are the ones that demand the most consideration. The students bring their own biases and views to the classroom. How do we make them more aware of their beliefs and become culturally sensitive to other participants? Understanding and empathy of their lifestyle and daily circumstances are important considerations in education. Know thyself and know thy student. The rest will fall into place.
Developing that understanding is not easy. Why do some kids wear Frank Sinatra hats? Why do others dye their hair purple and green? Why do some go through the portals of education without a blip? These group interactions have an impact on the students as a group. Are any racial or ethnic? Of course there are. Do we attempt to make them heterogeneous or do we provide support individually? If we focus on student centered education, will the diversity come out in the wash? These questions may not be on the mark for ethnography but they are part of my inquiries about this reading.
Teaching is not easy if you want to be effective. Learning about all this cultural and diverse sensitivity only tends to assist and deepen education. Put some of the responsibility on the student. Hold him accountable for his assignments, homework, and social responsibilities. They know what is up and what is down and will take advantage if allowed. Am I right in saying keep a firm hand on the wheel and keep steering them in the direction of the twenty first century?
EDSS disrupting class
Disrupting Class 3-2-1
Gardner’s eight intelligences and his examples, at first, seem to make learning very simple by aligning one’s stronger intelligences and aptitudes in the educational approach. Of the eight intelligences, most people only foster two or three. Researchers have produced the idea that people learn differently from one another and with each learning style. People also learn at different paces, slow, medium, fast and everything in between. So how do you as a teacher combine distinct intelligence, aptitude, and pacing? I can connect with these three points, but I must transfer the learning and understanding to the student. Individual students need customization for the way they learn. A customized program is not practical due to time and expense of individualizing a program for each student. We cannot use a “one size fits all” mentality to educate our students but we should be flexible in our strategies to align all the intelligences with the curriculum at different times, adjust pacing as needed, use resources like our students to assist the slower pace students, and present our content with a different slant. It takes a skillful teacher to combine all three challenges, but a master teacher can make it work.
The schools that have attempted to use the customized curriculum approach but because of the diversity of intelligences it is not easy to be successful. Most students are strong in two or three styles and teachers being human, probably the same. They teach in ways that are compatible with their strengths. If they connect with a student, the student will be successful. My questions are how do we hold teachers accountable to teaching with results not excuses? Gardner and others who attempted to teach multiple intelligences managed in the elementary tier of education, but failed dramatically in middle school and high schools. Why the big gap? Is it the students and parents? Is it the Unions? Do we need more monies in the school systems to operate effectively?
My thoughts are basic. I believe the teacher is responsible for the education of all the students. A master teacher must find a way to reach his or her students and they do. Every school has their champions. What is the difference between the champions’ methods and strategies? Inevitably you will find these teachers are student-centered and that opens the door to learning that matches their intelligence style. They are continually engaged and the teacher facilitates their education. These are the skills and style I would like to develop for my students and would like to learn more about.
Gardner’s eight intelligences and his examples, at first, seem to make learning very simple by aligning one’s stronger intelligences and aptitudes in the educational approach. Of the eight intelligences, most people only foster two or three. Researchers have produced the idea that people learn differently from one another and with each learning style. People also learn at different paces, slow, medium, fast and everything in between. So how do you as a teacher combine distinct intelligence, aptitude, and pacing? I can connect with these three points, but I must transfer the learning and understanding to the student. Individual students need customization for the way they learn. A customized program is not practical due to time and expense of individualizing a program for each student. We cannot use a “one size fits all” mentality to educate our students but we should be flexible in our strategies to align all the intelligences with the curriculum at different times, adjust pacing as needed, use resources like our students to assist the slower pace students, and present our content with a different slant. It takes a skillful teacher to combine all three challenges, but a master teacher can make it work.
The schools that have attempted to use the customized curriculum approach but because of the diversity of intelligences it is not easy to be successful. Most students are strong in two or three styles and teachers being human, probably the same. They teach in ways that are compatible with their strengths. If they connect with a student, the student will be successful. My questions are how do we hold teachers accountable to teaching with results not excuses? Gardner and others who attempted to teach multiple intelligences managed in the elementary tier of education, but failed dramatically in middle school and high schools. Why the big gap? Is it the students and parents? Is it the Unions? Do we need more monies in the school systems to operate effectively?
My thoughts are basic. I believe the teacher is responsible for the education of all the students. A master teacher must find a way to reach his or her students and they do. Every school has their champions. What is the difference between the champions’ methods and strategies? Inevitably you will find these teachers are student-centered and that opens the door to learning that matches their intelligence style. They are continually engaged and the teacher facilitates their education. These are the skills and style I would like to develop for my students and would like to learn more about.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
RR1 Edss530 J. Geiger 2/2/10
The inference that America’s high schools are badly out of tune with the times is the point that resonated with me. The quote: “The high schools are failing all of our kids some of the time and some of our kids all of the time”, is a very sad and sorry conclusion. Are the high schools responsible for the “failings” or is it a function of the teachers? The observations that I have made, in both excellent school systems and poor school systems, caused me to conclude that the teacher has the control of the education of the student in the classroom
The teachers who control the classroom are the ones responsible the positive change. It is in the classroom where the teaching and learning seeds are planted, cultivated, and harvested. Certain teachers can teach in any school system and have good results. With others, the converse is true. What is the difference? The successful teachers adjust lessons to the needs of the student, the climate of the class, and the content standards. These teachers become their own critics, are honest in their self-evaluations, and revise and redo the lesson plan if appropriate. They place themselves in the background and follow the assertions, issues, and principles outlined in the first chapter. Creating a climate of the national curriculum standards in the classroom is a key for success for these special educators.
The other standards I see as most relevant to success are student centered, experiential, expressive, social, collaborative, developmental, cognitive, and constructivist. This is “Best Practice” teaching and the best teachers follow these principles and are successful at all levels and school systems. The students working in clusters or cohorts seemed opposite of the Rethinking Chapter 1 since it wants and promotes scaffold learning and inclusive education. Many of the components of “Second to None” correlate with the “Best Practice High School Model”. Problem centered curriculum give students’ hands on experience and collaborative learning. Interdisciplinary connections that allow students to connect are part of collaborative learning fostered in “Second to None”.
Assessments, to me, are such an important part of a teachers’ skill development and keys in with each students’ progress, lesson planning and success. This is the area I would like to investigate further and continue to develop my expertise in.
The teachers who control the classroom are the ones responsible the positive change. It is in the classroom where the teaching and learning seeds are planted, cultivated, and harvested. Certain teachers can teach in any school system and have good results. With others, the converse is true. What is the difference? The successful teachers adjust lessons to the needs of the student, the climate of the class, and the content standards. These teachers become their own critics, are honest in their self-evaluations, and revise and redo the lesson plan if appropriate. They place themselves in the background and follow the assertions, issues, and principles outlined in the first chapter. Creating a climate of the national curriculum standards in the classroom is a key for success for these special educators.
The other standards I see as most relevant to success are student centered, experiential, expressive, social, collaborative, developmental, cognitive, and constructivist. This is “Best Practice” teaching and the best teachers follow these principles and are successful at all levels and school systems. The students working in clusters or cohorts seemed opposite of the Rethinking Chapter 1 since it wants and promotes scaffold learning and inclusive education. Many of the components of “Second to None” correlate with the “Best Practice High School Model”. Problem centered curriculum give students’ hands on experience and collaborative learning. Interdisciplinary connections that allow students to connect are part of collaborative learning fostered in “Second to None”.
Assessments, to me, are such an important part of a teachers’ skill development and keys in with each students’ progress, lesson planning and success. This is the area I would like to investigate further and continue to develop my expertise in.
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