Cooperative Learning

Last class 4/22, we learned about the importance of cooperative learning in the classroom. I was surprised to learn just how different cooperative learning is compared to group work, and how well it worked in our class. I really enjoyed working with my group to solve how many squares we could make with 12 slips of colorful paper. I noticed that while Dr. Horwitz was explaining the directions to this activity, she was also modeling how we would speak to a high school class prior to completing this activity. She described the paper as “very special paper”, emphasizing the importance of not ripping it and not touching another group member’s paper. I noted that little tips of information like calling a piece of paper “special”, can really affect how students will approach an assignment and fully follow directions.

                I also noticed that cooperative learning is much more effective than group work because every member of each group was assigned a role. Most importantly, the group relied on each member in order to function. Unlike group work where one or two students do the majority of work, in these groups everyone was required to participate equally in order to fulfill the task at hand. Also, we were having a blast! It hardly felt like work, which was the part that impressed me the most. I could definitely see myself using these strategies in my future classroom. I think the second activity when we asked each other questions would be a great way to have students review together for an upcoming test in a fun, relaxed working environment.

Cooperative Learning

Rubrics

http://learnweb.harvard.edu/alps/thinking/docs/rubricar.htm

Last class we spent the majority of our time discussing rubrics. I thought making rubrics that judged cookies was a great way to demonstrate just how unfair or misleading rubrics can be at times. Even though each group tried to make a rubric that fairly judged a chocolate chip cookie, the score of each cookie according to the rubric, did not always reflect which cookie was better. This activity helped me to realize that rubrics are not always the best tool to grade students’ writing. However, they can be used properly if they are structured correctly. Personally, I have mixed feelings about rubrics. From a student’s perspective, a rubric can be helpful because it allows the student to know exactly what they need to do to receive a high grade on an assignment. I've found that sometimes having a rubric can clarify what is expected in the assignment. On the other hand, as I student I have also found that rubrics can be confusing, or worded so that they sound generic to any assignment, and do not help to clarify the assignment at hand. From a teacher point of view, having a rubric can be one way to help explain what they are asking students to do. They can also help when the teacher is grading.

            I related the lesson I learned on rubrics last Tuesday to an event I attended a couple of hours later. I went to a dance lip syncing competition that was between the sororities and the fraternity on campus. At the event, one of the sororities did a very well executed dance on a song from the movie Pitch Perfect. Even though this dance was performed well and was mostly in sync, this team did not place. I suspect that this is directly related to the rubric that was given to the judges. The dance was scored from four categories: attire, choreography, originality and synchronization.  Even though the dance looked very synchronization and clean cut, the dance was not that original because the majority of it was from a movie. This hurt the team and caused them to fall a little short in the final scoring. If the rubric was based simply on which team the judges think did a better job, without these specific categories, I think this team would have scored higher. So this brings me to a question: Are rubrics always fair? Regardless of the original intentions of the rubric I feel that rubrics often are not fair, and can cause teachers to grade an assignment either higher or lower than it really deserves simply because of the terminology of the rubric. 

Observation Blog

What? One thing that I strive to do as a teacher is to reach every kid in my class. I do not want to give up on any of my students, even the ones who may be very reluctant to complete assignments or engage in discussion. I want to make sure everyone is learning, especially since that is a major responsibility of being a teacher. During my observations of a ninth grade inclusion ELA classroom, I noticed two students who were not engaged in the lesson. These students we not sitting near each other, but I noticed both displayed the same behaviors. These students were not disruptive to the class, but rather they sat at their desks looking down without completing any of their assigned work. These students were supposed to be completing a worksheet on definitions in the text, but when asked to fill out their worksheets, they said nothing and continued to do nothing. I was surprised by this because the rest of the students in the class seemed to have a good relationship with their teacher, and they followed the directions the first time they were given. So What? At first I thought that these two students may have been having a bad day or maybe didn’t have time to wake up yet. This was an 8am class, and I related this to when I was in high school and I often had a hard time concentrating when I was running on very little sleep. However, when I spoke to the teacher and asked if this behavior was typical of the students she replied with a yes. She then went on to tell me that these students in particular do not complete any of their work and that she has already tried all year to get them engaged, but they still do not participate, or hand in work in her class. I got the feeling from our discussion that she has given up hope for these students, and does not expect anything out of them. This was hard to hear. I’ve witnessed her teaching, and I feel that she is a great teacher, and she absolutely reaches the majority of her students. So why are these students not included with the majority? From my own observations I would guess that a bigger issue is causing these problems in the class. Maybe these students are having problems at home, or maybe they are not placed at the right ability level. Whatever the case may be, I believe that something must be done, these students cannot simply go through the remainder of the school year like this. Now What Although I do not know the history of these students, or the steps their teacher has already taken to help them improve and participate in the class, I do not think it is right for these students to be left in the dark. I’m sure it is a little easier as a teacher to simply forget about these students and teach the students who act more willing to learn, but I do not agree with this decision nor should any educator. I believe that these students have likely picked up on the fact that their teacher does not expect much from them. This is a problem because if these students feel that their teacher is giving up on them, they will be likely to completely give up on themselves. These students need to be held to the same expectations as the rest of their peers. If I had students in my classroom who did not complete assignments or participate in class, I would take several steps to help understand them improve. I think it is important to know your students, and if I talk to these students privately I will have a better chance to find out what the issue is, and what we can do to fix it together. Teachers have a responsibility to teach, but students also need to hold responsibility for their learning as well. I believe that communication would be a key role in resolving this conflict, or at least finding out what the underlining issue is so that it can be addressed. Also, if you go out of your way to speak to the student, the student will know that you care and this could motivate them to do better in your classroom. I think what it really comes down to is communication, and learning about your student and what techniques will help these students get involved. For example, you may learn that these students have shut down because they find the material too challenging. In order to reach their zone of proximal development, we need to differentiate the material when necessary. I believe every student wants to learn, and if these students are shutting down in class then we as teachers need to work to understand why so that we can get through to these students.  We need to have patience, be there for all of our students, and never give up on them. http://www.eschoolnews.com/2013/11/22/science-students-brain-138/

Class Room Management

Last class we talked about classroom management strategies. We were able to hear from a panel of teachers who gave us their opinions on strategies that should be utilized in the classroom. It was nice to have the opportunity to hear the many diverse techniques that can be used to manage classrooms. One thing that stood out to me from the panel, was the advice to create non-negotiable rules and to stick to them. I think this is something that I need to remember in my future classroom. In other experiences that I have had such as babysitting, or educating the new members in my sorority, I have found that I sometimes feel bad and let the rules slide in certain scenarios. I know I need to work on this because if I were to do this in my class students would notice and possibly take advantage.

             Another thing that stuck with me from the panel was explaining the purpose behind non-negotiable rules in the classroom. One teacher mentioned that she does not tolerate profanity in her classroom. What impressed me was that she went on to explain that she enlightens her students on the reasons why she has this rule in place. She explains to her students that swearing is not a good habit to get into because you never know who is sitting in front of you. This allows students to see the purpose behind the rule within a real life context. This made me think back to the rules in high school that I never agreed with during my four years there, such as the tardy policy, dress code, hat/ hood rules, etc. Specifically, I never understood why I was penalized for being only 5-10 minutes late to school. Looking back, I think if my teachers would have taken a moment to relate these rules to a real life context, I may have better understood the reasoning for them. If they explained to me that it is not acceptable to be late in the working world or even in college classrooms, and that teachers are seriously affected by late comers, I probably would have realized the importance of being punctual.

            My impression of classroom management techniques are that they are something that varies from teacher to teacher, and even from each teacher’s own multiple classrooms. I have been making note of all the different management techniques that have been described to me, and that I have seen in practice from observations. I believe that once I teach my first lesson I will have a better idea on what strategies I prefer to use to manage my classroom.

http://www.honorlevel.com/x47.xmlAnother 

Class 4/1 Questions

        In our last class, we talked about questioning, and how important it is to ask students higher level questions. Megh and I went out in the field together in order to observe a class and record what questions were being asked. The first class we attended was spending time going over information on a book they had just finished reading. Unfortunately, I found that most of the questions being asked were low level questions according to Bloom's Taxonomy. For example, one question that the teacher asked towards the beginning of class was "Who is Ron Franz?" Ron Franz is a character in the book that the students were reading. The problem with this question is that it simply requires recalling information and does not require students to push their thinking. This question could get a number of different responses, and most all of them were answers such as: an old man, a character in the book, a truck driver, a friend of the protagonist, etc. A better question that could have been asked could be "Compare Ron Franz to the protagonist, how are they alike and how are they different?" A question like this one would force students to think deeper by analyzing the two characters, and would give students a narrower focus.

          After observing the first class for a few minutes, the class started to watch a movie so Megh and I visited a different classroom. The second class we visited was an AP science class, and they were learning about light bulbs and their electric current. This teacher was asking higher level questions. We were only observing her room for a few minutes, but one question she asked right away was "If my energy from this bulb decreased, would my second light bulb still stay lit?" This question required students to think and analysis what they had just learned about electric currents in order to give an answer. The students took a little more time to answer this question, but they still were able to respond currently after spending a couple of seconds to think the question over.

         This class taught me the importance of Higher Level Questions. As a RIC Writing Center tutor, I find myself asking my clients low level questions such as "Does that make sense?" Rather than "How do you make sense of what I am saying to you?" This class period on questioning has allowed me to reflect on my own practice, and realize that I need to spend more time developing higher level questions to ask both my clients and my future students.