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=Evaluation EDU 501=

Assignments for course: EDU 501 Summative Assessment 11B Be Observed By a Peer Guided Reflection – Teacher Lesson Reflection **Introduction – LESSON TWO of being observed**

The lesson took place at the beginning of our new science unit “Rocks, sand and silt”. The students had previously practiced observing rocks, and were about to begin an activity on sorting rocks according to student-chosen criteria. Prior to this lesson, they had brainstormed and listed together, vocabulary for describing certain aspects of rocks (hard, bumpy, colourful etc). The lesson involved reading a story about a boy who collects rocks and sorts them in various ways. My focus was on using questioning and discussion techniques. The reason for this focus being that I have a handful of students who are hesitant to share ideas in class, particularly in response to written material when read in a large group setting. I wanted to create genuine discussion amongst my students, and have all students participate effectively. After the story, students worked with their discussion partner to sort a group of rocks together based on an agreed upon criteria. After completing the sorts, students did a room “walk” to see how the different groups sorted their rocks, and hear the explanations and reasoning for the different criteria.


 * 1) **In general, how successful was the lesson? Did the students learn what you intended for them to learn? How do you know?**

The lesson was successful. I had pre-determined to try out using a technique of “discussion partners” during the story-reading time, so that the students could share their ideas with one another. I also had students who were comfortable, share their ideas at the outset to help get everyone thinking of possibilities before they paired into their discussion pairs. I did this prior to each discussion phase. I was really pleased at the start because when I stopped to ask the first question – the student who volunteered her answer first, was one of the students who tends to be most reluctant to share in these settings. The first discussion topic was simple – the students were asked to make a connection to the character in the story (young boy at home, bored on the weekend), and were asked to talk about what kinds of things they like to do when they feel that way. As the story progressed, the questions became more focused on the theme – sorting and criteria – to where students were discussing ways amongst themselves how they might sort the rocks if the rocks were theirs. By observing and listening in on some of the discussions, it was clear that the students were engaged, and eager to share their ideas with one another. The students learned what they needed to learn, and I was able to see this not only in their discussions, but then also in their work later, when they sorted the rocks and were able to explain what criteria they had used to do so.


 * 2. If you have samples of student work, what do they reveal about the students’ levels of engagement and understanding? Do they suggest modifications in how you might teach this lesson in the future?**

The samples of student work came in the follow-up activity to the discussion – the actual sorting activity. The kids were really excited about sorting the rocks, and each group was able to choose a criterion and sort the rocks accordingly. One pair of students used more than one criteria (“these ones are the pink ones, these ones are the bumpy ones and over here are the round ones” – thereby mixing up colour, texture and shape criteria) however, in following activities, they will be required to do more sorting, and will focus on choosing a single criteria for their sort. Now that I’ve observed this, I know I will need to be more specific about the kinds of criteria there are, and to ask for them to use just one criterion for their sorts. I think in the future, I would make a visual list their ideas of how rocks could be sorted immediately after the story/discussion time, and then point out the requirement that they sort their rocks using just one of those kinds of criteria.


 * 3. Comment on your classroom procedures, student conduct, and your use of physical space. To what extent did these contribute to student learning?**

In my class, students are used to being given specific tasks at the start of an activity. They know they need to listen for the job that will be assigned to them. In this case, when they began to the activity, they were to listen to see which partner would get the materials (the rocks) and which would choose the activity location. At the beginning of the year, the students and I created a short list of behavioural classroom expectations, which the students posted on the wall. In general, there are few behavioural problems, with the exception of the students getting used to our new student in the class, who is still learning the expectations of this classroom and school. At the outset of the sorting activity, we had a brief discussion about how to manage a situation where both partners want to sort using a different criteria (a potential in my class – there are some independent and strong minded children!) The students brainstormed possible solutions (“We could do one way first, then the other next”, “I could just say OK, let’s do it that way”, or “We could decide alphabetically – the student whose name comes first in the alphabet gets to choose the first criteria” etc) Each pair was able to come to an agreement.

There are several “learning” areas set up in the classroom. There is a display table for student work (soon to be a rock “museum”), the clusters of student desks, a reading area, meeting area, calendar area etc. My classroom is one of the smaller ones in the school and this year I have the largest class of kids, so the room tends to feel cozy, which I don’t mind. I’d like a little more desk space for kids to work at together, however. Because I wanted to have the kids be able to “walk” the class and see the work done by other students, I wanted to keep it at an area easily visible to everyone. This meant a lot of bodies working in a relatively small area – where there was table room. I think next time, I’d make more use of the cupboard space and floor space around the room to give students a little more space to work and talk with their partners about their sorts.


 * 4. Did you depart from your plan?**

I departed from my original plan in small ways only. During the story reading/discussion time, I did not stop as often as I had intended to do for discussions. The kids were excited and chatty, and I felt that stopping too often was going to interfere with the story’s purpose (understanding what sorting means, and what kinds of criteria one might use when sorting rocks). I also noted that my kids were very good at sharing their ideas (even those that I mentioned earlier, who tend to me more reluctant), but that they weren’t particularly good listeners (important part of a discussion!) Because of this, I changed one of my discussion points to having the students share the most interesting idea that they had heard their partner share (regarding ideas for sorting rocks). Although many hands went up – few were actually able to restate what they’d “heard” their partners say! This reminds me that I need to work on this aspect of their discussion skills, and is something I’m going to address and have them practice in following discussion activities.


 * 5. Comment on different aspects of your instructional delivery (activities, grouping of students, materials and resources). To what extent were they effective?**

I love starting lessons off with stories, and this year, I’ve had more opportunity than ever to do it. My kids particularly love stories this year, and don’t seem to get tired of listening to them. However, there are a handful of students whose language is still developing, who seem to find it difficult to always talk about what they’ve heard read to them. In this way, the story topic was relevant enough, and easy to follow so that even my ESL kids were able to keep up and be involved. Part of the management of this kind of activity was in deciding when to bring discussion to a close, and when to allow it to continue. My more verbal students would have been happy to discuss longer, however, I did not want to have the discussions dominated by one or two voices. At one point, I realized that as I moved on to the next part of the story, I had to cut discussion short. I remember thinking “Isn’t that ironic – here I am with someone observing me with the focus on //discussion and questioning techniques// and I’m cutting discussions short!” Unfortunately, there is always the clock to consider, and a schedule that is not always learning-friendly. The sorting activity that followed was a hands-on, practical application of what they had heard about and discussed. I felt it was very effective. Time wise – I wish there would have been more opportunity for students to continue sorting in more and more ways. I think they could easily have used another 15 minutes or so to further practice the skill. Next time, I will try to do this activity with a bigger block of time if possible.

When I grouped the children into their pairs, I used their name cards and placed them in a circle at the meeting carpet. The children had to sit at their card, and their discussion partners were assigned based on their seating arrangement. In this way, I was able to pair up my students who are more inclined to become “off-task” with a student who I knew would help keep them on topic. Also, I made sure my ELL students were paired with students who were more fluent.

I realized that the way we sat at the carpet had to be managed differently for this activity than for the types of reading we normally do there. Typically, when we are reading together there, the students are using their “Great Books”, or sharing science books together. They are always able to see the text right in front of them. For this activity, we only had the one book, which I was reading from. So when I first sat at the circle, I realized that it was going to be difficult for all of the students to see easily. We decided that it would be better if I were to sit up on a chair to ensure that all of the students could see the pictures in the text.

The materials (rocks in individual baggies) had been prepared ahead of time, and students were sent off to retrieve their supplies for themselves and their partner when they were called. In this way, the materials were retrieved in an orderly fashion, with little loss of time between the discussion period and the sorting activity.


 * 6. If you had an opportunity to teach this lesson again to the same group of students, what would you do differently?**

Next time, I would have the students sitting side by side with their partner, rather than sitting in a circle. This would have made it easier for them to see the pictures, and possibly have less interference from “neighbours” while discussing with their partners. Also, I would scheduled a larger block of time (or two separate work periods) to allow for complete discussion of the story and time for more sorting to take place. Also, I would list the various criteria for sorting rocks on a chart paper, for the students to refer to as they worked. I would also clarify the need to choose just one criterion when sorting. Finally, I would open up more areas in the class for the activity to take place, so that students were less crowded while doing their sorts.


 * 7. Consider the different aspects of your planning and execution of the lesson in light of the domains and components on the following pages. Determine evidence, if any, for each of the components, and what that evidence demonstrates about your level of performance.**

(See attached form - "Personal Hi-Light")


 * Introduction – LESSON ONE (Being observed)**

The lesson took place at the middle of our math unit. The students had previously worked with division concepts in informal activities (sharing “eggs” amongst “nests” etc), and were ready to begin a formal lesson on division. The lesson started off with a warm-up of subtraction with re-grouping, and then the students were presented with the new theme: division. I wanted them to connect what they were about to do, with what they had done prior, so when I asked if any of them could remember when we had worked with “sharing” or “dividing” activities, I was glad when one of the students raised her hand and recalled the “nests”, where children had shared their cubes amongst each nest and had to count out the leftovers. I then proceeded to introduce the first activity – a “challenge” to share 10 cookies fairly between 3 children. My focus was on using questioning and discussion techniques as I presented the material - I wanted to create genuine discussion amongst my students as they worked through the division activities together, and have all students participate effectively, being able to explain their process and reasoning. Once the students were presented with the problem, they retrieved their materials (cubes) and started into the activity. As the students worked, I stopped at each table group to see how they were managing. When it seemed that most students had completed the task, we did a walk of the room, where each group was required to explain how they had solved the division problem. I wanted them to talk about what they had done with the cubes, explain why they had chosen to arrange them the way they did, and talk about any of the problems they encountered as they set out.


 * 1) ** In general, how successful was the lesson? Did the students learn what you intended for them to learn? How do you know?**

I felt the lesson was successful – there was a lot of conversation as students worked in groups of 2-3 to solve the division “problem”. It was interesting to watch students at the start of the activity, as one group in particular were really puzzling through how they would go about sharing the cubes. The fact that they continually had left over cubes, had them quite perplexed. It really got them talking about how they could get rid of their “extras”. On my second or third time passing by, I noticed that one of the students had suggested they arrange the cubes in a new way, and leave the “extras” to the side. It was fun to hear the kids talk about their work, and even demonstrating exactly how they had shared the cubes out (some one at a time, others two cubes at a time). I had noticed one group had decided to place a small cube on their table that represented each “person” to receive the “cookies”. When they gave their answer to the division problem, they answered that each person got 4 cookies. As soon as the one boy had said that, one of the other group members looked a bit perplexed, (realizing that this didn’t seem right), and re-counted the cubes again. That’s when they realized what was creating the confusion. I asked them to clarify what the confusion was, so that the other kids could learn from them, and it was great to hear them clearly explain what had gone wrong. Each group of kids was able to talk about how they had shared the cubes equally, and indicated where they had placed their “leftovers”. Later, the students worked individually on solving various division/sharing problems in their workbooks. This allowed me to see how they were managing on an individual level. Although a couple of students needed clarification a few times, the group as a whole, seemed confident in their beginning division skills.


 * 2. If you have samples of student work, what do they reveal about the students’ levels of engagement and understanding? Do they suggest modifications in how you might teach this lesson in the future?**

The samples of student work came in the follow-up activity to the discussion – the student work in the workbook. The students who struggled slightly with the independent work were ELL kids, who were in part also dealing with language issues presented in the word problems. For these children, the best modification would be to have them working (and reading) through the material under close supervision.


 * 3. Comment on your classroom procedures, student conduct, and your use of physical space. To what extent did these contribute to student learning?**

The procedure used for grouping the students was by pulling random “sticks” with student names on them. As I pulled the three names, I gave an assignment to each one – host the work desk, gather the materials, etc. This is typical, so kids know to listen for their assigned task. There didn’t appear to be any confusion, the kids went to their work areas, had their supplies and began the activity quickly. Because of the size of the groups, and the arrangement of work area, I felt that the physical space for this activity was effective. The kids were able to easily work on their solutions together, while still being able to do so in an independent way, and without being influenced by the other groups. Each group truly had a unique way of arranging their cubes and of explaining their process.


 * 4. Did you depart from your plan?**

I hadn’t really intended to have the kids walk to each work space to see each group’s work. I’d only intended to have each group talk about what they had done, while I made a kind of “mock-up” of it on the board. This was because I hadn’t anticipated the range of responses and processes that I got. When I saw the various arrangements, I knew that we needed to take the time to actually see the work done by each group. This made each group’s explanation of their process much clearer to the rest of the students. It was a good decision, because it helped reinforce to the kids that there isn’t just “one way” to solve a problem.


 * 5. Comment on different aspects of your instructional delivery (activities, grouping of students, materials and resources). To what extent were they effective?**

Because of their previous exposure to division concepts, I felt comfortable presenting the children with a problem to solve without any direct teaching at the outset. The activity promoted lots of discussion amongst the students, which was one of my goals, and the fact that each group was able to (eventually) solve the problem, meant that they started off the lesson feeling successful. They were already excited about the concept of doing “division”, so engagement naturally followed.

I had not pre-determined the groups of students, as I felt confident that all students would be successful in this activity. The number of students per group needed to be small enough to allow for participation, but not so small that there would be limited discussion.

The classroom has a good choice of resources for this kind of activity. I could have chosen pennies, unifix cubes or the small cubes. Either would have been effective.


 * 6. If you had an opportunity to teach this lesson again to the same group of students, what would you do differently?**

There isn’t a lot I would have done differently in this lesson. The students were engaged and successful. I really liked the level of conversation between students about what they were doing.

(See attached form - Personal Hi-light)
 * 7. Consider the different aspects of your planning and execution of the lesson in light of the domains and components on the following pages. Determine evidence, if any, for each of the components, and what that evidence demonstrates about your level of performance.**


 * Assignment 2B: Observing a Peer**
 * EDU 501 Summative Assessment 11B[[file:Informal observation hilite.doc]] [[file: Informal Class Observations 1,2,3]]**
 * Guided Reflection – Observe a colleague**


 * 1) **The Observation Process**

Having spent some time over the past few weeks working with the framework for teaching, I felt that good about being able to connect my observations to the framework. It helped that I was observing an experienced and accomplished teacher. I knew that Kim wanted to focus on her management of materials while teaching P.E. and that particular skill was an easy one to find evidence for. She had carefully planned out how the materials would be made available to the students, and had routines established for how students went about getting the materials. Because of careful planning, little instructional time was lost in her lesson. For myself, I chose to focus on observing Kim’s management of student behaviour. Again, the evidence for this was very clear. It was easy to see that the standards of conduct were clear to the students, because they followed them consistently. Also, the students themselves, were able to talk about what the expectations were. When correcting student misbehaviour, Kim was direct but respectful (asking “Can you listen to the instructions while you are talking?” which required the student to think about their own behaviour). Also, her pro-active work with the new student in class (addressing him individually to talk about how the game worked, and exactly where he needed to stand etc) ensured that he knew exactly what to do, and where to do it. He then became accountable for his own behaviour. The third observation, I wanted to continue keeping these other teaching skills in mind, but decided to focus more on clarity of directions and procedures. Given that the students were clear about what to do (as observed in their behaviour), it was clear that Kim’s soft voiced instructions, and demonstrations were effective tools in her instructions. I noticed that she also called attention to students who were modeling the skills appropriately as a method of instruction as well.

The observation tool was helpful in keeping my focus directed. It’s easy to walk into a classroom and see activity going on, and listen to what the teacher and students are saying to one another without really considering all the dynamics involved. However, using this tool kept me focused on my search for specific evidence in the teaching I was observing. Every time I would jot a note down, I would look back at the component I was observing for and be reminded of what my purpose was as an observer.

The most challenging aspect of the observation process was to keep focused on my job as an observer. Partly this was due to the fact that the students Kim was teaching were my own students. I found myself wanting to be distracted by observing the kids and their interactions in this new (for me) environment of the gym. I also found that I was curious as to how a certain game was going to go, (I used to be a gym teacher and love learning new gym games!) so was sometimes tempted to get caught up in listening to the lesson rather than recording my observations. Another challenge was in determining where a certain teaching skill fell according to the framework. Kim’s clear instructions, for example, helped the children understand the concepts, but also connected to them being able to be fully engaged in the activity. It also played a role in her management of the students’ behaviour. Clear instructions meant students were able to follow and participate, and so were less likely to become off-task. It seemed that there was more than one component that I could have recorded certain evidence under.


 * 2. Topics for Conversation**

The Topics for Conversation are well aligned with Domains 2 & 3 and are truly the “visible” part of teaching. When I enter a classroom for the purpose of observing, I can use these “bigger” themes, as a window for viewing. For instance, when observing Kim’s lesson with management of materials in mind, I started with the perspective of “smooth organization and management”, however, I also considered aspects of “safe and challenging environment”, because the management of materials (particularly in the gym) is directly related to both of these themes. Starting with these “topics” gives opportunity to find evidence in a “broad” view of a teacher’s practice, wherein I can later “zoom” down to look at more specific elements within these topics. Starting with a component from one of the domains, is a much more specific task. For example, it may not always be possible to observe a teacher’s “discussion and questioning techniques” in every lesson going on in a classroom, as not every topic being taught lends itself to great discussion. However, as an observer, I can still look for a variety of other evidence of “rigorous learning tasks and assignment” or “high level of student engagement” as evidence of sound teaching practice.

//Establishing rapport// : Kim and I have been working together for the past year and a half, and have already established a relationship of trust between one another. When we met for our conversations, we met in Kim’s office, or in my classroom. By listening to her talk about what her goals for the lesson were, I was able to convey my respect for her teaching professionalism as I “hi-lighted” for her the evidence I found in my observations that demonstrated her teaching goals.
 * 3. Conversation Skills**

//Using Positive Pre-Suppositions// : It was easy to start with positive pre-suppositions. I had already known that Kim was a capable teacher, so that was the perspective I started with. For example, when she talked about her concerns that the final lesson had taken up too much time with explanations and not enough activity, I felt relief to hear that other teachers struggle with the same issues as I do at times! Also, knowing the particular group of students she was working with, I could also empathize with her in the length of time it sometimes takes to get across exactly what you mean particularly when teaching a new concept.

//Inviting and Sustaining Thinking// : I find this the hardest part of having professional conversations, particularly when there is a sense of “role play” to it. During our conversations, we were very cooperative in talking about our thoughts about what we had done and why. Kim reflected on what she felt went well (the students being engaged, following the directions to successfully perform the skills taught) and on what she hadn’t felt as good about in her lesson (the time taken to explain the individual boundaries/roles of each team members role). We talked about how it would be difficult to have reached her goal without going through the necessary instruction, and how next time it would take much less time since the students were now all familiar with the set up of the activity.

//Probing// : This step comes much easier to me – to wait for further clarification, or to ask a “Can you tell me more about that?” type of question. Again, having a willing partner, it was not difficult to have Kim elaborate on her reflections. By waiting, and not jumping in to comment, Kim would continue her train of thought further.

//Paraphrasing// : I was surprised by the quote: “Some experts in coaching maintain that every statement by a teacher should be paraphrased before the conversation proceeds.” I find paraphrasing a useful tool, but over using it causes a conversation to become stilted and uncomfortable. However, by paraphrasing, I am able to be sure that I understand what is being communicated. When Kim discussed her feelings that the students behaviour had become less orderly in the past month, I was able to paraphrase to be sure that I had understood that she had noticed an increase in excitability, and a decrease in listening skills amongst this particular group of students.

Overall, the teacher did most of the talking. Kim talked about her lesson and her thoughts on it, while I listened and reflected back to her my observations. With continued practice, I’m sure I would become much more comfortable using the steps to a professional conversation, such that they would not feel quite so uncomfortable. I’m used to talking about my own teaching successes and failures with others, but typically, I don’t engage in the kind of discussions indicated here.

Inevitably, evaluation is always going on, whether I am focusing on that or not. While observing, I would note the teacher’s responses and techniques, all the while noting whether they were successful or not (in this case they were). I liked that it was not our assignment to “critique” but to reflect back the evidence that we found, which was in fact, a type of evaluation – evidence being a sign that the goals (in this case) were met. It was hard to not use words like “It was really good how you….” Or “I thought it went really well they way you….. There’s a part of me that wants to encourage people when they are talking about their practice.

I’m not sure how I succeeded in being a coach! The evidence will be in whether or not Kim felt that our discussions were beneficial to her or not, and whether they helped her in any way to approach her teaching with a different perspective (or possibly with a more confident perspective). What I do know is this, when I engage in professional conversations with other teachers, it always causes me to think more seriously about my own work, and to consider other options in my practice as possibilities.

Observing Kim provided several benefits. First of all, practicing observing made me more self-aware in my own classroom – causing me to think “if someone were to come in right now to look for evidence of __ component, what would they find?” I’ve become more aware of my practice, and more purposeful in my lesson planning. I’ve started to ask the question of myself “How else could I do this?” or “What would be a better way to do this?” rather than do what I am used to doing. When I’ve been thinking about lessons to come, (particularly my “Jr. Great Books” discussions), I’ve been considering various options of how I might do certain things differently, to better meet the needs of my unique group of students. Secondly, one of the things that impressed me with Kim, was the way she gave students sufficient information, so that they could monitor their own success and behaviour in a particular activity. It’s caused me to think more deeply about how I might do that within my own day-to-day teaching and activities. An example of something that I tried this past week, was having my students work with a rubric for the first time. I simply wanted to give them a chance to monitor their own academic success in the area of reading responses. We’ve only used it once, and I think the rubric will need some adjustments, but it has been one example of something I have done differently simply because of this exercise.
 * 4. Your Own Learning**

Finally, (and I realize this was not the purpose of the exercise!) the knowledge that she was experiencing with my students the same type of behaviour over the past month that I had been noticing, (increased excitability, difficulty in listening to instructions etc) made me aware of the need to become more purposeful in my “re-teaching” of proper listening skills, behaviour etc… with this particular group of students. In this way, the exercise of observing was also a chance to consider my own students in a new environment, and see how consistent they were in their behaviour!

**Assignment: Self Reflection of Teaching Assessment February 2009** PART 1 Focus: Considering practice (against the levels of performance and the highlighted statements that best reflect performance) to determine areas of strength and aspects of teaching that could benefit from focused attention.

“Somehow, we must all find our teaching selves. Many times it is a path of gaining experience with each year that we teach, savoring our experiences to enrich the next year’s instruction. From our challenges and successes we are able to bring together a repertoire of instructional practices that influence who we eventually become as teachers. It is an evolutionary, self-actualization process that is never ending.” (Dantonio & Beisenherz, “Learning to Question, Questioning to Learn”, 2001) Studying Charlotte Danielson’s “Framework for Teaching” is one step along the way to my “finding my teaching self”. As a relatively new teacher (fourth year as a full-time classroom teacher), I find that I’m often engaged in self-reflective practices based on an (as yet) unformed, vague, personal “framework” which reads more as a series of questions such as: Am I happy with the work that I am doing? Are my students engaged and happy in my class? Am I practicing and implementing new strategies regularly? Are my students progressing? But this of course leads to only a very basic feedback, and fails to give satisfaction in terms of feeling confident about my own teaching practice. Charlotte Danielson’s framework is helping to provide a more substantial, evidence-specific base through which to reflect upon my teaching, and give direction in terms of choosing a focus.

In terms of strengths, I feel good about my classroom environment. My students appear happy to come to school, and feel comfortable in talking with me about their lives at home, events over the weekend, problems at recess or in class etc. Parents report that their children are happy and feel connected with school and their classmates. I try to maintain high standards of performance, and communicate to students what kind of quality of work I am looking for through demonstrations, student examples from the year before, as well as exceptional work done by classmates. Because the students we teach are great kids, interaction amongst students tends do be (relatively) free of negativity, bullying etc. My students work with me to design their own classroom expectations, and these are posted and easily referred to when necessary. Students remind each other about what behaviour they know is acceptable when something is amiss.

To create a comfortable and productive working environment, I’ve worked with various desk arrangements and “station” areas in the classroom to create suitable learning environments for various activities. There’s the reading library and reading couch, calendar area, science and investigation counter, demonstration table, reading instruction center, math supplies center and meeting carpet. At times, I feel frustrated with my lack of having planned sufficient time for clean up/transition (“how could it be 3:00 already!?”), or that I failed to foresee problems with accessing resources for a particular activity. (Today, for example, while students worked on decorating their Valentine pouches, I realized, that I had not provided enough space and locations ahead of time for use of sparkles, and other decoration items). These are areas where I am learning to be more consistently prepared.

I feel that I contribute to the school community and professional duties by my involvement in professional development (SUNY, Nesa conferences) and find ways to serve the school through running student council activities, and coaching track and field. I am an active member at staff meetings, contributing to conversations and problem solving. I would like to improve my communication with families regarding their child’s involvement in school, sharing successes during a particular day, and being able to offer helpful suggestions on supporting their child’s education at home.

The areas that I feel need the most focus are in planning and instruction. Partly, this is due to being the “new kid” in school, and working to figure a lot of things out for myself in terms of curriculum, (not having a grade-level teaching partner to help talk me through it all). However, I’d like to feel more secure in my knowledge of certain disciplines and in specific pedagogical practices most suitable to them. For example, several areas of our social studies curriculum feel vague to me, and it is easy for me to focus on a project that the students can get excited about, but that does not always wholly cover all of the learning outcomes stated (or, to get caught up in a particular project to the exclusion of other outcomes). I am still learning to time projects appropriately.

When it comes to assessment, there are certain areas that I feel I do well at in assessing for instructional purposes (math and reading for example), however, in the areas of social studies and science, I would like to become more effective at using appropriate assessment strategies not only for reporting purposes, but also for instruction. These are the two areas where I also find it most difficult to differentiate instruction. While in reading, writing and math, I am able to have various students working on specific tasks for their skill level, or to provide feedback and guidance based on their individual abilities, I find this much more difficult in these other areas (science and social studies).

Demonstrating flexibility to seizing teachable moments, is something I am still learning to do. Not wanting to become “behind” in a unit, or to get too far off what I have planned and organized for, I am certain there are times when I miss significant teaching opportunities in favor of doing the routine.

The area that I am most interested in focusing on for the purpose of this assignment is in using questioning and discussion techniques. Having just recently begun to implement “Junior Great Books”, I have enjoyed seeing students engaged in discussion about the stories. However, it bothers me that there are always a few who seem to be simply observing and not taking part unless pressed directly. I’d also like to see student discussion occurring more regularly between students rather than being directed to me.

PART 2 Focus: Assessment of the evolution of content in the subjects taught and determining where there is need to bolster mastery in any area.

As an elementary teacher, there is a wide breadth of content that must be known prior to teaching. In the area of mathematics, the program of study (which the school district has chosen) has forced me to consider new and different methods for simple computations. In this way, I have had to learn the new methods themselves, as well as the suggested approaches to teaching. In terms of basic math, the concepts have not changed dramatically, but the approaches to instruction have changed, even in the few years in which I have been teaching. In my beginning years as a teacher, we were encouraged to use manipulatives for teaching math concepts, however, the math work books that the children used tended to focus more on drill practice and rote memorization. Not having exposure to many teaching methods using manipulatives in a systematic way, when I did use them, it often felt disconnected to what we were doing in the student workbooks. Now however, I have gained significantly more experience in teaching through the use of a wide variety of activities and resources (which systematically use hands-on approaches in teaching math). In this way, there is a clear connection between “book work” and the activities.

In reading, I have tried to stay current with new resources that come into the class for reading instruction. In the past four years, I have welcomed the additional reading resources that arrived in the classroom. I try to keep current with knowing what my students are reading and what interests them, not only as a group, but individually as well. Recently, the content has changed to include the explicit teaching of strategies for reading comprehension. Students are learning to draw on personal experiences to make connections as they read, create mental images, synthesize information, make logical and reasonable inferences and to consider various strategies when they encounter difficulties.

In science, there are three main areas of study: Insect life cycles, Rocks, Balance and Motion. Each year I am adding to my content knowledge in each of the areas. I would like to become more familiar with the various types of rocks that are located here in Saudi Arabia. Thanks to discussions with one of the middle school science teachers, I have been able to make some progress in this area, but still do not know nearly enough to be able to give confident answers to all of my students’ questions! It is another area for growth that I expect to add to as I teach this subject again this year.

Community is the main theme of study in the grade 2 social studies program. Topics of study include roles and responsibilities of community members, mapping, landforms, and goods and services. Staying current with this content requires keeping informed of changes in the community here in Abqaiq, as well as changes in personnel. Keeping updated on world political and geographic (border) changes as well as having access to current political maps is another way of staying current in this area.

Teaching technology is one of the most difficult areas for me to keep current in. It requires constant professional development opportunities. The changes are happening so fast, it feels like I have just mastered one, and another has arrived! I also struggle with not being sure about how much technology is relevant and appropriate to my grade level. At this point, my students have opportunity to work with word documents, publisher, power point, graph club and kidspiration.

I teach health, and discovered last year that I was not current with my understanding of the present accepted food pyramid. This year, I have adapted my lessons to reflect my new learning. By reading health articles, and joining on-line health groups, I’m working to keep up to date on current health-related content understandings.

PART 3 Focus: Survey of recent developments in pedagogical research and determination of whether there is one area to investigate further with a view to incorporating it into everyday practice.

Recent pedagogical research suggests that student learning is increased when there is: v more experiential, hands-on learning v more active learning v more diverse roles of the teacher (coach, mentor, model) v more emphasis on higher-order thinking v greater depth of study rather than breadth of topics v more use of “real” texts (whole books, primary sources, non-fiction) v more student responsibility for work v more choice for students v more modeling of democratic principles in school v more attention to the affective needs of students v more cooperative and collaborative study v less segregation of students with special needs and more in-class support v more cooperation between teachers and principals, teachers and parents v more use of descriptive evaluations of student growth

(Best Practice, 2005)

Clearly the current research indicates a need to move away from a teacher-centered classroom, to a living, active, student-oriented environment.

Zemelman, Daniels and Hyde, in their book “Best Practice” outline 3 main “clusters” of principles that ought to guide our instruction. First, instruction ought to be student-centered. That is to say, students should be involved in hands-on experiences that are purposeful and relevant, challenging and authentic. Second, instruction must be cognitive. Students must be expected to use higher-order thinking in a way that is appropriate to the developmental stage. Children must be allowed to create meaning for themselves while being given the opportunity to express that meaning and understanding through a variety of media. They must also have opportunities to reflect on their own learning. Finally, instruction should be guided through sensitivity to social aspects of the learning environment. Children should learn through interactive experiences and activities that allow for cooperation and collaboration.

With these over-arching principles in mind, we begin to look at certain pedagogical approaches. In their book “Models of Teaching”, Joyce and Weil outline several models, which fit well with current pedagogical recommendations. These models generally fit into four main families: social models, information processing models, personal models and behavioural models. The social model views the school as a productive community or society, rather than as a group of individuals striving for education. Methods through which we might instruct using the social model would be through the use of shared inquiry through which students construct their own learning in an experiential, collaborative way (for example, students working together in pairs or small groups to explore the best balancing position for their paper “crayfish”), or through role-playing (for example, for the purpose of practicing effective problem solving). Researchers Johnson, Slavin and Sharan, have found that cooperative grouping and collaborative learning result in greater mastery of content (Models of teaching, 2000) as compared to a lecture style approach.

With the informational processing model, emphasis is placed on students learning to think. Activities include classification, inferring, connecting, predicting and verifying the predictions. Of course, these activities are well suited to a cooperative and collaborative approach as well. The theory behind the informational processing model is that the core of good thinking is its application to solve problems. Solving problems is all about learning in complex or confusing situations. Therefore, learning how to learn is critical. (Models of teaching, 2000)

In the personal models, the emphasis is on growth of the student mentally and emotionally, having the student themselves take initiative and responsibility for their own learning, and the development of creative and expressive thought. In the personal model, the teacher’s role moves into the role of facilitator and even counselor as they guide their students’ growth and development. This means that there are times when the teaching of content will take a secondary place to the discussion of a particular student’s affect and it’s effect on their learning or work. Through free discussion, students are able to define a problem or area of focus, while the teachers accepts and clarifies the students message. The student does some initial decision making while the teacher clarifies and possible options, which enables the student to gain further insight and move into positive action. With focus on student personal growth, academic skills increase, and allows for greater success for students in school. (Methods of teaching, 2000)

The behavioural model is based on the premise that once a behaviour is learned, the likelihood that it will occur again depends on the responses received from the environment. Examples of this would be sequential, programmed instruction that provides immediate feedback, direct instruction through the presentation of a new skill and then the slow releasing of that skill into the students’ own repertoire (through modeling, and scaffolding with various levels of assistance), and learning through simulations. (Methods of teaching, 2000)

Clearly, no one teacher is likely to teach in any one of these models exclusively, but varies the models they use accordingly to match the content area or the particular group of students they are working with. As I survey these models, I realize that I (generally) often use a mix of behavioural and social methods when teaching math, social and information processing models when working in language arts, and science, and personal models and information processing models for teaching social studies.

As I look more specifically at my chosen area of focus (using question and discussion techniques in the content area of reading, through book talks), I find myself looking generally at the best practices recommended for reading instruction, and then more specifically at techniques for encouraging good discussion and questions.

It has been agreed that skillful readers must be able to: v make mental images of what they read v make connections v ask questions v infer v determine what is important in what they read v analyze a text v be able to summarize/retell what they’ve read v monitor their own understanding

Also, that a balanced primary reading program is one that provides read alouds, good literature, shared reading, comprehension instruction, phonics study, and writing in response to literature.

(Best Practices, 2005)

In these areas, I feel confident that my students are receiving from me, sound instruction guided by current research. My reading program includes each of th3se elements with sensitivity to individual students’ abilities.

With attention to my area of focus – asking better questions and the enhancement of discussion amongst students, I have consulted Morgan and Saxton’s work in “Asking better questions” (1994) for guidance. Here, three types of questions are outlined: questions that elicit information, questions that shape understanding, and questions that press for reflection. Although we may look at the first (questions which elicit information) as a “lower level” question and the other as “higher level” questions, it is important to note that one is not necessarily //better// than the other. “Lower level” questions can be an effective way to check for understanding, while “higher level” questions may lead to more complex and lengthy student responses. Both are important.

Some guidelines to effective teacher questions are: v plan questions to structure lesson v phrase questions clearly and specifically v adapt questions to student ability v ask questions logically and sequentially v ask a variety of level of questions v follow up on student responses v give students time to think v use questions that encourage wide student participation v encourage student questions

(Dantonio and Beisenherz, 2001)

There are several cues that can guide our questions to students. First, when a student response is off-focus, we can use a refocusing question to aid the student in returning to the material read to check for understanding. Second, when a student response needs clarity, questioning can be used to have the student be more precise in their answer. Third, verifying questions force the students to return to the text to check for the accuracy of their answer. Fourth, a narrowing question can help the student to focus on the critical characteristics of their answer. Lastly, there are the questions that call for other students to participate when one student is dominating.

Saxton and Morgan also point out the importance of modeling good questions in order to elicit good questions from students. This can be done covertly or overtly. When we demonstrate our own “thinking aloud”, praise good questions, encourage students questions, reflect purposefully on the question asked, and focus on quality questions, we are teaching students to ask good questions in turn.

In his book “Literacy Techniques”, David Booth talks about the use of a dialogue journal. It occurred to me, that this could be a great strategy to implement with my students, in getting across the idea that books should be talked about regularly, and to provide a safe venue for them to practice “talking” about books through written dialogue between myself and them, as well as between the students themselves.

PART 4

General reflections on my practice

Overall, I feel good about my practice. I can see many areas of my teaching that reflect current research. I can see myself moving towards more cooperative and student initiated learning opportunities. The more I read, the more I can see areas that I’d like to grow in further. At this time, I’d like to improve my ability to lead good discussions through asking good questions. Although I am focusing at this time in the area of book talks, by developing my skills in this area, I believe this is a skill that will carry over into all other areas of the curriculum.

The process of self evaluation is always a worthwhile one. This particular process has been interesting in terms of how my perception of my own teaching (and how I “measured” myself on the rubric) changed slightly as I continued in my practice throughout these two weeks. As I paid attention to various details in my daily teaching, I would come home and change parts of my hi-lighted evaluation. A big part of the process is paying attention to the evidences that I can find for the various components that I was assessing. I also found that (as I referred to earlier in this paper), there are portions of the rubric where I felt I could place myself in more than one space, depending on the subject area I was teaching, it was difficult to always choose one “label” when I can see differences in my competency depending on the subject being taught.

Also, as I began to research methods and pedagogy, I came to realize that simply wanting to “improve my questioning techniques and discussions” is really only one part of leading a good book talk. When I notice students not participating, I need to consider not just the questions that I ask, but the issue of reading comprehension, the ability of my students to understand oral questions, as well as the freedom students feel to respond to each others’ comments without “raising their hand” or “taking their turn”. For now, I’d like to keep questions and discussion as my focus. I’m looking forward to working towards cooperative discussions with my students, modeling good questions, and using good questions to elicit deeper understanding.