Building Communication Skills and Safe Spaces

One thing that is really standing out for me is the fact that every student is involved in Cooperative Learning. The fact that everyone has a role, an important one that is necessary for the team to thrive is incredibly beneficial on so many different levels. The biggest element being that students are learning fundamental skills of how to work in a group or team, and on a bigger picture, how to be a productive member of society.  I think about Congress, or other groups of government and most of the time I am disgusted with how these seasoned adults don’t even understand the basic principles of discussing important topics and ideas with other people who don’t share their same views. Meetings on topics like abortion, gay marriage, and healthcare become heated arguments that score closely with ignorant temper tantrums. CL is a way to teach students content as well as basic ways of communication, teamwork, and how to work together. Looking at our “Let’s Make Squares” activity last week, there were a lot of ideas going on at my table, and we all had to voice them clearly and precisely in order to have each member move their pieces how we thought would be best. We had to be courtesy of each other, patient, and cooperative (lol).

 

Another element of CL that I think is wonderful is the praiser. I’ll be completely honest, it did feel weird to have someone cheerleading the group and it was very sarcastic. But after we actually overcame making four squares, we all became praisers. It really is so unlike us to say “Good Job” sincerely to someone else. Eventually, if we were to do CL regularly it would most likely become a basic part of our nature.

 

I feel like CL is something that is more likely to happen in elementary schools rather than secondary schools, but that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t. There just needs to be more building up and working towards getting high school students ready for CL. Little kids enjoy playing pretend, and are at an age where it just comes second nature to them to want to assume a role and run with it. But that magic gets beaten out of students with age. CL is something I’d want to wait to do with students after they’ve had some time in class. But its something I believe can help harbor a healthy classroom space and community. If I’m told I need to know my students, and I believe I want a safe space, then using CL to build up student’s self-esteem and making everyone feel a part of a group is how I can do it.

A Menu of Options/ Do Your Own Assignments

One piece that is really sticking out to me this week is the idea of a menu of choices for students when it comes to projects and papers used for assessment. The cookie example displays perfectly why it’s important to give students equally weighted options when having large assignments. Not everyone thinks a like and approaches tasks the same. Thinking back to Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences Theory, not all people learn the same. So giving choices that are weighed equally, or as equally as you can get them, allows students to have a choice in how they want to best demonstrate their knowledge. But as stated in class, it’s important that students know that they may have a choice, but they must choose all the options presented to them at least once. So for example, give students an option to write a paper about “Of Mice and Men,” film and write a script for a scene from the movie, or create an eight page, multi-panel comic of their perception of the book along with a one to two page analysis of why they chose which scenes and how they accented the themes and motifs of the book using visuals.

 

The idea of choice and creative freedom was one I didn’t get to experience until college in some of my writing ad English classes. In SED 445, How to Teach Writing in Secondary Schools, we were required to create an assignment for students based on a wordless graphic novel.  One thing that stood out to me about that assignment, that I am reminded of again this week is the idea of weighted options. That stands for an important question: How can you be sure that your choices are fairly heavy? Well in my past SED 445 class, we not only created an assignment and rubric, but we did our own assignment. And let me say, it was a powerful experience and one that I’d advocate that teachers do more often. Doing your own project helps you see into the eyes of a student more effectively. It was hard to pick myself apart from what I knew about the assignment and just go off of what I had created, but the attempt yielded results that showed me how much or little I was asking from students. It also shows you what’s important about your assignment and what isn’t. For one of my classmates in SED 445, he had created a film project with a packet to guide their process. Doing it himself, he realized that the packet was confusing and asked way too many insignificant details that detracted from the actual content.

 

Giving choices to students allows them entry into the assignment. Students feel more invested and excited when they get the chance to break out of the norm of paper writing and get creative. Its where thinking outside the box and hands on skills can thrive and where students can get a sense of what they can really do when guided effectively and given the chance.

On Asking Questions and Giving Lectures

 

 

I find myself thinking about the fundamentals of learning and asking questions. To me, questions are powerful. Questions lead to thinking, probing, and searching for some sort of answer. I feel like in many senses, we want our students to ask questions. But yet when I was observing classes last class, I noticed that not enough students were asking questions. Instead, the teachers were which makes sense of course. Questions are a form of assessment, that’s why it’s important to focus on how we word our questions. Playing with Bloom’s Taxonomy and switching of the order in which we ask low level to high level questions is a key.  I feel like it’s not just can our students answer the questions, but can they take that answer and shoot a deeper, related question back out? To me, that’s more of an assessment than just an answer.

 

Looking at the second part of the class, I found the lecture on how to lecture really eye opening. The part that stands out to me the most is telling stories in our lectures. It opens up many different doors for our students. Not only is it in human nature to be drawn to stories, but its also a way to help them remember the content of the lesson. But more importantly it’s a way to build a relationship with students. By telling them a story from your life (an appropriate one) it’s a way to show them a side of you. It adds depth to who you are as a person. I can remember some of my favorite teachers from high school and one of the reasons I can is because I know something quirky about them that they told me one class. I know that lecturing is inevitable, but as long as you can keep it fun, productive, and human I feel as though it is a productive way to get information out.

 

 

               

Real Time Lesson Planning

Tuesday’s class was very exciting for me. It was reassuring and energizing to see lesson planning in real time. One of my biggest anxieties is creating a great lesson plans that drive a class and guide students to think and thrive. While watching the lesson planning I tried to be critical and question what I was seeing before me. One thing I found cool about that is as I would question parts of the lesson plan, Kim or the other teacher would address my question.  For example, I was concerned that students would start to give up or get frustrated with the Do Now exercise because they were being asked to categorize types of conflicts before they had even gone over the topic in class. Almost immediately after I wrote that in my notes Kim or the other male teacher said that it would be a good idea to walk around and reassure students that the point was not to try to be one hundred percent correct, but just to try. That was big for me because not only did it show that they were thinking about how their students may feel with the task, but they were taking the focus away from being correct, but rather, what the content was.

 

Before watching the co-teaching lesson plan I didn’t really think much of co-teaching. Now I am completely sold on the concept. I feel like team teaching is powerful and effective because it helps to create a more solid lesson plan. One of the things I’ve always been told is to try to not get too lost in my head as I plan, to keep checking that the plan is cohesive and step by step. Like with writing, it can be easy to move at too quickly of a pace and think that students will be able to follow along because as the teacher, you already know the content at hand.  Being able to talk out the plan and bounce ideas off of each other helps to create a plan that is fluid and compelling. You also can brainstorm how your students are going to act and what questions they may have.

 

Knowing your students has been a constant theme in this class. We all keep hearing that students want you to get to know them, that it’s your job to get to know them, and it’s like you’re a second parent to them while they are in your classroom. More so than ever do I see how crucial it is. Kim displayed that knowing is the key to guiding your students to effectively learn. Creating differentiated planning, and spicing things up with elements that not only aid audio learners but visual and kinesthetic learners helps for everyone to learn. From interest inventories to lesson plans, to just establishing a positive relationship with students, keeping their needs and strengths in mind is something that every teacher must do.  I’ve always known that to be at my core, but more so than ever I feel pumped up and energized to get to teaching.  I want more classes like that one.

My Purpose

One thing that really resonated with me from last class was the idea of purpose in the teaching field. I’m sure we’ve all felt a scorn or a laugh when we’ve told someone that we are in college to be teachers. Of course, not everyone feels that teaching isn’t a great profession. I’ve had many people say that teaching is an excellent field and that teachers are always needed. However some people, mainly my family, think that teaching isn’t the best way to go in term of a career. They are more concerned with my financial stability. They have good intentions; they want me to be well off. They’ve even said things like, well if you’re going to teach, you should teach math so you actually get a job.

That’s as close as a compromise I’m going to get though. They don’t share my philosophy that you have to do something that makes you happy. I could have the well-paying job in the world but if I don’t like the job or I feel like I’m not making a positive impact on society then I feel as though the work is meaningless.

I know how much some of my former teachers have impacted me, and that’s exactly what I would love to do for someone else. There’s a quote out there that goes along the lines of, “If you don’t work to make your dreams come true then you’re working to help make someone else’s come true.” I could never do that, be some sort of office zombie. But in a way, the quote is completely true to me. I will be making my dreams come true by guiding students along and teaching them in order to help them get to a place, whether that is college, military, or even just graduating high school, where they can begin to make their own dreams come true.

Parent Panel

I found the parent panel in class to be very interesting and insightful. It occurred to me in class that I had never really thought about parents and meeting with them in my teaching career. I've always been focused on students and thinking of ways to reach them all in lesson plans. There was a lot of things that the parents said that I found helpful. I like how they said that phone calls are usually the best way of reaching them. One of my biggest take aways is that I shouldn't just call when issues arise. Making positive phone calls about their children is always pleasant and can also establish a positive relationship with students. It says to the student, I’m here for you, and I notice your weaknesses as well as your strengths. It also establishes a better connection with the parent to the student’s school life.

However, I did have some questions after the panel. The parents seemed very interested and willing to know about their children in school, a few of them said that if we see a change in their behavior we should notify them right away. Personally, I don’t feel as though that is always a good idea. We as teachers should find a balance between looking out for our students and overly watching them. Maybe we don’t know the student well enough to make such a quick call. Or maybe calling home isn’t always such a good idea. What if we report a change in the students’ behavior to their parents and that only makes the issue worse. As teachers if we don’t meet the parents or have had a conversation with the student about their home life, then we have no way of knowing if the child has a safe home life. Our classrooms should be a safe space for our students, and we as teachers must find a balance between reporting to parents and being there for students who may need to keep their minor issues to themselves.

Being that role of a teacher has always been one full of layers of grey areas. All I can really say is I will be a teacher who will strive to make both good and bad calls, but will strive to have a good enough relationship where students will feel safe in confiding in me if they need an adult to talk to and cannot go to their parents/ guardians. 

CF Scavenger Hunt

1) Children’s Friend, founded in 1834

4) There are four schools in the Central Falls school district.

8) Yes there is a post office in town. (See picture below)

10) There are no movie theaters in Central Falls, the closest ones are in Lincoln and Providence.

12) Jenk’s Park is located right next to the Central Falls city hall. (See picture below.)

16) There are no large supermarkets in town such as Stop N Shop or Shaw’s, but there are many little market like places in CF. Some examples being Carlo’s Market (see picture below). However there is a Save A Lot and a super Stop and Shop close by in Pawtucket.

19) Adam’s Memorial Library

22) Central Falls High School

23) James Wilson

24) Charley Bassett, Jim Slwy, and Max Surkont

 

Carlo's Market

 

 

Jenk's Park

 

CF Post Office

 

 

I knew by looking on MapQuest that Central Falls was a small city. But by driving around it I got a better sense of how small and congested the city is. I can’t help but feel that this city is very cluttered and lacks a lot of open spaces. Even visiting Jenk’s part, I noticed that it was very small, and that MapQuest is misleading because parts of the park on the map were actually just parking lots. This scavenger hunt led me into neighborhoods I would have probably never been to, and I got to see how even the housing areas are cramped. Often time’s people have to travel out of CF for entertainment and shopping because there is a lack of fresh grocery markets, movie theaters, and shopping centers. The layout of the city with its tiny, barred shops and lack of open areas can lead one to feel a sense of entrapment.

 

Thinking as a teacher candidate, I realize that students may feel this way about their home town. Just driving from CF to Pawtucket’s downtown area I noticed a difference in architecture and structure and students must notice that too. Taking the bus from CF to downtown Providence, students see the water, art, culture, and the malls. This says to students that there is not a lot in Central Falls that fits with the modern culture, you have to leave the city to get to that. There is a sense of teaching pride of CF to the community which makes me hopeful because there is a lot of history and things to be proud of here. Unfortunately it is often shadowed by current issues with the education system and headlines of corruption in local politics.