Classroom Observation #3

I was able to visit the second grade class of Mrs. H a few days ago during a literacy block. I decided to come during this time because Mrs. H has a very unique way of doing stations. Each student is assigned to a group at the beginning of the year. During literacy block groups are assigned to one station they stay at for the entire 35 minutes. The groups each have an index card with the students’ names on them and next to the names are small colored clips. Each clip indicates the job that the student has that week. Jobs included “discussion leader”, “grader”, and “materials distributor”. During the literacy block time students knew exactly what their jobs were and where they were supposed to go. Because of all the modeling and practice the students had with this system, the whole class ran like clockwork. Everyone was engaged the whole time and there were no behavior issues. Mrs. H ran a guided reading group at the back table. She was keeping a running record of the students’ at her table’s reading. She would tell the students how many words they read per minute and the kids were really excited about getting a higher WPM score. She also gave a student a suggestion to read with more expression, which all the subsequent readers took to heart and practiced as well.

It was exciting to see the classroom work so smoothly and seamlessly. Mrs. H has done an extremely effective job at setting procedures in her classroom that allow her to focus on small group instruction. The procedures also allow her students to take responsibility and feel like classroom leaders. I saw students doing their jobs with pride and excitement. I hope to enact simpler, but similar procedures in my kindergarten classroom to allow for small group instruction that happens more often and without losing out on learning opportunities. 

Observation #2

My second observation was of a first grade classroom. Mrs. T (I’ve omitted the full name of the teacher to protect her privacy) was just beginning her reading instruction when I came in. In her class half of the students go to a reading specialist while she retains the other half for reading instruction as well. She keeps the group that is generally below grade level or approaching grade level. The ratio is 14:1 which made a huge difference in the level of interaction.

She had half of her students come to the back table to do guided reading with her while the other half worked independently on the Daily 5 which she reviewed and reminded the students were on an anchor chart if they needed to be redirected. At the back table she warmed up her group of about 8 students with phonics flash cards. Then they read the title of the text and predicted what it would be about. As they read the text together she had students track with their fingers and stopped periodically to ask comprehension questions.

After finishing the decodable text, she got out a worksheet that included blends and nonsense words to decode. She let each student have a chance reading a column of words aloud while the others tracked along. She kept a running record of the students’ progress. I also noticed a lot of call and response which really engaged the students in the activity.

Something I learned and would like to experiment with in my kindergarten classroom is the flashcard phonics activity I saw her employ at the beginning of her small group instruction. I do whole group phonics activities, but I am sure that shier personalities do not participate at the same level as the more confident readers. I would love to practice phonics with my students in smaller settings to be able to assess their understanding and inform my teaching.

Observation #1

I had the pleasure of observing Mrs. H’s fourth grade class this morning during their walk to math (to protect privacy, I have omitted names in this post). At 9:35 the students divide into their math groups and walk to their math class. The students are grouped according to ability. Mrs. H took the lower group and taught a review lesson before their end-of-unit test. The students gathered on the front rug where with their whiteboards and markers while Mrs. H sat behind them at the document camera. She then reviewed how to solve perimeter and area problems with them.

While the lesson itself was fairly straightforward, I learned a lot from her management strategies. This being a group of struggling math students, they are generally unmotivated and get discouraged easily. I saw this teacher employ effective strategies to get students excited and involved. An example is the use of tangible rewards. It is not advised to lean on tangible rewards, but to get students to have self-motivation, however in this case the teacher used it effectively. At random points throughout the lesson she would notice someone being a leader, working extra hard, or doing something else commendable and she would quickly toss him or her a small treat (starburst candy).

I also noticed her demeanor with the students. She was very friendly with them and showed she cared about them personally through the way she spoke (kind, compassionate, and familiar with their personalities and lives). However, when the class began to take control and raise their voices or lose focus, she would stop what she was saying mid-sentence, fold her hands, and wait until the class got quiet. I have tried this in my class before and it has not been effective because I usually end up saying something or I’ll switch to a different strategy after a few seconds of it not working. What I saw Mrs. H do worked because she waited until it was completely silent before moving on. The students are then much more attentive to the teacher and she has control once more. After seeing this teacher employ the technique effectively, I would like to try again with my class and know that patience is what makes this one work well. Mrs. H’s examples of student management gave me inspiration for using new and old strategies with my own class.

Appropriate Challenge in Math

O2. – Offer appropriate challenge in the content area. To offer an appropriate challenge in content areas means that as teachers we set standards for all students to achieve while at the same time differentiating instruction so as to challenge students who are excelling at the standard and scaffolding for students who are not meeting standards. I was able to observe my kindergarten methods teacher conducting a math lesson a few weeks ago. My goal was to observe a student who was struggling with the lesson and a student who was easily excelling, and to reflect upon their points of view and use that information and inference to determine what I would have done as the instructor to ensure that students on both sides of the spectrum were getting appropriate challenge in the content area. I wrote my analysis and plan in a blog post which is linked at the bottom of this post. In short I found that the struggling student was highly capable of solving the math problems, he was just unmotivated. This evidence (the experience and corresponding reflection paper) demonstrates my emerging competence of O2. I was able to really pay attention to high and low competency math learners, and I brainstormed ways in which to appropriately challenge them. An example of an appropriate way to challenge the low math level student would be to scaffold instruction to him by breaking the larger problem into smaller pieces that are easier to accomplish one at a time. Student learning depends on appropriate challenge in all content areas. I have to recognize that my students are individual with their own struggles and aptitudes just like me. In order for them to achieve the greatest success, it is important for me to give them the tools to reach standards in subjects that are a challenge for them, and to give them extra challenge in subjects that are natural for them. I know this will be a challenge for me to do throughout my career as an educator, but I think the main component to my success in this area is to be attentive to it. I need to pay attention to each student and identify their strengths and weaknesses. I need to come up with creative ways to differentiate instruction to each student and give them the one on one attention they deserve. This will be a work in progress, but I am willing to accept the challenge to foster student success.

 

Field Activity #3: Observation of 2 Students Experiencing the Same Mathematics Lesson

 

Field Activity #3: Observation of 2 Students Experiencing the Same Mathematics Lesson

The math lesson I observed this week was a basic counting exercise followed by a game. The teacher warmed up the student by presenting a CCSS objective for kindergarten saying “We can count to 50.” The whole class counted from 0 to 50 together while clapping their hands on each number. Then all the students got out their mini whiteboards while the teacher instructed from the document camera with her own whiteboard. She asked 3 questions which were written on pieces of paper she put under the cam. “Count the turkeys and write the number”, “Count the pilgrims and write the number”, and “Explain how to count these pilgrims” were the three questions. She covered several objectives such as being able to count by 1’s and 2’s as well as verbalizing their rationale. The teacher would present the questions, have students read them aloud, allow time for students to work alone and solve the problem, and then she asked them to show their work as formative assessment. When different students found different ways to count the same objects (by 1’s and 2’s and 3’s) she would write them in number sentence form. For example if J counted by 2 she would write 2+2+2=6 pilgrims on the doc cam, and if R counted by 3’s she would write 3+3=6 pilgrims as R said explained how she counted.

The second part of the lesson was a class math game which helped the students work on greater than and less than understandings. A student thinks of a number between 0 and 20, writes that number on a small board hidden from the group, and the students guess the number. There is a number line on the board and as they guess the student tells the rest of the group if the number is greater than or less than the guessed number.

Student 1’s Perspective:

I wonder what’s next? I had a really fun time at recess today. I wish I could have had time to finish my lunch. Oh it’s time to get out my whiteboard! Yay! I looooveeee whiteboard time! Drawing is my favorite. I think I will draw a mouse. I like mice. [Redirected by teacher] Oh, I guess I should be doing this. I really want to learn, I’m just so tired and bored. I hate sitting unless I can move my hands or pretend to make a rocket. I like rockets and planes. There are 6 turkeys I think. No 16. Wait how do I write 16? Is it 61 or 16? Those teens are tricky! I think I’ll make a really good drawing and Ms. E will think I’m smart! Ms. E! Look at this!!! [Redirected] Oh yah I gotta get back to work. [Move to rug for game] I’m so tired from trick or treating I’m just going to lie down. I don’t like my boots. Hey they make a cool squeaky sound if I take them off and rub them together! Cool!

Student 2’s Perspective:

I like counting! I count all the time at home. I counted 34 pieces of candy from my Halloween bag last night! I know the answer! This is easy when you count by 1s. I might try counting by 2s someday too, but for now I like counting by 1s so I will write that down on my board. Oh Ms. E saw my number sentence and she said I did a good job. I will raise my hand the next time she asks a question because I bet I could figure out the answer. Oh we get to play Monster Squeeze! This is my favorite game ever. I hope I get to be the number guesser. I bet if I sit quietly and raise my hand I will get called on. School is so fun!

Student 1 and Student 2 had very different interactions with this lesson. Student 1 was not very engaged. He did enjoy the drawing aspect of the lesson, but he did not use his drawings to help understand or express his mathematical process. Instead he practiced his own doodles. He wasn’t acting out, but he wasn’t learning either. When he was off task he would doodle silently or stare off into space or lay down on the carpet. My best guess as to why he was not engaged during lesson was because it was the afternoon and he was tired (especially having it be the day after Halloween), he wasn’t sure what to do (perhaps he didn’t think he was good at the lesson), and he wanted to do other things instead of his work. Student 2 in contrast was highly interested. She seemed to really want to please the teacher as well as find out the answer. With each question she asked or response she shared she received positive feedback which made her visibly happier and more excited to share with the class again.

I think Student 2 had great practice with counting discreet objects by 1’s 2’s and 3’s. She was also able to use the terms greater than and less than correctly to figure out an unknown number. Evidence of this learning came primarily through my observations of her participation. The teacher would ask for answers to the problems and she always raised her hand. The teacher would have the students write their responses along with a picture to justify their answer on their mini whiteboards, and Student 2 always had an appropriate, correct response. Student 1 showed little evidence of having learned anything. When he was called upon by the teacher to respond, he had little to offer. Instead of writing the answers or illustrating pictures to try to figure out the problems he would doodle on his whiteboard. He was completely inattentive during the greater than and less than game.

My mentor teacher is excellent at what she does, so it is very difficult to try to think of ways in which I would have better engaged and taught Student 1. I think his inattention came from a place of feeling tired and completely unmotivated. Since this is the case, I could try to work mathematics into the morning lesson time as much as possible. Beyond that I would get to know the things that make Student 1 excited. I know he has an affinity for mice. Perhaps I would try to work in more story problems involving mice in my math lessons. I have also noticed this student loves making tangram and unifix cube creations during free time. I don’t think my mentor teacher has involved these manipulatives in any specific math instruction, so I’d be really curious to see if using these and providing very clear instructions would help this student to engage in the math instruction. I would also try to check in with this student very regularly during class wide instruction so that I could check his progress and answer his specific questions.

This observation taught me that mathematics instruction in particular is only effective when differentiated. Students sitting right next to each other, hearing the exact same lesson, getting the exact same opportunities may learn completely different things throughout the course of the lesson. It is vital to understand each student’s learn style and motivations. When a teacher can engage and differentiate, she can make sure each student is learning what they need to. Our goal is to meet all students’ needs. In order to meet that goal I know I will have to understand what each student needs. In my classroom I foresee a lot of one on one progress checks. If I have the help of in-school tutors or volunteers I will use them to help me differentiate instruction as much as possible and meet students needs on both ends of the spectrum.