Reading the assigned articles really made me think about how I ran my classroom when I was teaching. So many new ideas about how I could have done things differently are still running through my head.
I establish spaces and time frames that permit students to interact and reflect on their learning as needed.
I had students reflect on their learning, but I know that the reflection didn't go very deep. All I had them do at the end of the lesson was to give me a thumbs up, sideways or thumbs down to show me how they felt about their learning. I would always take note of the students that gave a sideways or down thumb and make sure that they got additional help the next day. If I was still teaching today, I think that I would do something similar but take it a step further.
On a 1/4 sheet of paper, I would still have them give me the "thumb" that fits how they feeling their learning went, but I would then have them write why they chose that specific one. Maybe they chose the thumbs up because they were able to get all of the sample math problems correct. If they give me a thumbs down, they might tell me where in the lesson they were lost. Now my hope is that I would catch something like this during class, but unfortunately that doesn't always happen.
We are soon going to implement a new LMS. I think that I would give students the option to submit a recording as their reflection or even submit their "paper" in digital form.
As for establishing spaces, last summer I was thinking of getting rid of most of my desks for the upcoming school year. I had seen several bloggers that had done this with primary grades and I thought it would work with my 5th and 6th graders. Every time we would get into groups, the majority of the groups would go somewhere and sit on the floor together. While there were some groups that did move the desks together to form a large workspace, they were in the minority. I think with a flipped class, this concept would have worked even better. I wouldn't have needed everyone to sit in their seats so that they could see what I needed to teach them. They would have already gotten the lesson and would be either working in groups or individually on an assignment.
As I told one of my colleagues...with everything I'm learning in my new position, I wish I was still in the classroom to implement all of it. But this new position does allow me to share these new practices with the district and not just keep it to myself in my own classroom.
I continually observe and monitor students to make adjustments as appropriate.
This was something that I was pretty good at. Whenever students were working, I was walking around the room and observing what they were doing. If I saw someone struggling, I would either get them a peer buddy (if I was the only adult in the room) or work with them one on one. If there was a small group of students that needed help, I would give a small tutoring session for those students.
We also had what se called Success Time. I often gave mini quizzes to the students that would have 8 math problems on it, covering a couple of days' topics. Based on the outcomes of those quizzes, I would do re-teaching during Success Time. I usually had at least 2 other adults in the room with me and we could break off into smaller groups with the students. This worked really well. When state testing time came, my students' score would be some of the highest in the district and for most years, were higher than the state average.
I provide students with different ways to learn content and demonstrate mastery.
While teaching, I would always provide multiple ways for students to learn the material and I think with the implementation of the LMS, I think that I could go even further with that. I look forward to learning more about this through this class and my own research.
Now when it comes to demonstrating mastery on a standard, it usually came in the form of a test that the whole class took (ESL and Sped students had modifications per their ILP/IEP). I'm looking forward to learning other ways to test for mastery through this class and my own research.
These questions have really made me think about how I ran my classroom and how, if I was still teaching, I would do things differently. But I can still effect change for my district with my new position. During my training sessions, I can being up these points and have other teachers reflect on their own classroom environments and what they can do to make their students' learning more meaningful.
If you've made it this far, thanks for letting me ramble....
I had students reflect on their learning, but I know that the reflection didn't go very deep. All I had them do at the end of the lesson was to give me a thumbs up, sideways or thumbs down to show me how they felt about their learning. I would always take note of the students that gave a sideways or down thumb and make sure that they got additional help the next day. If I was still teaching today, I think that I would do something similar but take it a step further.
On a 1/4 sheet of paper, I would still have them give me the "thumb" that fits how they feeling their learning went, but I would then have them write why they chose that specific one. Maybe they chose the thumbs up because they were able to get all of the sample math problems correct. If they give me a thumbs down, they might tell me where in the lesson they were lost. Now my hope is that I would catch something like this during class, but unfortunately that doesn't always happen.
We are soon going to implement a new LMS. I think that I would give students the option to submit a recording as their reflection or even submit their "paper" in digital form.
As for establishing spaces, last summer I was thinking of getting rid of most of my desks for the upcoming school year. I had seen several bloggers that had done this with primary grades and I thought it would work with my 5th and 6th graders. Every time we would get into groups, the majority of the groups would go somewhere and sit on the floor together. While there were some groups that did move the desks together to form a large workspace, they were in the minority. I think with a flipped class, this concept would have worked even better. I wouldn't have needed everyone to sit in their seats so that they could see what I needed to teach them. They would have already gotten the lesson and would be either working in groups or individually on an assignment.
As I told one of my colleagues...with everything I'm learning in my new position, I wish I was still in the classroom to implement all of it. But this new position does allow me to share these new practices with the district and not just keep it to myself in my own classroom.
I continually observe and monitor students to make adjustments as appropriate.
This was something that I was pretty good at. Whenever students were working, I was walking around the room and observing what they were doing. If I saw someone struggling, I would either get them a peer buddy (if I was the only adult in the room) or work with them one on one. If there was a small group of students that needed help, I would give a small tutoring session for those students.
We also had what se called Success Time. I often gave mini quizzes to the students that would have 8 math problems on it, covering a couple of days' topics. Based on the outcomes of those quizzes, I would do re-teaching during Success Time. I usually had at least 2 other adults in the room with me and we could break off into smaller groups with the students. This worked really well. When state testing time came, my students' score would be some of the highest in the district and for most years, were higher than the state average.
I provide students with different ways to learn content and demonstrate mastery.
While teaching, I would always provide multiple ways for students to learn the material and I think with the implementation of the LMS, I think that I could go even further with that. I look forward to learning more about this through this class and my own research.
Now when it comes to demonstrating mastery on a standard, it usually came in the form of a test that the whole class took (ESL and Sped students had modifications per their ILP/IEP). I'm looking forward to learning other ways to test for mastery through this class and my own research.
These questions have really made me think about how I ran my classroom and how, if I was still teaching, I would do things differently. But I can still effect change for my district with my new position. During my training sessions, I can being up these points and have other teachers reflect on their own classroom environments and what they can do to make their students' learning more meaningful.
If you've made it this far, thanks for letting me ramble....
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