Another good meeting - started an hour late due to a conflict, but everyone was able to make it and stay for at least 20 minutes - most for the entire time. We mostly discussed first year teacher stuff. Pencils, pens, erasers, organizing, discipline, and finding a mentor, and working with administration. We weren't exactly on topic as far as ELL, but I think it was agreed, that this was a very useful and productive meeting for them. e spent another hour together when I called it a night as it was 11 pm EST.
From a learning perspective, I guess the most I can personally say is that I can see how I have grown since my first year, and how much there really is that is left undone in the teacher education process. On the other hand, it is not really possible to make someone organize for a classroom full of students until they have one. I think, looking back on it, the thing I relied on most was my mentor teacher, and it was the one thing I tried to really impress upo th group was to find one even if you don't have to.
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
TAMU Meeting 2
Second meeting with TAMU went very well. About 75 minutes and we basically adjourned although we were still going strong. Topics included how to determine the usefulness of technology as compared to the time spent introducing it to students, how to police student activity and keep them on task, differentiating and having other assignments available for the quicker students.
The meeting went very well though it offered less to me as the direction it took was more about how to run your classroom and manage student behavior. This is not to say that I believe that I am perfect at it, indeed, each year offers new challenges as I change curriculum in what I like to think of as a very fluid and differentiated environment. What was most instructional to me was the commentary from the other participants about how I organize and run my classroom. I realized more than anything that I need to further differentiate and consistently differentiate through each unit - something I have thought of but have been somewhat slow to do in midstream. I have been looking forward to spring and summer breaks to even out the units within my class.
We were also in a different environment for this meeting - sitting on grass as opposed to in the circles. There didn't seem to be much difference in the group dynamic. I think this was because we were still surrounded by grassy area and not in a very classroom type of setting. I also have been fortunate in that my group is very prepared and willing to share their ideas and even to reconsider their position.
Perhaps the most enlightening moment to the TAMU collective was after they adamantly argued against allowing head phones and multi-tab searches (where students might be looking up unrelated topics). SAfter they almost unanimously said no, I asked them if they and anything else going on and they all admitted having TV, radio, or e-mail open.
We ended by just deciding to, though we were still very much into our discussion. We concluded , once again, that nothing is as clear cut as we might wish and that differentiating doesn't necessarily only apply to how students learn, but how perhaps even how they are allowed to multitask.
The meeting went very well though it offered less to me as the direction it took was more about how to run your classroom and manage student behavior. This is not to say that I believe that I am perfect at it, indeed, each year offers new challenges as I change curriculum in what I like to think of as a very fluid and differentiated environment. What was most instructional to me was the commentary from the other participants about how I organize and run my classroom. I realized more than anything that I need to further differentiate and consistently differentiate through each unit - something I have thought of but have been somewhat slow to do in midstream. I have been looking forward to spring and summer breaks to even out the units within my class.
We were also in a different environment for this meeting - sitting on grass as opposed to in the circles. There didn't seem to be much difference in the group dynamic. I think this was because we were still surrounded by grassy area and not in a very classroom type of setting. I also have been fortunate in that my group is very prepared and willing to share their ideas and even to reconsider their position.
Perhaps the most enlightening moment to the TAMU collective was after they adamantly argued against allowing head phones and multi-tab searches (where students might be looking up unrelated topics). SAfter they almost unanimously said no, I asked them if they and anything else going on and they all admitted having TV, radio, or e-mail open.
We ended by just deciding to, though we were still very much into our discussion. We concluded , once again, that nothing is as clear cut as we might wish and that differentiating doesn't necessarily only apply to how students learn, but how perhaps even how they are allowed to multitask.
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
TAMU Meeting 1
Had a really good- one-hour long - meeting with students from Texas A&M. We discussed everything from identifying ESL students to teaching them in an inclusion setting. The students were very engaging and offered good ideas as well as concerns about their role in the larger picture of teaching while splitting time between regular planning and "special case" planning. We also discussed differentiation within the class room and the advantages and pitfalls.
In the role of facilitator, I did find myself steering the conversation a little as I could. The Participants were very willing to offer comments and I mostly just had to move us on to other topics. We agreed that SL was a good forum for conversation, but we also agreed that to use it with students in a high school setting does present inherent dangers to teachers and we were not sure how to get around them. In particular, SL has areas that are of questionable content, and once on the site, there is no way to stop students from finding these areas and it seems likely that the teacher who directed them to SL would be mentioned as being to blame.
A a group, we weren't sure about some aspects of ESL. In particular what, if any, status they shared with other Special Ed students legally. We found ourselves becoming overwhelmed with all of the possibilities that a teacher of these types of students would face, and we found no relief in the fact that we would likely only have a couple in any one class. In fact, this almost seemed more difficult from a planning perspective.
There was a moment for me when I realized that I don;t actually have a simple question on my First Day Questionnaire that asks students if English is the primary language spoken by them or in their home. I offered no excuse for this last night, and do not do so now.
In the end, I complimented them on their dedication to education as demonstrated by their agreement to meet at a late hour on a Monday night three times in a month. I thanked them for their time and came away, with a little opening in the window of my mind about taking a fresh look at myself and my teaching practices; especially as it pertains to addressing culture and language in my classroom.
In the role of facilitator, I did find myself steering the conversation a little as I could. The Participants were very willing to offer comments and I mostly just had to move us on to other topics. We agreed that SL was a good forum for conversation, but we also agreed that to use it with students in a high school setting does present inherent dangers to teachers and we were not sure how to get around them. In particular, SL has areas that are of questionable content, and once on the site, there is no way to stop students from finding these areas and it seems likely that the teacher who directed them to SL would be mentioned as being to blame.
A a group, we weren't sure about some aspects of ESL. In particular what, if any, status they shared with other Special Ed students legally. We found ourselves becoming overwhelmed with all of the possibilities that a teacher of these types of students would face, and we found no relief in the fact that we would likely only have a couple in any one class. In fact, this almost seemed more difficult from a planning perspective.
There was a moment for me when I realized that I don;t actually have a simple question on my First Day Questionnaire that asks students if English is the primary language spoken by them or in their home. I offered no excuse for this last night, and do not do so now.
In the end, I complimented them on their dedication to education as demonstrated by their agreement to meet at a late hour on a Monday night three times in a month. I thanked them for their time and came away, with a little opening in the window of my mind about taking a fresh look at myself and my teaching practices; especially as it pertains to addressing culture and language in my classroom.
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