Madi's Inquiry 3 Notes

Part C:

To what extent you were expected to follow a scripted curriculum, or add your own ideas to a curriculum that already exists, or create a unit that is entirely new?

- I was required to use activity packets that my MT uses while covering the 6 traits of writing, but those packets were simply a reference for my students. I was given a lot of freedom to create my own lesson activities, which mimicked those in the packets, but were implemented my way. There were several whole-class discussions as well as pieces of individual written work that I was able to obtain by branching off of the scripted curriculum.

What was unproblematic and/or challenging about planning a unit in this context?

- Having the scripted packets gave me a starting place, in terms of creating my own lesson. I was able to see one way of covering material and from there, make a lesson that included the same material, but in a way that was suitable and interesting to my students. I had the freedom to explore and use other resources within my unit and that helped my students to become more involved with the material and ultimately take away more from each lesson. Initially, I was challenged with the thought that I would have to somehow fit every activity from the packets into my lessons, but after discussing this with my MT, I realized that I could use whichever activities I wanted, and that the rest could simply be used for extra practice.

What obstacles did you face? How did you overcome them?

- I think that throughout the entire guided lead teaching experience, the obstacle that continued to cause issues for me was the limited time. In the middle school setting, students only get 45 minutes for each class, meaning that I only got 45 minutes to get through my entire lesson each day. Initially, this was a problem because I felt rushed through the activities and wouldn’t complete what I had hoped to. This caused me to miss out on meaningful discussion in the beginning of the unit, however, once I realized that the time limit was a reoccurring issue, I altered my future lesson plans so that the writing activities were assigned for homework and class time could be spent on actually teaching the material and getting feedback from the kids.

What dilemmas (if any) did you face and how did you manage them? Consider issues that may relate to developing your professional identity, developing strong teacher-student relationships, constructing relevant curriculum, or assessing students in meaningful and productive ways.

- I felt as though most of my students comprehended the material within the unit, and when asked if they had questions, there were typically very few. It wasn’t until I would review their formative assessments that I was able to see exactly who was able to successfully demonstrate what. Several students we’re confused about what could and could not be a transition word, and instead of asking for assistance, they just assumed and ended up making it more difficult on themselves than need be. After observing this, I made sure to check in on students throughout the lesson’s activities and monitor their progress. This allowed me to see my students as specific, individual learners rather than gage the class’s progress on a whole-class scale.

Did the unit proceed as you expected? Why or why not?

- Looking back on the unit as a whole, I feel as though I was able to accomplish what I had hoped to accomplish in the ten-day span. There were days that had to be altered and assignments that ended up changing throughout guided lead teaching, however, these were made with the best interest of the students in mind, and resulted in better overall understanding of the unit material. Students were still able to demonstrate understanding of my objectives and were able to do so at their own pace.

What surprises or “aha moments” did you experience?

- If I learned anything from this guided lead teaching experience it was that modeling within instruction is essential. I think that I had anticipated that my students, being in 6^th grade, would be able to simply understand what I wanted from them. Although this may have been the case in some situations, for the most part, any and all modeling that I could offer my students ended up being beneficial for both them, and me. It made it very clear what I was expecting, without repeating instructions multiple times and perhaps getting frustrated. The importance of modeling is something that I will take with me as I move on in my teaching career and attempt to do as much as possible while implementing lessons in the future.

What do you still need to learn about teaching in this target area, about your developing your core practice’ and about teaching literacy in general?

- Even though I made sure to practice differentiated instruction as much as possible, I still worry that I am not able to communicate with my ELL students as well as I do with other students. I realize that part of this issue is out of my control, however, it is important to me that they, and I, feel comfortable and confident with any instructions and expectations. I have made a conscious effort to support them as best I can, but I am still struggling with how to do this while not losing the attention of the rest of the class. Although this is something that I am concerned about, I’m sure with more practice and experience that I will find a comfortable balance between the two.

Joey Inquiry 3 Notes

What Happened During My Lesson

 As my unit progressed I noticed a very clear development in the students understanding of how to use ideas/content and organization to craft a well thought out quality writing piece. They started with a basic understanding of these two traits and by the end of the lesson they were able using multiple pre writing strategies, such as word webs or outlines to brainstorm ideas/content for writing pieces. They also were utilizing several organization strategies throughout the unit when developing their papers.

After collecting my summative assessment I was pleasantly surprised with the results. I graded this final paper based on how they utilized strategies that I taught during the lesson. They were to show me their prewriting strategy, as well as use a clear organizational strategy. When I scored the papers and averaged the percent’s I was happy to see that the class average was a 92%. No student scored below an 80%, which confirms for me that every student could utilize at least one technique for brainstorming ideas/content and how to organize a paper.

To what extent you were expected to follow a scripted curriculum, or add your own ideas to a curriculum that already exists, or create a unit that is entirely new?

 

I was required to use a packet that my MT implements when teaching the 6 traits. However, I was given the freedom to tweak my lessons in a way that would facilitate more discussion. I took advantage of this, as I felt that the packets were too much about memorizing facts and rules rather than leaving space for creativity and authentic discussion.

 

What was unproblematic and/or challenging about planning a unit in this context?

 One of the toughest parts about this unit was teaching it in a new exciting way for the students to remain interested and excited to learn. Often times the students seemed to become bored with the lessons. Because of this I often reflected after school and changed my lesson for the next day in order to make it more catered to keeping the students active and hold their attention.

 

What obstacles did you face? How did you overcome them?

I think that my biggest obstacle while teaching this unit was time.  Too often I felt that I was not able to finish everything I had planned before the end of the hour.  A possible solution to this could be that I plan to cover less, but go into more depth with the smaller portion of information that I do cover.  This may actually be better for the students in the end, as they will have a deeper knowledge of what we do cover, rather than covering more information in less depth.

What dilemmas (if any) did you face and how did you manage them? Consider issues that may relate to developing your professional identity, developing strong teacher-student relationships, constructing relevant curriculum, or assessing students in meaningful and productive ways.

 

One dilemma I faced is how to help my ELL.  He struggles greatly with his writing and often times produces very incomplete and difficult to understand writing pieces.  In our Writing Essentials book, it discusses several ways to help with teaching ELL’s in Language Arts.  Guided practice and multiple demonstrations seem to be two main ideas that really stick out to me.  I would like to look more deeply into these strategies in order to become a more effective literacy instructor for ELL students.

 

Did the unit proceed as you expected? Why or why not?

 Generally I felt that my unit did progress as I expected.  Of course there were some parts that I added or cut out, but overall I feel that I was able to teach the concepts and skills that I set out to at the beginning of the unit.

 

What surprises or“aha moments” did you experience?

I utilized an integrated summative assessment for math and language arts units.  In math I was instructing the students on adding and subtracting fractions.  They were given a unit test the day before they were assigned the summative assessment in LA.  Many students struggled with the concepts on their math tests and did not receive high grades.  However, when given the assignment in LA to write about fractions using a pre-writing strategy and a specific organization pattern the students were much more successful in their descriptions and demonstration of understanding.  Students who did poorly on their math tests, when given direction and strategies to utilize in LA were able to gather their thoughts and create very thorough writing pieces, describing the process of adding and subtracting fractions.

What do you still need to learn about teaching in this target area, about your developing your core
practice’ and about teaching literacy in general?

I still need more practice in strategies and modeling effective writing strategies.  I would like to look more into the strategies offered in our books in order to become a more effective writing instructor for ELL students.  ELL students are often “left behind” during writing classes because they need much more scaffolding and instruction then students who speak English as their first language.  I would like to learn how to keep these students engaged in writing and help them become effective writers.

Kim's Part 3 Notes

To what extent you were expected to follow a scripted curriculum, or add your own ideas to a curriculum that already exists, or create a unit that is entirely new? 

My Language Arts MT handed Abby and I our scripted curriculum, it consisted of a predetermined book (Tuck Everlasting), booklet filled with various writing prompts for each chapter, and the accompanying teacher guide. I assumed that this would be our starting point and we could develop our own unique lessons and adapt some premade lessons. When we pitched this idea to our MT, she told us that she expected us to follow the scripted curriculum with little to no deviation. After following her script for the majority of the GLT time, our MT said that we can adapt the lessons and focus more on finishing the story rather than writing a great deal every day. It was incredibly frustrating to feel that all of the hard work that I put into creating my own Tuck Everlasting was going to waste but with her allowing some adaptations, I was able to incorporate some of my previous lessons.

What was unproblematic and/or challenging about planning a unit in this context?

It was very challenging to follow this scripted curriculum because it was not benefiting my students as much as it could have been but I was not allowed to adapt it to their needs. I received very little feedback from my MT on the unit. One the first day of the unit, she sat at the back of the classroom with her computer taking notes, however, she stopped that after the first day. She would pop into discussions periodically but it was sporadic did not always flow well with the discussion.

What obstacles did you face? How did you overcome them?

My field instructor was a wonderful asset for me to gather feedback after she observed various lessons and suggest improvements. I rarely received feedback from my MT; it was also rare to hear, “your lesson went well today” or something along those lines. It was very helpful to have Abby available to bounce questions and suggestions off of before and after my lessons. Also, I had the benefit of asking Abby what went well and what her class struggled with during the lesson so I was able to prepare for it before I taught it to my students. (Abby taught Language Arts in the morning and I taught it in the afternoon.)

What dilemmas (if any) did you face and how did you manage them?  Consider issues that may relate to developing your professional identity, developing strong teacher-student relationships, constructing relevant curriculum, or assessing students in meaningful and productive ways.

It was difficult to determine what specifically I was looking for when I was observing the book club groups. My MT was never able to provide me with a concrete answer on what I was looking for during observations despite the various times that I asked her. I tried to take notes while I observed the book club groups, but without clear direction on what I was looking for, I gave up on the notes. Rather than taking notes, I participated in with the groups during their discussions. I think this strengthened the relationship between the students and me because they were able to see me interacting with the literature alongside them.

What enabled you to be successful?

I was successful because I feel confident teaching Language Arts and finding various ways to differentiate instruction to fit the various needs of my students. I also felt success because I was able to talk with Abby about what succeeded and what needed a bit of work with her class which allowed me a chance to change aspects of my lesson.

Did the unit proceed as you expected? Why or why not?

My MT and I thought that our students’ writing would be much further along than it actually was and we were forced to simplify our expectations for them. Since we were forced to simplify our writing expectations, we ended up “holding our students’ hands” with their writing. We had to develop starting and closing sentences for the students’ paragraphs and help guide them with note taking about what they were supposed to write about in the prompts. During the book club discussions, the students were able to develop well thought out responses that reflected their understanding of the text. However, they lacked the ability to take what they discussed in their groups onto their papers.

What surprises or “aha moments” did you experience?

I was pleasantly surprised to see how well the students participated in their book club groups. The students were actively listening to each other and responding with appropriate and productive comments/responses, it was amazing to see. I was shocked to see how limited and under developed my students writing actually is. They were struggling with writing complete sentences, using details, and producing writing that is deeper than stream of consciousness writing. I spent time in fourth grade last year, in one of the schools that students progressed into my current school, and there was limited time in the schedule but their writing was close to grade level.

What do you still need to learn about teaching in this target area, about your developing your ‘core practice’ and about teaching literacy in general?

I still need to learn what teachers look for when they are observing book club groups. If I had this knowledge then I would have a starting point that I could jump off of if I decided to incorporate book club groups into my future classroom. 

Abby's Inquiry 3, Part A, Step 3

Step 3

To what extent you were expected to follow a scripted curriculum, or add your own ideas to a curriculum that already exists, or create a unit that is entirely new?

I was expected to follow a scripted curriculum and was actually given a book club Journal and Teacher Guide to follow.  At first I thought I was suppose to use this to create my own lessons but when I proposed my unit to my MT, she told me she wanted me to follow the Journal closely.  Therefore I rewrote the lesson staying with the confines to the Journal.  About three quarters of the way through my unit, my MT decided to inform me that it was okay if I wanted to change some things.  This was very frustrating but I did take the opportunity to come up with a few of my own lessons that used the Journal as a base.

 

What was unproblematic and/or challenging about planning a unit in this context?

 I think the most challenging part of this unit was sticking to the Journal’s curriculum and follow the order of the Journal, even when I felt it would be better for my students to change the order.  Another challenge I had was getting feedback from my MT.  During my lessons she would sit in the back and take notes on her computer but it was hard to get more out of her than “I thought that went really well”.  I would try to engage in her discussion about the lesson but she would simply stick to “it was good” or “that went well”.    

What obstacles did you face? How did you overcome them?

 To overcome these issues I spoke to my field instructor and she helped me come up with a way to sit down with my MT and be honest about what type of feedback I wanted.  From these conversations, I was able to talk with her about what I wanted to do with the students, in terms of pushing them in their writing.  We were able to come up with a plan of attack, which allowed me to use some of my own things in the unit and get away from the scripted curriculum.

What dilemmas (if any) did you face and how did you manage them?  Consider issues that may relate to developing your professional identity, developing strong teacher-student relationships, constructing relevant curriculum, or assessing students in meaningful and productive ways.

One dilemma I faced was how to approach my MT appropriately to ask for more concrete feedback.  We have had very open relationship and I am comfortable talking to her, but I was not sure how to approach this professionally without making the situation awkward in any way. Another dilemma I faced was how to take notes on what students were doing in book clubs. I began the unit with a clip board on which I would take notes about the students but I quickly realized I was not sure what I was looking for and when I asked my MT about what she looks for, she really did not give a me a solid answer and eventually I gave up taking notes and spent the time engaging the students in discussion rather than sitting back.  I never did get a good response from my MT on this no matter how I tried to bring the discussion back to the topic.    

What enabled you to be successful?

I think what enabled me to be successful was working with Kim, my team intern and getting a few ideas from my MT as to direction and the amount of personal reflection that I do each day.  After each day at the school, I write a journal entry and that helped me process the day’s lesson and where I wanted/needed to go the next day.  Another thing that helped was talking to my MT about ways to help the students with their writing and then incorporating that into their mini lessons. 

Did the unit proceed as you expected? Why or why not?

The unit proceeded as I expected in that we made it through the lessons as expected.  What did not go as expected was the students’ writing levels.  Both my MT and I had made an assumption that our students were further in their writing then they actually were.  As the assignment progressed, it became very clear that students were not a level of writing that we thought they were.  This lead to some changes in the focus of what we were looking for from them in their writing prompts.  It also changed are emphasis and some of my mini lessons changed to address the writing needs of the students. 

What surprises or “aha moments” did you experience?

I think the biggest surprise that I had during the unit was how little experience my students had with writing and how explicit I had to be with them on how to write.  There was a huge range of writing experience in my students.  Some students had had a lot of experience while others had had very little.  A big ‘aha moment” for me occurred when I was able to stop and listen to the quality of discussion that was going on in the book clubs.  During discussion I heard lots of wonderful writing but as soon as my students were asked to write down their thoughts, it was like they hit a brick wall.  They had a hard time expressing themselves through their writing.

What do you still need to learn about teaching in this target area, about your developing your ‘core practice’ and about teaching literacy in general?

I think the biggest thing that I still need to learn in this area is what to be looking for when I observe students in their book clubs and what types of notes I should be taking.  I know what you are looking for changes with the objective of the lesson, but some basic things that a teacher can always be looking for would be nice and give me a springboard to work from.    

Madi's 2nd LA Reflection

This lesson was my first day of teaching language arts, and its purpose was to get my students thinking about all of the six traits of writing, not specifically the two that I am covering in my unit. This ‘Warm-Up’ activity required students to read three writing samples and ‘rank’ them from strongest to weakest, and provide reasoning why. My students were asked to read each sample on their own and rank based on individual response. For my ELL students who struggle with comprehension and fluency, I pulled them aside and read the samples to them out loud, explaining any aspects of the samples that were unclear. Instead of them writing their reasons why, I allowed them to talk to me about how they assigned each of the rankings. Once I finished reading, they thoughtfully ranked each sample just like the rest of the class.

This lesson practiced individual work time, group discussion, and whole class discussion, so there was a lot going on in terms of talking within this activity. They ended up having to rank each sample three times; once individually, once after a table group discussion, and lastly after a whole class discussion. Each rank was displayed using a different color so that it was clear to me how discussions impacted their opinion. This resulted in some students not ranking on their own, and then putting the same ranks as their groups made. I had hoped to see each students’ individual initial thinking, so this resulted in different responses from different students.

My students were asked to provide three rankings, and reasons why for each of their decisions, each in a separate color based on when the ranking occurred within the lesson. The intention of this lesson was not organization, however, my students really liked this approach. They were able to organize their thoughts and opinions in a way that was made clearly visible by the different colors, and since this lesson, my students have practiced similar organization techniques in other activities and even other classes.

Similar to my other reflection, the ELL students in my class are able to complete assignments and receive further instruction during their ELL classes every day. Although they completed this particular assignment in class, I had to differentiate their instruction and read the samples to them instead of them reading them on their own. Also, their reasoning was given to me verbally because they felt better able to communicate that way, rather than writing.

If I were to re-teach this lesson I would definitely do a better job of monitoring the class during their initial individual ranking. Some students just waited to see what their peers did and copied them and that caused it to me nearly impossible to review and consider their individual thoughts. Having all three colors on their papers was a requirement, but those did not necessarily represent all three of the processes that I had hoped to review.

Students worked in groups and as a whole class and during these conversations I walked around and checked in on each of the tables to see what each student had to say in terms of their reasoning. The ranking was the least important part of the assignment to me, as my focus was more on the ‘why’ aspect. There were several responses shared during the lesson and I was sure not to make any individuals feel singled out during discussions.

This lesson was meant to get my students thinking about what qualities create a “strong” piece of writing, which is a piece of my core practice, although this lesson simply skimmed the surface. Through further investigation of reading writing samples and writing their own, my students should gain a better sense of what aspects my core practice covers within other lessons.

Madi's First LA Reflection

This lesson was the first of the ‘Ideas & Content’ portion of our six traits language arts unit, called ‘Draw on the Count of Three’. A majority of my students have experienced the six traits of writing throughout their schooling, so in 6^th grade we are able to practice using these traits in writing instead of simply learning about them. It was a prewriting lesson and Joey and I were lucky enough to watch each other teach all of our lessons, so having a helping hand with a class of 28 was amazing. I have two ELL students who required extra assistance I terms of understanding instruction. Once they were given more specific instruction, the entire class was able to thoughtfully work their way through each of the prewriting activities within the lesson.

My students sit in table groups during language arts and typically work well with these groups. However, in sixth grade we don’t assign them seats because we want them to be accountable for their own learning and make good decisions about whom they choose to work with. This, as expected, occasionally backfires. With this lesson, there was a specific table of boys who were silent throughout the lesson, even when I addressed them individually in hopes to see their thoughts. When they had nothing to contribute to me verbally, I made sure to look at their responses in their packet once they were collected. As I anticipated, they each had the exact same things written down in almost the exact words. I talked to them later about being responsible for their own work and that it is okay to not want to share with the class, but they need to think for themselves and demonstrate their own learning. Since then, each of them has done an excellent job of working individually, as well as within their group.

Stemming from my previous paragraph, and as Joey also stated in his blog response, my students reacted very well to differentiation of classroom talk. There were times when I led the discussion and gave specific examples, but we also had really engaging talks as a whole class. I observed great conversations amongst my students’ table groups, and after reviewing their responses to this lesson, it was clear that they were able to complete the activities and apply them to their own, individual, writing.

For those students who necessitate additional support, like my two ELL boys, our school is fortunate enough to have an ELL class each day. They receive one-on-one and small group support with practicing English and they are able to bring their homework in for further explanation and clarification. Language arts, in particular, can be a challenge for ELL students, so I am very lucky to have this resource in my school. I bring a copy of my boys’ assignments to their ELL class and am able to work with that resource teacher and my students more closely.

If I were to re-teach this lesson I would do it more like how Joey conducted it with his class. I was able to watch him teach this ‘Draw on the Count of Three’ lesson and really liked how he engaged his class during discussion. I also held a successful discussion with my class, but Joey did a great job with letting the kids bounce ideas off of each other rather than facilitating the direction of conversation. Students were really able to gain a better understanding of each others’ thinking from listening to what their peers had to say.

I walked around during the small group discussions and made sure to address each student within this context. I know that some specific students, including my ELL boys, feel uncomfortable sharing out loud as a whole class, but were able to participate nicely within the “safety” of their table groups. I also wrote ideas from our whole class discussion on the board so that students were able to reference their peers’ thoughts throughout the lesson.

This lesson was the very first of my unit, so I didn’t feel that I was truly able to implement my core practice, at least not very deeply. I addressed the six traits and this lesson was a great way to get them thinking about them, but I am looking forward to using this practice to reference while discussion my core practice later on throughout other lessons in the unit.