Classroom Confidential Ch. 8 & 9

This week I learned from Schmidt- Don’t neglect the multiple intelligences in your classroom; feed them! Creative and messy learning can be the most impactful, penetrating deep into the students’ minds. The students want to experience learning in ways that are relate-able and engaging (and who wouldn’t!). To do this immersion is an influential tool in getting learners entrenched in the world of the subject or domain being taught. When students are given an opportunity to discover something completely new, it empowers them to make meaning out of their world. Being in PE I have a built-in environment for engaging kinesthetic, spatial, and often visual learners. I thought it was a brilliant and yet astonishingly obvious tactic to get students to practice their classroom academics by incorporating movement. Being a kinesthetic learner myself, I empathize with the students who struggle with retaining abstract or facts and information that seems detached from any type of cohesive structure. Until I manipulate it whether by acting, feeling, performing, etc… such material can be extremely difficult for me to retain or even understand. Although some of the methods of learning that support multiple intelligences may not seem practical in an arena when time never seems to be adequate, they can be a double edged sword, providing opportunities for more authentic assessment.

I love the idea of assessing students with such tools as “Show Me” where each student is participating and highly engaged. Used for comprehension checks, this assessment has kids move, mime, gesture, and use dramatic skills. Of course this assessment may not provide you with objective information you need as students are able to look around and mimic the responses of others. In the gym however, I sometimes encourage this type of behavior. When I want to encourage problem solving, I may ask a student to look around and use their resources to help figure out how to do something. Many times these resources are other students! Then the student has to engage in the process of using a tactic they see someone else doing and figure out how to make it work for themselves.

Lucky for me, most of the assessment in the gym is done in an authentic manner naturally. The learners are given situation activities and asked to engage body and mind in applying the learned content to them. This is not necessarily catering to my learners who have other intelligences such as logical-mathematical or linguistic. One area I could improve on is during our times of reflection or discussion. I have been caught in the position many times of having several students with hands still raised to answer a question but not having time to hear them all. Because the enhanced state standards now require students be moderately to vigorously active for at least 70% of the class period, time is pressed. I would love to integrate more opportunities for authentic assessment. Having students write sport journals, graph or draw game plays and strategies, or even act out stories to begin or end a unit, would all be fantastic ways to have my learners demonstrate their cognitive competence.

Teaching: An Endless Journey of Learning- Week 7

I feel like I spend a lot of my time adjusting. From one lesson, grade level, and child to the next adjustments are constantly being made. It commonly feels as though the amount of time I put into making adjustments is due to an incompetence on my part to perform something correctly the first time! However, as I journey on in my teaching experience I am reassured that teaching is an art not a science and there is constantly room for improvements. Defeated at times I will look to my cooperating teacher to correct me yet each time am surprised at his uncritical comments. In addition to a few minor suggestions, Mr. Park will say that I am performing well. By 'well' I venture to believe he means managing. But he continues on to explain that although my lessons are not flawless, I am constantly on the lookout for areas needing improvement and then adjusting them accordingly. Adjusting practices to meet the needs of each of my students (IPLS 2P) is a continuously evolving component of my teaching. I have found myself searching for ways to make concepts easier to understand for the various types of intelligences. Are my linguistic learners getting this? Have the logical ones been able to work out the structure of the activity? Every day I experiment with big and small practices, adjusting to the child in front of me. If this means I’m failing then I would say failure leads to healthy student centered thinking.

A specific situation arose this week in which I was able to practice my conflict resolution skills. (IPLS 8R) As I was closing a 4^th grade lesson, preparing to transition students scattered across the gym to put equipment away and then line up, a grouping of boys began to yell and throw materials at each other. It escalated seemingly out of nowhere and I quick demanded two of them separate and go to the stage immediately. After finishing off my directions to the rest of the class, I called two more boys who were witnesses to the scene over to the stage with me to a discussion. Emotions were high admits the original offenders. I had them circle up and immediately quieted both as accusations were flying quickly. The following statement was made to defuse tempers and get the students in a cooperative disposition:

“No one here is in trouble or being accused. Everyone will get a chance to speak in order to understand what happened and why.”

As we went around the circle we discovered the entire situation was due to a misunderstanding. One boy had been rolling balls off the court and the other though he was intentionally throwing the balls at him to aggravate him. He then retaliated and the situation grew to the scene I saw. One of the witnesses calmly shared what he saw in an objective way to support the misunderstanding. Having a clear understanding of what happened, I steered away from blaming and condemning and used the information as a teaching tool for why procedures are in place. If the students weren’t moving the balls around in the first place this could have been prevented. In addition, I reasoned why retaliation is never the best answer in solving a problem. The boys nodded their heads and I thanked them for meeting with me, encouraging them to use this type of approach if an issue arose again. Overall, I was proud of how the boys were able to handle the conflict with me. One student affirmed the success of this intervention by turning to me afterward and commenting “you’re a really good assistant teacher”.

This Friday I was also able to participate in another PE Task Force meeting. As Friday was a half day, the specials teachers did not have any classes. Instead the district elementary PE teachers met in the morning to do more curriculum building. With the new enhanced PE standards the teachers have been in the process of revamping their K-5 curriculum. I find it interesting that we are into the academic year and the teachers are still in the process of formulating what will be accessed for the first grading period coming up in November. Then in the afternoon we moved to the high school for a full K-12 meeting. At the high school I gained some valuable insight to what PE is up against in some of the higher administrative levels. The district supervisor for PE said that as educators we are in need of making the school boards understand the value of physical education as a core class. Apparently there are those who wish to see PE become an elective. This was a disturbing piece of information for myself and the other student teacher to hear. However, the supervisor continued to describe how the mission of the K-12 curriculum will help combat this. One of the main trends keeping PE in place in many districts, is its stance in fighting childhood obesity. The objective is to have the students physically active for at least 75% of the period.

Personally, I am rather divided on this stance. Yes I want my students to be active but I also don’t want my “classroom” to be treated like a fitness center per se. My students are learners not clients to train. One way the supervisor explained they would be showing the administrative decision makers the value of PE is by bringing in more elements of our specialty areas that no other domain has. These would include subjects such as kinesiology (the study of human movement), bio mechanics, anatomy, and physiology. My ears perked up at this, and I felt a smile creep across my face. To me learning in PE should be based around teaching our students how to think not only like athletes but scientists and have deeper level understanding of the way their body works. It will be interesting to see how the teaching team addresses this in their new curriculum! (IPLS 9P)
                       
Goals for next week:
1) involve students in self-assessment activities (making goals with fitness testing data!) and help them understand the importance of setting goals
2) try new practices to help students who struggle with learning motivation

Classroom Confidential Ch. 11

After reading Schmidt chapter eleven, I realized there is a lot more to good communication than enunciating your words and speaking clearly. The thought of communication being about enlightenment was something that had never crossed my mind but made perfect sense once explained. One of the main reasons we communicate is to share thoughts and ideas, often in hopes of bring about a change or some action together. In order to do so accurately, however, we must also learn the ways that others may respond and communicate differently from ourselves. In the past, I often presumed good communication was what my dad taught me. As a communications major, he had me practice conversations. I had to look him in the eye, speak clearly and directly, and articulate my thoughts without filler words. As I’ve grown I’ve realized that though I may do all these things proficiently, my communication has not always produced the results I’d imagined it would.

Chapter eleven provides ten essential elements of effective communication.  Many of these things I knew, minus a couple helpful hints such as including co-custodial parents in communication. What really helped me was reading about the different types of cultural communication practices. Well, helped and scared me! At first reading about all the things I could do wrong when engaging my parents left me feeling very insecure. Nonetheless, I realized that these aren’t things I am expected to know now but to make myself sensitive to uncovering if I were to have families of diverse backgrounds in my class.

I feel much more prepared for parent teacher conferences as well, having some tools such as a conference information sheet and preparation packet to help both the parents and myself have a common “road map”. Both the parents and I will feel less overwhelmed and more like allies when we are jointly being enlightened about the other’s world. I’m a fairly confident person but have a driving need to feel and get “prepared” for all the day’s circumstances to really shine my best (whether or not I actually am fully prepared). The idea of walking into situations and being able to say “I’ve put work in to ready myself for this”, is a huge confidence boost for me. The tips in this book will definitely help guide my readiness process! 

Breaking Self-made Barriers- Week 6

I cannot believe it is October already. If feels as though I’ve been teaching forever but when I look at the calendar I’m reminded the year is still in its beginning stages. Like the fall weather my experience has slowly (and sometimes suddenly) been evolving. For one, I’ve begun to not only recognize student faces but also know the personalities that go with them. Attachments have begun to form in my heart towards many of these kids, and it’s strange to think I’ll have to leave them in twenty-two days for another school and another country. Goodness, how hard it is to fathom such a switch!

This week has been yet another tangled web of experiences. Since taking over the classroom, I’ve begun to navigate the waters of who I am as a teacher. I’ve asked, “What is my style when I’m given liberty to teach authentically? What management seems to work for me and these students?” In the past there has been much adopting on my part of the classroom dynamics that are already in place by the teacher. Now, however, I find myself reinventing the way things are done. I daily use phrases like “When Miss Matson teaches…” or “in Miss Matson’s class we…” to reconfigure some of the classroom. Now I’m definitely not overhauling the entire structure of what the kids are used to, but there is a gradual increase of my own unique methods and styling present in the gym.

As these things have taken shape, I’ve started to notice how my own personal perspectives and biases effect my teaching. (IPTS 1F) I began questioning why I was teaching certain ways. Were my choices coming from the understanding of student needs or meeting my own? At the beginning of the week, I was fairly fixated on having the ideal classroom. Learning would be structured, following a planned sequence, and everyone would be highly engaged. Yet as the lessons went by, I began to feel downcast and frustrated. They weren’t looking the way I wanted, and I felt like I was failing. Thankfully by Thursday I had an epiphany of sorts. It dawned on me the only reason I felt like I was failing was because of some preconceived notion I had of how my classroom should look. When I adjusted my focus back on meeting the needs of the individual students in my classroom (IPTS 2P), slowly the feelings of failure ebbed away. From an outsider’s point of view, my classes may look messy. My learners aren’t all in a line, demonstrating perfect throwing form. No, they’re learning. And learning, come to find, allows room for mistakes.

This week I’ve also started taking time to really engage learners in a personal, one-on-one way. Before it seemed like a power struggle between keeping that perfect whole class structure and allowing time to interact with each student. I think I’m slowly starting to understand the balance. As I worked with students, I began to cater my instruction to their needs. I became a facilitator between two students struggling socially, a coach for the student stuck on a problem, and an audience member for the student ready to tell me what they had discovered. (IPTS 5K) In doing so, I felt the environment of the classroom shift as students were given support and not just direction. Not only that but I also felt an emotional shift in myself were I was truly enjoying each period and its challenges! By the last classes of the day I was happily saying to myself bring it on 1st grade (the age that truly intimates me the most!), let’s see what we can do.

Goals for next Week:

1) facilitate learning experiences that make connections to other life experiences and content areas

2) find more ways to utilize students with IEPs with moderate to severe physical disabilities in every aspect of the lesson 

Classroom Confidential Ch. 2

This week was another up and down battle of success, messes, and continued learning both for me and my students. I taught my first edTPA lesson and began officially taking over the classroom. Even though I have been heavily involved in teaching for the past few weeks now, Mr. Park still has had his hand in the lessons some way or another. Some days he may be working one-on-one with students, running his own fitness testing station, or present as a secondary authority for discipline. I felt the transition to head teacher would be extremely fluid because of the way I have been integrated into the classroom. I figured classroom control would be no more a challenge than the past few weeks. I was wrong.

Wouldn’t you know (once again!), this week’s Classroom Confidential chapter spoke fluently into many of my thoughts and ponderings. Chapter two talked about building a classroom culture; my stage of teaching exactly. I’m not here to role play Mr. Park. I couldn’t even if I wanted to. Mr. Park and I are different people and, not surprisingly, the students respond to us as such. When I first read about great teachers building a culture of eptness and tapping into the unique abilities of each student, I honestly thought ‘this author is living in a dream world’. Here I am trying to keep a structured environment so my students don’t kill each other and some fragment of control in my “controlled chaos” remains. Don’t get me wrong, I desperately want to create an environment where my student’s human potential is a highlighted resource, where I’m providing specific feedback and challenging old habits; however, it seems I am trapped solely trying to keep a controlled and safe environment.

As I read further, I realized I was thinking about eptness the wrong way. Instead of thinking it is some added element I have to integrate in addition to classroom management, I really should be thinking of it as an integral part. A culture eptness means my students should be more invested in what they are doing because they are engaged in both role of teacher and student. Their on-task behavior peaks when they feel smart, competent, and a part of the community.

As I continue to teach, I will need to focus more on changing my own behaviors to help this culture blossom. I aim to first focus on expectations. Forming misguided preconceptions or misconceptions of one’s students is an incredibly easily practice to slip into. I will habitually look for the capabilities in all my students, expecting them to surprise me in the most positive way. Secondly, I aim to increase a culture of eptness by becoming a master of effective feedback. Effective feedback is “positive and includes details that help the students appreciate the effectiveness or accuracy of their efforts. With so much going on in the gym, I’ve noticed I will start giving out mindless “good jobs” and “great work” as I try to mentally prepare for my next step in the lesson (along with a million other thoughts). Changing my feedback behaviors means that I will put in the extra cognitive work to remark specifically on what my students are doing. ‘Catch them doing good’ will be the motto of the day.

Lastly, I hope to model risk taking with my students. Last week I taught a lesson and for several reasons it simply wasn’t working. I was frustrated. In my mind, the activity and goals weren’t difficult. They should be getting it. Thankfully, I swallowed my pride enough to ask the students what they were thinking and feeling. Come to find there were several factors that were slightly above their ability level, and they needed some extra support in figuring it out. Being able to step back and collaborate with the students not only offers solutions to the problems but also provides as safe place that says ‘mistakes happen here but we’ll figure it out together’. 

Full time teaching! -Week 5

Week…week…holy cow what week is it!?! Time flies when you’re having fun, running exhausted around a gym of twenty plus students, and trying to get your edTPA rolling! This week, like most, seems to be a blur of every type of experience I could think up. The success and the messes continue. As my first week of officially being the head teacher, I had a fair number of new experiences contributing to the craziness. I expected the transition to be fairly seamless considering I’ve had a prominent role in many of the activities and lessons since week two. However, I soon found out my assumption was more of mis-assumption.

Classroom control. That was the theme I sang in my reflections this week. Suddenly with Mr. Park in the background, the gym was an open playing field and the students were anxious to explore. Little did they know Miss Matson had a different ideal in mind: guided exploration with clear boundaries and protocols to abide by. As the first few classes began with an atmosphere bordering chaos more than control, I quickly realized my expectations would have to be voiced loud and clear and over and over again. At first my frustration boiled a bit after each lesson. I wondered why all of the sudden I seemed to have to be cracking down on the discipline not just once but continuously throughout my lesson. Didn’t my students know I wanted them to spend the majority of the time playing and engrossed in the activities? Then it dawned on me. I am not Mr. Park and even though I have been teaching, I had never stated my personal expectations for them. These students were simply doing what comes naturally to all children, testing the boundaries of something new set before them. Mr. Park could present himself casually to the students and simply give them the “look” to correct behavior. I on the other hand had not built up such a repertoire with the students to do so.     

Thus began the process of creating a learning environment, wholly my own. Every lesson I laid out my expectations and protocols. This included anything from where equipment should be during times of transition and instruction to appropriate behaviors during group discussions. At first I felt like the most horribly doctorial teacher ever. It’s not my personality type to want control or firmly enforce obedience. But I realized we had some ground work to do, and it was imperative for the safety as well as functionality of our classroom that these things be established. Some classes caught on quicker than others. I have to continually remember, although I’ve known these expectations they are brand new to my students. Grace should not be neglected. The goal is that these expectations and procedures become ingrained in the learners so we can spend more time learning and less time disciplining! It’s feels a similar to my discipline I receive as a child of God. At first its rather unpleasant and far from enjoyable, but in the end produces a wonderful harvest. (IPTS 4I, 4J)

Another thing I am increasingly growing proficient in is adapting my lessons…continuously! Because I get to teach the same lesson multiple times, I am offered an opportunity to evaluate its effectiveness and modify based on outcome data and student response. Teaching is a job requiring constant observation, evaluate, and correction of practices and lessons. At the end of the week I asked Mr. Park for feedback regarding any weakness that stood out to him in my teaching. His answer surprised me. First he said if there was something I should be doing differently I would already know because he is not one to hold back. Secondly, he said that although not all my lessons were flawless, I had actually been doing exactly what I should be in response. I was self-critiquing and continuously adjusting things to get them right. Great teachers know how to think on their feet and pun fully intended: I am always on my feet. (IPTS 3D) 

Classroom Confidential Ch.4

I first began to really delve into what it means to celebrate minority cultures my junior year of college after being enlightened during an RA training session. Up until then I felt I was a rather culturally aware and sensitive person. I discovered, however, that I was actually a subject of the mainstream colorblind ideology. I had grown up thinking equality among races meant pretending everyone was knit from the same cloth; there were no true differences between us. As my African-American instructor spoke on life experiences from the lenses of minority populations, I began to awaken to the ignorance in my cultural practices. Cultural equality does not mean treating everyone the same. It’s about acknowledging the differences amongst minority and majority cultures and doing one’s best to equalize access to knowledge, power codes, and influence within the society that we share.

I found myself eagerly consuming the information in this chapter, vigorously nodding my head in agreement to the frustrations and illuminations written within. With psychology being one of my favorite fields, I was drawn to the examples of cultural inclusion that spoke to basic human needs. Specifically I agreed that truly impactful classrooms are the ones where kids are convinced they are safe and valued. Transparency is emphasized, along with a true desire for the well-being of students. The almost too-good-to-be-true example of Rafe’s classroom, explained how he provided his students with the unstated rules of life and externalized his thinking all day long for them. Page seventy-seven describe his students as: “the children he shepherds tenderly and tenaciously toward adulthood”. I found this to be incredibly moving. When serving students, I believe teachers are not called to morph learners into imagine bearers of the majority culture, but rather shepherd them into adults who can think and be independently.

Over the past few years I have grown exponentially in how I navigate multicultural settings. Laying my need to make sense of that which eludes me, I sit at rest with ambiguity at first. Instead of making judgments or speculative assumptions, I can look around and stem my own curiosity. Slowly, my students and others teach me. It can be easily to live color blind and misidentify cultural learning styles as learning difficulties. I hope to minimize the occurrences of misinterpreting such interpersonal responses and teach myself to see differences as something potentially instructive. For I have much to learn.