Jerry Fisher Post #4

This week was one of the best in regards to everyone getting into the activities and the energy of the class. We started the week working on the Pilipino National dance of Tinikling, and I found it refreshing that the students tried it without much complaining. This was especially true of the boys with whom I expected a lot of resistance. After explaining that it was a type of Plyometric drill that was similar to ladder drills they took right to it. During the session, the one thing that I regretted was that I did not have any modern rock jams for them to do it too. That was one thing I learned from the class, so I went out and purchased one of those sports rock jams cd’s for the next time. During these classes, there was a lot of Marzano’s cueing strategy being implamented. I would walk from group to group and would either have to clap out the 4/4 rhythm and get them back on time, or take over the sticks and help them get the rhythm back. Then there were the times when a student felt a bit embarrassed about trying it and I would fall in next to them and do the dance along with them counting out the timing as we went. It took several times of explaining that, on the one and two counts their feet would be outside the poles, and then on three and four counts inside the poles, again a lot of cueing.
We then switched up and finished off the week with ultimate Frisbee. Again, a lot of cueing going on as my supervising teacher and myself got onto the floor and participated to assist in demonstrating the strategy that would lead to better control of the game and scoring. We continued throughout the game to reinforce the proper way to hold a Frisbee and how to throw it. It was a great week as far as participation and energy levels go, and I enjoyed this week immensely. There was also some use of advanced organizers, only not in a traditional manner. When demonstrating the dance moves I had to break down the steps into several different sections, for clarity, on what the progression was from one movement to another. Therefore, even though it was not a traditional graphic organizer that was laid out on paper, it was a more organic version. The students had to be interactive with the organizer to enable them to understand the step sequence involved to be successful.
I was also pleasantly surprised on how both teachers have started to include the students with special needs into the class. Before these students weren’t really involved at all with the main class and just wondered around the gym doing their own thing. This week, when picking teams, the teachers went out of their way to make sure that these students were picked and had a chance to participate with their classmates. As for the students, this has never been a problem as the class has always shown concern and respect for these students and tried to involved them. Now we have the adults doing it and that’s a big difference.

Chandra Ely (CI 515) --- Notetaking, Graphic Organizers, Journals, and more...

I started actually teaching the 6th grade social studies classes yesterday. I lectured with fill in notes yesterday and today. I gave them a set of notes that had blanks in some areas and then a entirely blank list in another and they had to follow along with the power point and fill in the answers. While we were doing that we discussed the answers and the information and I asked the questions. I've learned that the students focus better when the have something in front of them to do, that ties in with the lecture. I also tried to tie some of it in with popular culture (e.g.; space warfare with Star Wars and Urban Warfare with Transformers). The students answered questions and asked really great questions. In fact some of them really surprised me based on what I've observed and what I was able to get out of them. It was great!

Tomorrow we're going to do 2 activities, one is a graphic organizer and the other is a problem solving technique and then we'll discuss it and then I'll ask them some questions and have them go to the side of the room that corresponds with whether they agree or disagree and then we'll talk about why the decided to go where they did. With the graphic organizer I'm going to give them as cause of war and they have to brainstorm the effects. It gets them to think critically while also allowing them to be somewhat creative and stay on task.

When we finish those activities we will start on WWI. I also have a power point and note taking guide for that. However, that power point will be done in sections with actitivites in between. One of the activities will be a partner activity. The students will be asked to write journal entries as if they were in WWI, similar to the "Oregon Trail" activity that was posted by another CI 415/515 student early on. I took the idea that was used for a WV activity and made it relevant to WWI. They get to be creative, while using facts and information from stuff that they've learned. At the end of the WWI section the partner groups will pick the entry that they think is their best and present it to the class. I think it will be a really fun activity to do. We will be doing various other activities on WWI before going on to WWII and the Cold War.

Wes Neal Entry #2: Cooperative Learning

In my clinical, the teacher utilizes cooperative learning extensively. Since it is an upper level biology class, and is project-based, there are many opportunities for cooperative learning to be used effectively. First, the obvious opportunity is laboratory exercises. While this is used partially due to the fact that there are not enough lab matterials or space, it also provides effective learning experiences. As I walked around the lab area during a recent experiement, I heard students asking each other questions and providing guidance and feedback to each other. Not only does this help students who are unsure of what to do, but it also helps the confidence of students who hear, "good job" or "that looks perfect". This is a situation where everyone's work contributes to the group's grade, so no one discourages or puts another person down. This provides not only group accountability but individual accountability since each member wants to do a good job for the good of the whole. Students who would not otherwise work with others are placed in an environment where they could gain social skills and learn to work with others. The teacher lets this teamwork overflow into other activities as well. At the end of each section, students are provided with a set of reveiw questions that are not only for a grade, but act as a study guide for the upcoming test. Students are encouraged to work together on these to insure that they not only get their participation points, but that they get the correct answers in order to effectively prepare for the test. Finally, there are online computer-based activities that go along with each chapter that the teacher assigns and allows students to help each other on. Once again, since these are for a grade, students do not hesitate to ask for or provide help to others.

Questions, Participation, and Strategy. Ch. 10 Marzano

My clinical experience has been great so far. I started teaching my lesson two weeks ago and I’m almost finished. My unit doesn’t have a textbook, just a workbook. This makes it difficult to teach, so I am mainly sticking to power points and discussions along with fun activities and projects. One thing that I am experiencing during my lectures is student involvement. My discussions usually last half the class period of more, because I focus on student involvement rather than me sitting there and talking the whole time. My discussions/lectures are more direct instruction more than lecture. One thing that I experienced in my classroom in the beginning was only three or four students were answering questions. These questions were similar to the discussion in Marzano for chapter ten. The author is showing us the importance of asking questions and having students come up with higher level answers with more critical thought. Marzano is trying to tell us that the use of questions allows students to focus on the important material that will help them succeed in their learning. He wants us to stay away from unusual or trivial questions. So, after reading this section in Marzano, focused more on questions that were important. I also made connections between the questions I was answering and things that these students were facing in their life. For example, I asked students if they knew what opportunity cost was. No one answered. So, I told the students that opportunity cost was something they would be doing if they weren’t doing something else and then I gave them an example. I picked a student from the class and asked what they would be doing if they weren’t at school. He gave an answer and I told him that was opportunity cost. The entire class started telling me what they would be doing if they weren’t at school. I felt that this was the beginning of student involvement and answering questions in my classroom. Another strategy that I use to get students to answer questions is by using a stress ball. What I will do is, if students aren’t answering question, because they are bored or tired, I will get the ball out and throw it around. I will ask a question and then throw the ball to a student. The student will have to catch it, throw it back, and then give me an answer. This works great, because the students want me to throw the ball to them. If a student gives me a good answer that I feel they thought critically on, they have a chance to throw it in a small basket ball hoop mounted above the smart board. This works fantastically, because students are thinking before they answer. I am getting great answers from the students and am starting to see that their learning experience is expanding. I can tell that they are learning, which is enough for me to know that they understand what I am teaching.

Zack Frame - Post #2 - Cooperative Learning

It almost seems silly to really mention the fact that I have used, am currently using, and will continue to use cooperative learning in my theatre classes. Marzano explains that cooperative learning can be beneficial if the groups are kept small and on task. It seems like a no-brainer to say that cooperative learning is a fundamental building block to theatre education. In a production, everyone’s part is so intertwined and interdependent on everyone else’s part. If someone doesn’t do what it is they need to do, everyone will have to pick up the slack. So it seems to go without saying that cooperative learning in the theater is important!

In my first period acting class, we are finishing up making plaster character masks. I am having the students work in small groups of two. By putting the students in small groups (or just pairs), they can discuss what it is that they want to do when making their masks (FYI-the students were using James and the Giant Peach for the selection of characters for their masks. Students were going to use characterizations in order to develop the mask of their character, and hopefully, display characteristics of the character’s personality through their masks). The groups seem to work well, and the kids seem to really enjoy the activity.

In my second period acting class, we are building the set for James and the Giant Peach. (In case you didn’t pick up on it, James and the Giant Peach is the play that students are working on now). I am teaching the students how to build platforms to enhance the design of their set. However, I can only work with so many students at a time because the students are limited on the materials that they have. (for example, there are only two working drills—this means that only two students can drill at any one time. So in groups: I have two students to drill, two students to keep the two by fours square, and two students to hold the structure in place while it is drilled.) Unfortunately, the groups are in about eight. So I have students who aren’t exactly busy—but I try to find them things to do, or get them more involved the next day.

I’m a firm believer that cooperative learning is very important in theatre. I agree when Marzanos says that cooperative learning can be used in many different situations. I am convinced that this strategy was developed with the theatre education in mind! :-)

Zack Frame - Post #1 - Providing Feedback Early and Often

Okay, as it turns out, I’m a little behind on my blog posts. It wouldn’t have been so bad, but my very first post for my clinical experience (day one), I posted it in WebCT—not exactly what I was suppose to do. Then, unfortunately, I never really got around to making my blog posts. So here I am!

Honestly, I didn’t spend a lot of time observing when I first began by clinical—at least not in my second period class. My first period acting class is an introductory acting class. When I arrived the first period class was working on monologues (finding them on the Internet, working with classmates) to get ready to perform for grade. It wouldn’t have made a lot of sense for me to pop in and do much with this class because they were already involved with what they were doing.

But it wasn’t until my second period acting class that I was able to really utilize Marzano’s strategy for providing feedback early and often. When directing a play, you have to provide feedback about what is happening onstage almost immediately. The beautiful thing is, that in the theatre—and when directing—the feedback doesn’t necessarily have to be an oral critique. If the performers do something funny, and you laugh, that provides the performers with an instantaneous feedback. And since Marzano suggests that providing students with feedback early and often is a good thing, then giving students or performers instantaneous feedback, is also a good thing.

I used this strategy for an entire week while I helped the students prepare for their competition piece that they would be performing the following weekend. Students would do a scene, I would stop them, tell them to change some things, let them do the scene again, stop them again, more changes, more acting, more feedback, more changes, more feedback, well, you get the idea. This went on for about a week. Towards the end of the week I would allow the students to run through their entire competition show while I took notes. The feedback given was not quite as immediate as is when directing, but once the students finished their run through, I had them all sit on the apron of the stage, and then delivered a detailed oral critique that they would be able to use to make their performance better. When performing on stage, and teaching theatre classes, Marzano’s strategy of providing feedback early and often is of utmost importance!

Metaphors, analogies, and cooperative learning

I want to start by saying how much I enjoy being in the classroom. I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to learn student names, but with the help of a seating chart I now know everyone’s name, even when they sit elsewhere. I’m pleased that students ask me for help even when my supervisor is in the classroom, and I’m really proud that several of my student’s have improved their grades and their behavior, specifically by believing that they are capable of academic success. Since much of chemistry involves abstract ideas, much of the instructional time involves describing ideas with the use of metaphors and analogies (Marzano chapter 2). For instance, we are currently studying atomic theory, specifically the behavior of electrons. When talking about Hund’s rule, which states that every orbital within an energy sublevel receives one electron before any orbital gets a second electron, my supervisor says that it’s life a family dinner where everyone gets served before anyone gets seconds. I compare Hund’s rule to dealing cards, where you give every player one card before giving any player a second card. The periodic table is an important tool for learning electron and positional configurations, because it allows students to see relationships among elements both in rows and in columns. Student’s keep asking me why they have to learn this information, and I tell them bluntly that they have to know this in order to understand chemical bonding and chemical reactions, which I will be teaching them soon. They know I’m excited about teaching them, so they roll their eyes and then give me a greater effort in learning atomic configurations. Ideas form Marzano’s chapter 6 are also evidenced in class, specifically by the use of models and pictures to explain atomic orbitals. I only wish there were enough models so that the students could manipulate models rather than watching the instructor. Models and pictures are used as illustrations of verbally presented material. Patterns are evidenced within the periodic table, and students are given blank periodic tables in which they fill in the positional configuration of each element. Cooperative learning (Marzano chapter 7) can also be evidenced in our chemistry classroom, both by laboratory groups of two-to-three students and small student formed groups used for working on assignments. There is one girl in our classroom with an IEP and at the beginning of my student teaching I attempted to work with her one-on-one but she had no interest in learning, didn’t care about daily application of knowledge, and had a low tolerance for frustration. Over time she has begun to include herself in groups to work on assignments, and she comes to me for clarification when she doesn’t understand something. After I explain things to her, she usually goes and explains it to her group. I cannot relay how pleased I am that she has begun to exhibit an interest in learning, and her grades this 6weeks reflect her improved effort. For our last lab experiment, her partner was absent and she allowed me to work with her. I recorded data while she actually performed the lab, and I explained how to work the problems associated with the lab, although I made her actually plug the numbers in the calculator. This lab assignment my supervisor collected and graded, and returned those that showed errors. She was surprised that she didn’t get hers back, and my supervisor told her (in front of the whole class) that she had performed her experiment and manipulated the data successfully. I love it when people learn new stuff.

Effort and recognition

Last time I ended by saying “All work is due the day of the test, and there is a positive, direct relationship between the amount of homework completed and achievement on the exam… but that starts into illustrations of chapter four, and I’m saving it for next time.” In chapter 4, Marzano reports that there are 2 generalizations resulting from research on effort as it relates to academic success: many students don’t realize the importance of believing in effort, and students can learn to believe that effort influences academic success. The first exam that I graded I used stickers to let students know that I recognized their success on the exam, which Marzano refers to as “concrete symbols of recognition.” At the same time that I graded the exams I graded all the bookwork, worksheets and lab sheets for both classes (there are 2 blocks of Chem I). My supervisor was not pleased with the grades in general, and there was obviously a direct relationship between the amount of work accomplished and exam grades. My supervisor took time at the beginning of each block to explain to the students that those who completed all of their work had better grades on the exams than those who did not complete the assigned work. The first test I graded was the end of the 6week grading period. Students can check their grades on Edline.net. Now that the students know that I am in charge of their grades, they can look on Edline or simply ask me to see what they still need to turn in. My supervisor allows students to retake exams and quizzes, in order to learn from their mistakes, which is important in chemistry, since most ideas build on previous ideas. I allow students to turn in work late and most students take advantage of this in order to improve their grade. Students are learning that when they do the assigned work, they do better on the tests, since most of the test questions are framed exactly like the assigned work. I also make sure to tell students when they are improving, even if that means going from a 19% to a 60%, which is a pretty impressive improvement for some students. Verbal praise comes naturally to me, since I use verbal directions and praise when I train dogs. I realize that students are supposedly more cognitively complex creatures than canines (although I’ve met some pretty smart dogs) but both animals respond well to praise. I recently started reviewing worksheets in class by getting students to work the problems on the board and giving participation points, which my supervisor applies towards exam scores. The first class has few volunteers so I have to call on students directly, but in the second class I have to make sure that everyone has the opportunity to get points because everyone wants to volunteer. In chapter 8 Marzano discusses the importance of feedback, and this review allows students to gauge their own progress rather than waiting until after an exam to find out they don’t know what they’re doing. We also have an understood agreement that we are mannerly when earning participation points – no one is berated if they work a problem wrong, instead we use mistakes as a learning experience, and I always say please and thank you to students (even when giving a direct order) so now they say please and thank you to me.