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I really enjoyed the conversation that arose from my consultancy group. It was really enjoyable having time to discuss math education and to weigh different ideas out. It especially was cool to talk to people who aren't math educators, and see what they thought. It helped me really be more determined to find "life-applicable" math projects that I can replace my current assessments with. They also inspired me to see about having guest speakers come to my classes to talk about the math they use daily to do their jobs.

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What strategies can we put in place to move CDL away from the screen without losing engagement?

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Big thank you to Lisandra, Eddie, Darin, David and Mario for their patience, grace, empathy and advice for my dilemma. I probably framed it awkwardly and more about teacher burnout - which wasn't the original intention - and didn't narrow the focus enough, but my consultancy groupmates were on their toes and after asking a few clarifying questions, we got straight to work. Lisandra had an excellent point and neatly (or cleverly!) wove it into the fabric of her own dilemma about consistency in asking students what they need, and what is and isn't working for them. I can do that immediately. I love feedback like that. Shouldn't it be easily acted upon just like that :) David took it one step further and mentioned that he makes an effort to keep it positive when asking for student feedback. "What did you like about today's lesson?" "What did you learn during today's lesson?" Questions of that nature. I took notes and thanked my peers. As in previous consultancy sessions, the focus of the conversation shifted and we talked about the benefits of entering the profession after careers in other fields and it made me think about the Journalism class I teach and the rich stories from my own time in the newsroom that I don't bring into the classroom enough. I'm actually kinda sad the consultancy groups won't be meeting anymore - these last three Friday evenings have felt somewhat normal in a time of uncertainty and sadness.

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Dilemma: Teaching Prerequisites + reflection 

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Dilemma: Teaching Prerequisites + reflection 

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Dilemma- What can I do to increase the number of students checking in and attending live class? How can I reach students who have gone MIA?

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Dilemma- What can I do to increase the number of students checking in and attending live class? How can I reach students who have gone MIA?

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https://docs.google.com/document/d/1UJ8tlm0ML6HjR1_L_bdqNvw9G3gR6hsi2ydpWdXJejo/edit?usp=sharing

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I really enjoyed this activity. It provided an opportunity to delve into the real issues that arise when in the field - stuff that is difficult to predict when discussing theory. My group mates had some good advice. My biggest takeaway is the importance of strategically creating breakout rooms and selectively grading certain assignments to reduce my workload.
Another takeaway is to increase the use of voice comments when giving feedback on student work. Canvas makes this quite easy. It also has the benefit of letting students see me/hear my voice speaking directly to them (and can hear how things are pronounced). I liked Kate’s suggestion of taking note of a common mistake that students made on the homework and working through it together as a class - she calls it “her favorite mistake”. This strategy both normalizes doing the homework and making mistakes.
Gaby is teaching the same classes as me using many of the same materials, although she is in high school and I am in a middle school. She shared with me briefly her system for keeping students accountable during group work and has agreed to meet with me to share more in detail. It seems to be working well for her so I am feeling optimistic about implementing it in my classroom.
One of Gaby’s strategies for targeting feedback to struggling students is requiring them to come to one-on-one office hour sessions so that she can check in and find out what is going on with them. If they are having a personal issue, they can share that; or, if they are struggling to understand a concept, she can work through it with them at that time. She suggests (rightly) contacting parents to let them know about the requirement and contacting them immediately if they don’t show up. I think this would work pretty well for most of my students. I plan to meet with her this week or next to go through how she manages her class and to rework mine in a way that more closely resembles hers.

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What are other ways that I can encourage students to use the support I can offer and that they need during asynchronous class?

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Reflection (starting at the end of page 2) 

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Reflection (starting at the end of page 2) 

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Create a new document and edit with others at the same time -- from your computer, phone or tablet. Get stuff done with or without an internet connection. Use Docs to edit Word files. Free from Google.

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Create a new document and edit with others at the same time -- from your computer, phone or tablet. Get stuff done with or without an internet connection. Use Docs to edit Word files. Free from Google.

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Create a new document and edit with others at the same time -- from your computer, phone or tablet. Get stuff done with or without an internet connection. Use Docs to edit Word files. Free from Google.

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(for week of 2/19)

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Reflections from our Consultancy Meeting

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Reflections from our Consultancy Meeting

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I was astonished at how receptive, insightful, and solution-based my consultancy group was. In addition to feeling supported and bolstered during a confusion/insecure time, my group was quick on their feet with incredible suggestions and resources. At the close of my presentation, I made a quick list of their suggestions for addressing the matrix of concerns that were outlined in my dilemma. My outline included action items such as:
-Possible connection to contemporary pop culture could be Colin Kapernick —> modern day Antigone !

-Don’t tell your students that they don’t need to read the book.

-Compare Synopses from youtube as an assignment so that students can get a handle on the text as a whole.

-Give myself grace if they don’t actually read this text, permission to expect.

-Handle PLC by asking lots of questions

-Market this text for it’s shining attributes much like I do in my day-to-day job.

-Figure out the core standard first and foremost, and focus on that more than the content itself

-Don’t stress over having them read the book.

-Use Silly attendance questions to break the ice so students are more comfortable with discussion and possible reading the text aloud.

All of these suggestions are not only immensely helpful, they signify to me that the concerns I am having are shared ones and that a bit more experience will smooth over some of the challenges that may trip me up at first. After discussing this in more depth (with more context and details), I was able to really see how simple the dilemma really is and how realistically the best approach will be trusting my instincts as I pivot to accommodate student engagement, performance, and participation. Essentially: I cannot control what I do not know, and I cannot know what control will really look like until I try different methods of disseminating the information and sharing the content.

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In my group, I received  a lot of useful tips to pilot with my breakout rooms in future classes. I took away three pieces of wisdom that I think could make a difference with my breakout groups in the senior English class I teach: 1. Reducing the amount of time spent in the breakout rooms, 2. Always providing guiding questions before they go into breakout rooms, and 3. Have clear expectations with the class on how I want the breakout  rooms to be treated. We discussed the idea on turning in exit tickets, but I have found that the students either  don’t  do them, or even if they do, they don’t  turn them in.

Reducing the time of the breakout rooms, or having them frequently but shorter times is something I have considered but not tried. My group members felt that would be worthwhile implementing because the objectives they would accomplish would be quick, and almost ensure some kind of participation.

Sometimes when I send kids into breakout rooms, I don’t  give them guiding  questions, but rather a to-do list of objectives. I think I need to use guiding questions, and without them , this could be why they don’t  talk as much. It could be a combination of too long of time in the rooms, and not having concrete questions to answer. Regardless, having clear questions to respond  to in their spiral  notebook would give them a starter for a conversation.

The third suggestion, which I fully support and intend to follow, is to establish clear expectations on breakout room behavior. When I started working with these kids, I was an observer of the class, and wasn't the leader. As time passed, I was seen as a semi-teacher, but some kids didn’t  see me in that role at all. Fortunately, I get new kids on Monday, and I get to hit a reset button and establish the class as I want- which is exciting!

The way I plan to implement these expectations is during the first week. We will be making a class charter with rules and norms for us all to follow that we create as a class. In this conversation, I will bring up what I expect in a breakout room, and ask the students about what they expect in the rooms too. Then we can begin the class with a mutual understanding of how this format will go- and I can have a document to point to when the participation level starts slipping.

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Reflection

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This was one of my favorite activities that we have done thus far. It was clearly described and easy to undertake; it was practical and enjoyable; and I think we all learned a lot just because no one could dominate the discussion (such as myself!). I did have to exercise a fair amount of restraint and try to remember to only answer the question asked in the second part (I should try to do this more often!). The third part led to some very helpful and reassuring advice from my Jedi teachers. Darin in particular had some real pearls of wisdom. He suggested that I teach my own way even with what she gave me, for example if I was following her lesson plan. To this Elijah (who also managed to teach us how to play Rock/Paper/Scissors in Japanese despite my misgivings) added that I might have to talk to her a bit, but that I shouldn't be afraid to, and this helped me realize that I'm very afraid of hurting her feelings and that it's holding me back from being wholly myself. I hate conflict and I especially detest hurting someone who is trying to help me, but at the same time I feel underestimated by my CT because she seems to just want a cookie-cutter version of herself. Teaching is hard! That was what our discussion concluded, in any case. But that's why we all love it! If I wanted to do something easy, I would have stayed in Seattle working in software, which my bank account may have preferred....

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Problem: How do we reconcile completely different teaching philosophies and expectations of students with our CT?

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Problem: How do we reconcile completely different teaching philosophies and expectations of students with our CT?

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Dear Abby,
My CT is a lovely person and we get along quite well, with a lot in common, and she has been fairly welcoming. My biggest dilemma is this: my CT has subscribed to a curriculum on TPT that is based on comprehensible input (the "Comprehensible Classroom") and translated from Spanish ("Somos"). I am expected to either follow this curriculum or do something else, but there is a fair amount of pressure to teach language in her way (don't expect them to speak much in French 1, repeat words 15-20 times before expecting them to say them, mostly translation and storybuilding, etc.).This is not her standard curriculum and was rather a way, I think, to have something to hold onto in the transition to remote learning, which is very understandable. My feeling is that this curriculum is a deformation of Krashen's ideas and a dumbing down of this approach in that there is an overwhelming use of English, no interpersonal communication among students, and low expectations for proficiency (from a lot of teachers in Title 1 schools, strangely enough), but that is a question for another time (and would make an admirable thesis, but I'm not writing it!). On the plus side, students are very engaged (and with good attendance!) and seem quite happy, though with the best students you do get the feeling that they are fairly bored. Some of the seniors are preparing to go to college and must know on some level that this is not a class that will get them "college-ready". Another thing that should be said is that the CT does so many great things with this material--lots of checks for understanding (even if it's mostly translation), many of her students are on camera (which we all know is very hard to achieve!), and she has a very nice pacing to her lessons as well as a laser-like sense of who has spoken and who hasn't (it's amazing!). BUT, not only is it difficult to mimic an entirely new way of teaching from a method I know little about, it's also intellectually difficult to do something I don't wholeheartedly (or even half-heartedly) agree with. And I don't think it makes for very impressive teaching, in that I'm not able to do what she does, because I"m not her, nor do I particularly want to do that, philosophically speaking. And I would add that it's made the EdTPA incredibly difficult and depressing to plan and undertake, though I've recently learned to utilize the requirements of the EdTPA to make my different teaching style more "palatable". I'm sorry this is rather long-winded and not a concise question, but it is the main dilemma I have encountered.
Pondering in Portland

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How can I clearly design and present small group expectations (3-4 students) that encourages participation (ex: usage of the mic) and collaboration in a WL Spanish classroom during comprehensive distance learning? I've been struggling with this, and also technically as it takes roughly 5ish minutes to set up groups in Google Meet.

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Is it equitable to require students to respond with their microphones when working in small groups?

The major dilema I am facing is regarding requiring students to respond using their microphones in class. Students are by no means required to use their cameras, which is absolutely fine and has not inhibited learning so SO much.  However, students also not responding with their voices, especially when students are working in small groups.

It is ESSENTIAL in a language classroom that students speak in the target language, but what happens if students have things going on at home and don't want to broadcast that?

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What possible ways I can set high expectations to help student's to succeed.  

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What possible ways I can set high expectations to help student's to succeed.  

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A dilemma for CDL

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Support for one particular student and reflection updated

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Support for one particular student and reflection updated

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