Today’s experience in the classroom definitely reinforced my teaching metaphor of a shepherd guiding her flock. Ms. S began the language arts block by meeting with guided reading groups at the conference table in the back of the room while the rest of the class worked quietly on reading various books at their desks. In all of the guided reading groups she introduced a book and had the students discuss the topic and make predictions. The students then took turns reading out loud. After reading, Ms. S got the students engaged in discussing characters, plot, and other issues that arose. During the meeting times, a few students not currently in a meeting had questions to ask the teacher. She quietly provided them answers without interrupting the guided reading group. Ms. S provided scaffolding for discussion of the books so that she did not dominate the entire discussion which allowed the students to talk about their thoughts and ideas.
Ms. S began the science lesson with a brief review of what they talked about last class (which had been Monday). She had students recall as much as they could and then introduced the new task. They were split into groups to work on drawing different habitats on huge pieces of paper. She pointed them to reference books at the back of the classroom. The students grabbed pieces of paper, pencils, crayons, and the books to complete the task. Ms. S went around the room from group to group to give assistance when needed and also to push students in the right direction.
Overall, Ms. S ran her classroom similar to my teaching metaphor of a shepherd guiding her flock. She did very little whole group lecture and more individual and group work in which she could give better feedback and instruction. For example, instead of lecturing about habitats for all of science, she gave a brief review and set the students on their own to complete the task. The students were able to use what they remembered and also learn new information from the books provided. Also, they knew Ms. S was nearby if they had any questions or needed help.
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2 comments:
I'm always amazed when I see elementary school teachers multi-task. How do they do it? You help a group of students, think of ways to scaffold their discussion or thinking, try to meet the needs of students who are trying to vie for your attention. Then, there are the interruptions from people outside of the classroom--coming in and out of the rooms, asking for this student or that one, asking the teacher questions.
Sounds like chaos, and could very well be exactly that. But it seems that experienced teachers have a great handle on running a classroom. I hope to be a master multi-tasker in the classroom someday. :)
Alison-
I'm pleased to hear that your metaphor was reinforced by what you saw in your placement. It's sometimes difficult for us to envision how much work can be accomplished when we abandon a lecture format and just let kiddos get to work. It's an important approach, but one that we approach hesitantly because it seems risky. How wonderful that you are able to observe your placement teacher taking these risks so that you can think about how you might do the same in your own classroom.
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