Lesson: Writer's Workshop - Endings (Day 2 in my unit plan)
Date: 10-23-12
• What did students learn and which students struggled with the lesson?
I think that the first part of my lesson was very effective. The students really responded to editing a poor ending together. All students seemed engaged even our writers who struggle. I drew upon my students' ideas and we were able to have a great conversation about what makes a strong ending.
Some students struggled with their writing time. During my lesson the principal had to come in and adjust our recess time to later in the afternoon. This seemed to create some chaos and element of concern about when recess would happen with many of the students. I noticed that it was difficult to conference with an individual and keep the rest of the class on task and not so concerned about their recess time.
• What are alternate reads (interpretations) of your students’ performance or products?
My field instructor was here to observe this lesson. So he had an another interpretation to offer. \He was very impressed with the class discussion but also was able to see how some of the students were off task and chatty after the recess postponement. I was surprised that he liked the beginning part of my lesson so much, I thought it went well, but he acted very impressed and said that he felt he learned something from watching. He commented that he liked how was doing the roving conferences and working with each student individually.
• What did you learn about your students’ literacy practices that extend beyond your objectives?
I learned that they knew more about strong endings than I had anticipated from previous years. I had seen that many were struggling with this aspect of their writing so that was part of the reason why I chose to focus on them for a lesson. It seems as though they knew what makes a good ending but are having a harder time applying it. This is something I am going to keep in mind for the rest of my unit.
• When and how will you re-teach the material to students who need additional support?
I think that the students who are struggling with their ending will get additional support during their conference time. If they have a not so hot ending, we can look at it together and I could help make suggestions and ask them questions to help develop a better conclusion.
• If you were to teach this same lesson again, what would you do differently and how do you think the changes would improve students’ learning?
If I were to teach this lesson again, I would try harder to use the eyes in the back of my head that I am trying so hard to develop. I really struggled with giving an individual my attention during a roving conference while monitoring the entire group at the same time. My class is particularly chatty and I know that the recess postponement played into their distraction. I think that if this were to happen again I will foresee the off task behavior due to this adjustment and then I could know to reprimand the students more for being off task. My field instructor suggested saying to an off task student. "I see this is where are you are now, next time I come around the room I would like to see at least 2 more sentences." This helps to give some accountability to the individual who is off task, and I really liked that suggestion. I think that by acknowledging the off task behavior and holding the students accountable would improve their learning.
• What did you learn so far about implementing your ‘core practice’ and what do you need to do to continue your professional learning?
I have learned that conferencing can be challenging. I was very optimistic that I would easily be able to make my way around the room to all 26. However I was only able to see about half the students during the lesson. Some students needed more help than others and required more time than I anticipated. For example one of the students didn't think he had to work until I came to him and I did tell him this was unacceptable. I plan to be very explicit with the entire class during the next lesson that my expectation is that you are to working the entire time. A conference with me does NOT mean I will be doing any of your work for you, I am only here to help. I did learn that many of students benefited from the conferencing and it was nice to see many of them catching on and really focus on their ending and what we talked about during our group mini-lesson.
Kelsey, I enjoyed reading your reflection because it clued me in to some of the issues you are thinking about as a writing teacher and how to assure that each student is working to his/her potential. You are doing some good thinking about how to 'go with the flow' when you have interruptions such as a change in recess plans. Sometimes when events like that happen, it can help to stop a lesson and talk with the students about the need to re-group and get on task. Perhaps answering their questions would help them redirect. But it sounds like you did well with getting them re-focused.
ReplyDeleteGetting around to each student for a conference is definitely a challenge! One possibility across a unit is to conference with a certain number of students per day so students know when their 'turn' comes up, and then the rest of the time can be done in a more impromptu way for those who have immediate questions. A format like that would not assure that everyone gets a conference on every aspect of their writing, but across the unit, each student would get some quality time. Just an idea...
I really enjoyed spending time in your classroom on October 30. It was great to see how engaged the students were in bringing their writing to publication. As I circulated the room and talked with many of them it was readily apparent that they felt very proud of their pieces and were invested in their topic. I did my best to 'eves drop' on some of your conferences without making it seem like an interruption (I didn't want your students to feel put on the spot), and was able to hear parts of your discussion. It seemed like you were very connected to each person's writing issues and engaged in helping them communicate clearly and with detail. One question I have is whether you felt you were able to select one or two key 'teaching points' for your conferences so that they could focus on a particular area--it seemed like you were doing that, but as I said, I was only able to hear parts.
As for noise in the classroom--You mentioned in your reflection that you have a chatty group. As a teacher you will need to figure out your own comfort level with 'noise' in the classroom to decide what is productive noise and what may interfere with learning. On the day I was there, it seemed like the noise was fine because they were working and were task oriented. The only question I'd have is whether there are some students in your class who are very distracted by a low hum of noise in the room, and if that is the case, you might need to adjust. You also could consider having 'quiet' writing time some days (and perhaps play relaxing music) and other days indicate that talking in very soft voices is ok as long as they are on task. Perhaps it would depend on what that day's task is. If they're composing a piece, it seems that they really can't put all their effort in if they are chatting, whereas if they are making a final copy of something, their attention could be more divided. I know what you mean about 'eyes in the back of your head'! Learning to monitor the room AND concentrate on a writer's piece is challenging. Thanks for inviting me to your classroom. I enjoyed being part of a productive learning environment!
Kelsey, I enjoyed reading your reflection because it clued me in to some of the issues you are thinking about as a writing teacher and how to assure that each student is working to his/her potential. You are doing some good thinking about how to 'go with the flow' when you have interruptions such as a change in recess plans. Sometimes when events like that happen, it can help to stop a lesson and talk with the students about the need to re-group and get on task. Perhaps answering their questions would help them redirect. But it sounds like you did well with getting them re-focused.
ReplyDeleteGetting around to each student for a conference is definitely a challenge! One possibility across a unit is to conference with a certain number of students per day so students know when their 'turn' comes up, and then the rest of the time can be done in a more impromptu way for those who have immediate questions. A format like that would not assure that everyone gets a conference on every aspect of their writing, but across the unit, each student would get some quality time. Just an idea...
I really enjoyed spending time in your classroom on October 30. It was great to see how engaged the students were in bringing their writing to publication. As I circulated the room and talked with many of them it was readily apparent that they felt very proud of their pieces and were invested in their topic. I did my best to 'eves drop' on some of your conferences without making it seem like an interruption (I didn't want your students to feel put on the spot), and was able to hear parts of your discussion. It seemed like you were very connected to each person's writing issues and engaged in helping them communicate clearly and with detail. One question I have is whether you felt you were able to select one or two key 'teaching points' for your conferences so that they could focus on a particular area--it seemed like you were doing that, but as I said, I was only able to hear parts.
As for noise in the classroom--You mentioned in your reflection that you have a chatty group. As a teacher you will need to figure out your own comfort level with 'noise' in the classroom to decide what is productive noise and what may interfere with learning. On the day I was there, it seemed like the noise was fine because they were working and were task oriented. The only question I'd have is whether there are some students in your class who are very distracted by a low hum of noise in the room, and if that is the case, you might need to adjust. You also could consider having 'quiet' writing time some days (and perhaps play relaxing music) and other days indicate that talking in very soft voices is ok as long as they are on task. Perhaps it would depend on what that day's task is. If they're composing a piece, it seems that they really can't put all their effort in if they are chatting, whereas if they are making a final copy of something, their attention could be more divided. I know what you mean about 'eyes in the back of your head'! Learning to monitor the room AND concentrate on a writer's piece is challenging. Thanks for inviting me to your classroom. I enjoyed being part of a productive learning environment!