Blog #6 (Best Teaching Practices)

     The best strategies for actively engaging with the students I've witnessed during observation hours comes from  the most well behaved and organized 5th grade class. I'll call them Mrs. T's class. I've written before about how she uses physical and vocabulary cues to get and maintain attention or focus of her class. Her techniques are used in the other two 5th grade classes but they are done so sparingly, and I've watched how in the less organized class of Mrs D, they are nearly non-existent. 

     The first of these techniques is what is often known as the Call and Response. This is a term popularized or used to describe the impromptu solicited responses often heard in southern Baptist church meetings. For example, you'd hear the preacher deliver a strong verse or make a point; and then out of the blue you'll see and hear people from the congregation raising their hands and/or shouting out "hallelujah" to show their understanding and support for that verse or point that they feel might be directed right at them. Mrs. T uses this by giving a direction to the class. Then she asks the class, "..if you are agreement with the directions I gave you, touch your nose and stand on one foot." Because it involves movement and coordination it becomes a game and the kids want to engage in it. Without knowing it they are becoming engaged, improving their physical coordination and completing the directions of their teacher. I've watched over and over as she uses this technique with a very high degree of success. The kids are quick to jump to the directions she asks not necessarily because they want to do it quickly but because they want to engage in the physical activity of her call and response. 

     The second strategy to engage the students I've seen to be very effective is the morning huddle. This is the huddle at the front of the classroom immediately after some warm up PT exercises. After PT she has the class come to the front of the class and sit down around her as she reviews with them verbally what they studied the day before. She then draws the problems or concepts she reviewed with them on the dry erase board. Even more than this, whenever possible she will ask for participation from the seated group of anyone willing and able to draw the steps of the process. If they get stuck she asks for volunteers from the group to help give the student writing on the board a little nudge to complete the step. Once the review is complete the students are prepared to receive the lesson for the day. Mrs. T completes her discussion and teaching of the day's lesson and concepts on the Smart Board. Afterward they are allowed to pair up in order to assist each other in completing the problems. By working in these paired teams the students are often able to help each other through and learn without the teacher's direct assistance. If there are students who have additional help, they are allowed to come to the back table where Mrs. T, fellow students or myself helps review and coach them through the problems. 

     I do not think it a coincidence that the best strategies for engagement and learning I've seen (and also happen to be the most effective in my observation) come from the classroom of the most organized and perhaps most freshly out of college 5th grade teacher. The ability to relate to these kids, engage them on their level with activities that hold their attention and promote learning are what make this teacher so effective. The strategies didn't come from years and years of teaching experience as I can attest that Mrs. T is a very young teacher. These strategies for involvement and engagement came from recent curriculum at the university level and it just so happens that she is actively applying them. Knowing your target audience (class) is necessary in order to tailor your strategies to engage them for learning. If a teacher lectures, gives homework, grades, lectures and tests, they are not doing what is most effective for their class because they are simply going through the motions and not looking to engage their learners. 

Blog #5 (Roles of Teachers)

     The roles teachers play from day to day are as varied as the topics taught throughout elementary, middle and high schools each day. Long gone are the teaching methods where the teacher gets up in the front of the room and reads all day out of a pre-planned text or lesson book prepared by the state or district, and then gives you quizzes to evaluate how much you've absorbed.  At the pace at which society and technology are moving our children would not be able to keep up if the old style of lecture teaching was to remain the norm. 

    From my experience as an instructor at the university level teaching Army ROTC leadership and physical fitness at UVU and first hand observations over the last month in a 5th grade classroom, the most important role that teachers play in the lives of our young students is that of role model. Everything that is taught or established would not be possible if the students did not see that teacher as a role model first and foremost. For without showing them that they themselves as teachers are proficient in the task or subject to be taught, the student cannot fully accept with confidence the teachers abilities and in turn their own ability to learn from said teacher.

     A role model is someone who provides an example and models what right and/or wrong looks like. Here's an example of what I'm speaking about; every Tuesday morning I visit a 5th grade class and observe the teacher tell everyone to get out of their seats and being morning warm-up exercises to get their physical bodies ready to learn. She is the first to stand up and as she gives commands of what exercise is to begin, she is actively showing them how it is to be completed. All the kids' eyes are on her! If she moves, they move. When she stops, they stop. And so she purposely moves through modeling what correct warm-ups are to be.  When they are complete with the physical modeling exercise she has them all actively move to a huddle on the floor at the front of the room, gathering around her as she sits in a chair next to a small dry erase board. There, once again all eyes are trained on her as she re-states what they worked on math-wise the day before. Intently, they raise hands and answer her review questions. And as she talks them through these reviews she writes out the problem she is reviewing with them. This is not only for their mental edification but also for modeling of herself as that active role-model. She is giving them confidence in her abilities as a teacher of math by her showing them she is efficient and knows how to complete what she is going to teach them. She is role-modeling technical proficiency. 

     There are three 5th grade classrooms where I have spent time observing role modeling. The teacher from the above example models an organized, tidy and efficient experience for the kids in her classroom. Thus, her room is neatly kept, boxes with supplies are neatly labeled and stacked. Books are on shelves in order. And the students have seen this example by the teacher and do their best to keep their own desks and work areas the same. The second teacher of the three is similar to the first teacher. Her room is relatively tidy, though not as neat as the first's and the kids are spoken to in a respectful yet firm manner. Their own desk are well put together, though not neatly kept. Third teacher in my opinion is not the best role model when it comes to tidiness or communication. Compared to teacher number one her room is a shamble and cluttered. Boxes of supplies are stack half hazardly on shelves wherever they can be made to fit. There are stacks and stacks of graded and ungraded sheets of paper/homework everywhere around the room. The floors are littered with various bits of debris and paper bits. When this teacher speaks to her students she nearly has to yell to gain their attention and get them to do what she wants them to do. In kind, the students do not as quickly respond to her as the previous two teachers' students do. She is constantly raising her voice and repeating herself. So, what do you think the students do when they speak to one another or are dealing with other teachers or teacher aides? Yep, you guessed it-they speak loudly, they don't immediately listen or give respect. Their desks are cluttered receptacles where papers and books get shoved, modeling the overall lack of upkeep of the teacher's classroom. 

     If a leader, which is really what a teacher is, cannot properly model the role she wants the students to lead and play as students, how can she expect them to actively contribute and be successful as students? Most of these children do not get the in-depth education in their lies that teachers give them. These teachers are like parents to them. They spend more quality time with them each week then any of their family will during the formative schooling years. They are indeed role-models for them, giving them the foundation of what a proper student and human being should be, know and do throughout their schooling. 

Blog Entry #4 (Clerical and Managing Assessment in the classroom)

     The clerical and preparation responsibilities i have participated in have been minimal so far. As I am doing my volunteer learning hours on Friday morning, it feels like the week is winding down and the teachers are utilizing the week complete spelling tests, homework packets and learning experiences as well as library visits.

      Last week I did however complete a task of putting together homework packets for social studies and putting up a bulletin board. For assembly of the packets, I was given four stacks of papers and a stabler and asked to assemble the packets. It was easy work which entailed me putting together papers and stapling them. It took all of ten minutes. My second task was assembling a bulletin board to encourage the kids to read. Given a plainly papered bulletin board and a file folder with cutout letters and snowflakes, my task was to assemble them into a eye-catching mural involving books. I took to the task with a stapler, and a yard stick in order to get the distance correct.  

     In regards to the management of assessments by the teachers I've been working with; I have seen instructors handle assessments primarily by the standard of testing. With only 4 visits in the class I can't say that I've been privy to view or involve myself in the assessment portion of teaching. I have had the opportunity to administer a spelling test to the students verbally. And I've proctored quizzes and homework packets. It seems to me that they are all assessed by the same standard. I have not seen  a sliding scale of grading for any of the students. I do however know for a fact that they use placement assessments, as most schools would. This can be observed by certain students who are a little slower in subject areas being allowed extra time to complete homework and being allowed release time to work with other groups outside of the classroom itself. Speaking of the spelling test, the fact that they are sometimes quizzed during studying for spelling (homework packets) on how to utilize the words in a proper sentence, have shown me that they are in fact being assessed on incidental learning and not just the proper spelling of a word. And I think this type of learning and subsequent assessment is happening more often than not. It's just that we're not used to calling it an assessment. 

     One other key point of assessment is that of them being more than just a standard RIGHT-WRONG test, but that they should also be cognitive based, testing: knowledge, skills, reasoning and disposition. This cognitive assessment area has not been seen by me in my time in the classroom but I should hope a Utah school would integrate this manner into their assessment. .

     Authentic assessments are also an integral part of the student's work week. These are observed by the homework of various journals kept by students and mini projects they are to complete as groups. My time has been spent helping the kids formulate the proper journal format in order to write a proper entry directed towards a certain person, their parents. Even with only a sliver of time spent with three different fifth grade classes, one thing is for certain. Today's teachers understand the need to utilize various teaching techniques to reach each of their students' varied needs. And in order to do this in a manner efficient to their learning and absorbing knowledge, the assessment is necessary. If they were not using assessments properly to begin with, they would not know where to start or where to focus time and energy in their instruction. So though it may not be self-evident to a volunteer learner such as myself, the overall results of Utah's schools when compared to the nation speak to the proper use of assessments in the education of these students.