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| 4th Grade Lesson 1 Image 1 |
Assessing Student Engagement & Learning:
I am excited to report that once again students immediately jumped to the content of the image. They noticed the structure and the people digging. Immediately, they were guessing what they were digging for such as oil, gold, clay, etc. They also noticed that it appeared to be from a long time ago because of the clothing, and that it appeared to be in some place "Like Egypt" because of the colors that look like a desert.
Students seemed to be caught off guard that I would paraphrase/confirm their thoughts. So they would say something, then check out. Which makes me hopeful that VTS will give them some validation for acknowledging their comments.
They also seemed to be surprised that I asked them for evidence for their statement, but happy to offer it. Most of it was pretty good.
A FOURTH GRADE BOY RESPECTFULLY DISAGREED WITH ANOTHER STATEMENT! Loved it.
Students were relatively engaged. I really had to force them to just look silently for a moment so everyone could take a chance to just look. My ELL students were not speaking as much, but appeared to be listening/looking intently.
Things the reading helped me with: At one point I had to ask if we could hear from any other students, because one boy kept wanting to dominate the conversation. Also, one comment was made that was borderline inappropriate about the text in the top left corner. A student said they thought it was Chinese writing, and when asked why he said because it looked like noodles. I tried to quickly paraphrase with more appropriate language like "Curving characters that appear to not be ones like you see in the English language" and moved on.
Reflecting on Practice:
VTS was going pretty darn well for our first time doing it together. I think now that they have seen the practice, it will only get better. The main hindrances were reminders that we do not talk over each other, and some classroom management when we were nearing the end of the conversation after ~10 minutes. Overall I was excited at the level of engagement for the first round and that students could come up with different ideas, respectfully disagree, and offer evidence when asked. It felt like a calm beginning to our class that was building community in a class where there can be peer drama.
I felt like I was able to use the questions with ease, and am figuring out the balancing act with the second question. I gave myself permission to simply paraphrase, deliver the question as written, or sometimes ask a specific follow up question for the evidence.
When the conversation was ending I said I would take 3 more answers. One, I don't like that I called it "answers" instead of "comments/responses." Secondly, I could see how this could set me up for potential awkwardness and I would rather just end the conversation or say I will take one more comment. I liked Mary's idea on Facebook about having the students turn and talk to each other about any remaining comments at the end.
Planning:
-I want to spend even more time looking at the image before we begin the discussion.
-I want to make sure the expectations of how the discussion will be are clear, especially that we talk one at a time and listen to the speaker.
-I had the questions/expectations written down on a notecard in my hand which helped me feel more comfortable even if I didn't look down at it, so I would like to do that.
-I think I might try to come up with some silent hand signals as expectation reminders to use with students while another one is talking so I don't have to interrupt the speaker when they are talking.
Peer Coaching #1
ReplyDeleteLori-
The inferences your students made about the image like, “digging for…oil, gold, clay, etc.” and the setting being Egypt “because the colors look like a desert” show background knowledge possibly learned in other content areas. I think it’s great that they are making inferences and connections!
In response to them being surprised by your paraphrasing, I agree with you- I also think VTS will provide validation for students. You made me think twice about how I respond to students’ answers in other activities/situations, and I admittedly move on when I receive a correct response. Using paraphrasing in VTS should help teachers with this as well. This will make me more cognizant of validating them through acknowledgement with other lessons.
You said students were “relatively engaged” but you did have them view silently before beginning. Good job! I had to reiterate the silent viewing with my seventh grade students also. With more VTS experiences, I think our students will begin to do this without having to be prompted. This is probably another learned behavior…the teacher puts something on the board, and they immediately start to talk about/question the activity.
I was really impressed with your response to the student who made the comment about the writing. Whether his intention was to share his observation or to be inappropriate (I’m thinking this may have been an attempt to get a laugh from the others), but you handled it beautifully!
You mentioned the students talking over each other in your reflection and planning- I like the idea of silent hand signals. An object, like talking stick, came to mind for me- something the student’s have to pass around to signal their turn. This might not be allowed (for lack of a better word) in VTS; we could ask Mary for some insight. It also may just take practice. It sounds like your first lesson went very well! Great job!
:) Ginia
Loved reading this post! So much positive stuff going on! You said, "They also seemed to be surprised that I asked them for evidence for their statement, but happy to offer it." That makes me think you may be the first to sincerely care about what they have to say. Giving them a voice through VTS and acknowledging them as thinkers should have positive carry-over in other areas of the classroom. Watch for it. Your paraphrase of the border-line inappropriate comments was PERFECT! Yenawine & Housen call that "neutralizing" a statement and you did it like a pro! Kudos!! Good thinking on your feet! Very anxious to see how the next discussion goes. Sounds like you're off to a great start!!
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