Last Wednesday (yes, it's been a while, a lot has happened in the past week!) I was able to get around to observe three classrooms for various different subjects. It was interesting not only to see the things going on in each classroom, but how two teachers did very similar things (and a thing which I've done in the past but not so much in recent times) which really gets the children engaged.
Year 0 Writing Lesson
The biggest thing I noticed in this classroom was how the time was managed and how the children were engaged. There was never really any lulls in this classroom. If something wasn't happening properly it was dealt with extremely swiftly and the lesson continued. Even though the children were on the mat for a really long time, not once did they really seem to lose focus (they were as focused at 30 minutes as they were at 3). They were constantly being engaged and asked to participate. So much was done in that 30 minutes that there was no time for the children to lose focus: a morning message (including the weather), phonics, and a writing lesson (and you can probably include the roll in that as well).
There were heaps upon heaps of positive praise being given out in class, and most of the time it was directed at specific behaviours (I love the way you're sitting up, That's a really interesting word). It was very clear that the children in the class have been trained up to this.
The writing was well structured and modelled on the board. When teaching the strategy of sounding out, the teacher kept within her students' abilities by writing the words as they might, and not as we would. I really liked that strategy as it kept a lot of confusion off of the table for children of that age. I'm not sure I'd do the same, but it was definitely appropriate in that case.
Giving out the books, each child got their book one at a time, to avoid the decongestion of everyone going up and getting their things. I know it can seem like a big waste of time to do things that way, but it actually does make things go smoothly. It's something worth trying with my class (which has had some problems lately with lining up quietly and sensibly (and getting to their seats in the same manner). When the children were writing two thirds of the class had either a teacher or a TA at their table to help them and guide them if needed. If you count me, they all had an adult. Most of the children were able to complete their writing in the time given and knew what to do when they were finished.
It was interesting to see how smoothly the class moved with so much to fit in. I guess that's the biggest thing I took out of it. It was also a good reminder to keep pouring on the positive praise.
Year 3/4 Math Lesson
I got to see a lot of interesting things in this session. The first I barely noticed, because the teacher did such a good job of handling it. A boy was playing up and causing all sorts of trouble with the teacher. He calmly dealt with the problem as it escalated, making sure that it did not disrupt the flow of the class. I saw it, but I'm not completely sure how he did it. It's something definitely to aspire to.
I've already tried a few of the strategies I saw in this class in mine. The first is that he went over the IWB activity with the class as a warmup. Not only did it give everyone a learning experience, it removed the need to have to explain the activity to one of the groups. Another thing he had the children at the IWB do was to sit on chairs, in a row, facing the board. I've tried both those strategies and it did help alleviate some of the silliness that goes on during my guided group lessons.
The teacher also had a small group going on and did some pretty interesting things. The children didn't know what to with a problem, so he had them film him solve it. He verbalised his thought process along the way and the children were able to watch the video again to see what happened. This was an incredible tool that could be used for posting on blogs, etc. so children can review their work at home. I spoke briefly with the teacher afterwards and he also told me it was possible to film the IWB screen and record sound so that a demonstration could be played back on that for students. Wonderful!
This is where I need to mention the thing I saw both of these first two teachers doing: making mistakes on purpose. I used to do this a lot (it helps cover up for the times when you actually do make a mistake) and haven't been doing it lately. It really worked for both of them (and I've had it work for me as well) by getting the children involved (who doesn't love proving their teacher wrong?) and making them feel pretty smart in the process. I tried it the next day and it did get the children's attention. I will need to make an effort to continue using that strategy.
Y5/6 Discovery Lesson
Due to the strange schedule of the day, I didn't have much time after the math lesson to see many discovery lessons going on, but I did have time to visit one classroom and speak with the teacher about it. That short discussion proved valuable in helping me figure out just exactly what discovery time is. I honestly had very little idea beforehand. Basically I need to pick a habit of mind and design 5-6 activities around that habit. They can (and should) be creative so that children get to experience things they wouldn't normally do in school. I really like the idea and have been able to come up with a few ideas that (I think) are different but still relevant to what we've been learning about. Not much else to really say on this one, except that it is mostly sorted at the moment. I'm looking forward to actually having a proper discovery time this coming week.
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