Walk Through Summary EDL278 Andrew P. Wade 2/16/2013
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Walk Through Reflection As I work as a teacher in a building that believes in the middle school philosophy, we rarely get the opportunity to observe each others classrooms. When this opportunity presented itself I was excited to be able to take an opportunity to do some walk throughs of my colleagues and see what learning strategies they are using to increase student achievement. From what I have experienced with the walk throughs that have been done in my classroom, I have never received any feedback from my administrators on the things that they have seen. I would like some sort of communication back telling me to keep doing a great job or have you thought about this learning strategy. I want to be different and share the information that I observed because I believe some type of feedback; big or little, would keep me working on my craft as a teacher, and when you get nothing, it keeps you feeling isolated on what you are doing in your classroom. I believe feedback will build a team atmosphere between staff and administration as well as building trust among administration and staff. With trust, comes a healthy culture and climate which will build a strong atmosphere for learning. I see walk throughs being a small task that has a great reward in a school. I believe the more you can make yourself present in classrooms the easier it will be to understand and supervise the instruction that is taking place in the building. It will show the teachers that you value their instruction and the students learning. As an eighth grade mathematics teacher, I choose to do my walk throughs in seventh grade Global Studies, Science, and Math classrooms. I also went to an eighth grade Science class, but did this as an informal walk through without any instruction on what to look for. I went to each of the 7 th grade classes on February 12 th , 2013 for five minutes from 8:30a.m. to 9:00a.m., and went to the 8 th grade Science class on February 1 st , at 10:05a.m. to 10:12a.m. Experiencing each classroom, I have found some great things that are going on in my school.
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Walk Through Reflection
Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment When I did the walk throughs, I focused on student behavior, curriculum, instruction, environment, and the health and safety of the classroom. At 8:33a.m. I entered the 7 th grade mathematics room and saw the students engaged in reviewing for their Unit 4 test that will be given tomorrow over figuring simple integers using all operations. I could tell the teacher had very good control of the classroom because the students were actively reviewing problems and no students were off task. The students were paired at tables and they were formed in a U shape with the teacher in the middle. He would constantly walk from table to table and stop when students had questions on problems with students that were confused. He also reminded the class where they could find the rules in their notes and the textbook. I then talked to a table of students to see what they knew from their review and tested them on a few problems. They were able to tell me how all the operation rules for integers worked, and I felt they had great knowledge of the concepts for the test. I left the room at 8:38a.m. feeling confident that the students had a good understanding of the concepts for tomorrows benchmark test. At 8:41a.m., I entered a 7 th grade World Studies class. This class was very similar but different to the math class. The students were paired together at tables, but in rows. I learned very quickly that the students were learning about the political, historical, physical, and cultural features of South Asia. The teacher had this written as an I can statement on the front board, which is a building/district wide PD initiative. The class was finishing a discussion on Monsoons. Then the students were instructed to continue to work in their packet over South Asia. What I noticed was that every student was working on something different because students have different tasks they can choose from depending on what they want to do that day.
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Walk Through Reflection Some students were doing map work, others were doing research on the computers about the political policies, and others were working out of the book and doing worksheets that followed the history of South Asia. You could see that the teachers I can statement fit to what he wanted the students to learn. To some people it would look like mass chaos, but you could see that the students were working hard and building knowledge of South Asia. I left the room at 8:46a.m. with a good understanding that the teacher was using many different strategies to meet the needs of his students. Then at 8:48a.m. I entered the 7 th grade Science class. They were working on a plate tectonics puzzle and gluing them into their composition book. I asked a student what this composition book was, he said that they take everything they do in class and have to put glue it into their composition book. This was a very neat idea, as you could see all the things the students have done in the year so far. They also were putting in a flip-book of the vocabulary that they did at the beginning of class. I then asked another student to explain to me how plate tectonics shape the earths landscape, as that was the I can statement on the board. She pulled out her puzzle and began to explain how all the continents fit together and when the plates moved it eventually formed the landscape of the earth. I found this activity to be enriching for the students learning, as it was a visual the students had and a hands-on activity. The teacher showed a lot of energy and passion for the content, and the students followed his lead. In this room, there was student work hanging all over, it was pretty impressive to see all the work the students have done so far this year. I left the room at 8:53a.m. and found that this science teacher used learning strategies that I think would be useful for other members of the staff to use, and I would want him to share the things that he is using with the rest of the staff, or ask if I could share it with others.
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Walk Through Reflection
On February 1 st , I did an informal walk through of an 8 th grade Science class at 9:30a.m. and stayed until 9:38a.m. With this being my first walk through and not having much instruction, I did not really know what I was looking for. What I wrote down was that the students were working on trying to describe color blindness, because that was what was being projected onto the screen in the front of the room. When I looked around at what the students were doing I could not figure out how that question correlated to the task they were doing. Students were working together on building a poster and researching different rays. I had to ask a student how the question in the front of the room fit into what they were researching on Gamma Rays. This student told me that he already finished that portion of the assignment and he was working on his presentation on Gamma Rays for tomorrow. So, the students working out of the book were still answering the question about color blindness, and the other students were working on their presentations of the different rays that dealt with the electromagnetic spectrum. This classroom was using different levels of Blooms, depending on where the student was in their assignment(s). Patterns and Trends There were a few patterns and trends that I observed in the four classes I stopped at. Each teacher had their I can statement (objective) written on the board in front of the classroom. This is one initiative that our building is doing, and is an expectation for every classroom in hopes that the students will understand what they are to learn if they continue to see it and teachers keep referencing to it. Another trend was every teacher spent little time in one spot of the classroom. They did not just sit behind their desk, they kept moving around the classroom helping students. I believe
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Walk Through Reflection this helped in the other trend and that is that every teacher had very good control of the students in their classroom, even when they were doing different tasks because they did move around. This helps students stay on task, and helps the teacher notice when the student is struggling. It also takes the factor of the student not wanting to go ask a question in fear of what other students might think. The other pattern I liked seeing was that every teacher was very organized and had a good plan for the students when they would finish different tasks at different times. There was no down time for the student not to be doing something towards the teachers objective(s). I liked that the Global Studies and Science teachers used a variety of learning strategies to fit to different student learning styles. The strategies were not all the same, but each teacher involved technology, cooperative learning, and some sort of graphic organizer. The last pattern I observed was the organization of their rooms. Each teacher had motivational posters and student work hanging from the ceiling and on the walls. This gives the students a sense of pride in their class, especially when they see their own work. I also viewed that each teacher had the students sitting in groups of two to four students. This maximizes the engagement of each student and formed a positive teaching and learning environment. Reflective Questions Before doing these walk throughs, I knew I wanted to be able to give the teachers some sort of feedback because that is what I always want but I never have gotten it. The only way I have ever gotten feedback is when I went to them and asked for their thoughts. I dont want them coming to me, I want the teachers to know that they are important to me and I will come to them with my good or constructive thoughts and questions. I believe this builds great climate for a building and teamwork from the administrators and teachers.
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Walk Through Reflection I made it a point by the end of the day to stop by each teachers room and talk to them about what I observed. They were eager to hear what I had to say because for some this is the only time they have had feedback this year. I started by having a conversation with the 8 th grade Science teacher, and I told her that I saw the question on the front overhead and was confused about what that had to do with Gamma Rays, and if that was something they were doing before I entered the room. She let me know that the students were working on describing color blindness, and when they were completed with that task they need to continue their work on their presentations. She then informed me that everything they were doing was related to the Electro Magnetic Spectrum. She was able to take my confusion of what I saw and make it make sense to me. I then asked her about that class as a whole group and she said that class is her most challenging class, so she has to have many things planned for the students to do, or they will not behave themselves. I told her I thought she did a great job managing the many tasks that were going on. I also let her know that if she needed any help with anything to please feel free to let me know and I would try to help find any solutions for her. I then went to talk to the 7 th grade math teacher. I really only had one question for him that I wanted to ask. I asked him if that was a typical process for preparing for a test, or do you do something different to fit the needs for different students? He let me know that was the way he prepared students for tests. This brought up a whole conversation on different ideas of test preparation. I felt that his method was good for the students that know how to study, but not all seventh graders, especially the students we have at our school do not know how to study. I shared with him that maybe playing jeopardy, having some type of quiz bowl, or even working in pairs solving each others questions that they have made. I do these types of things in my own math classroom and I offered to share how I set these different things up. I feel he good do
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Walk Through Reflection something different and also continue to do his own method. This would help reach all his students with different learning styles. He found this to be helpful, and we will be meeting at our next math meeting to share different things we do in preparing for tests. I would have not had this conversation if I would have never went in and observe this teacher. I emailed the Global Studies teacher earlier in the day and asked if I could come in after school and give him feedback from what I saw, and he was happy to hear what I had to say. I asked him how he plans for the differentiation he is doing in his classroom. He told me that he plans a packet that has different options for students to pick from, and each option is at a different level. The students are to pick from the list in the packet that fit to their own level. He also stated that he helps students pick so they dont try to take something that will not challenge them, but also not bury them because it is over there head. He said for the most part the students are very good at choosing their own tasks at their skill level. I then asked how you know if each student gets what they need in order to meet your objective of learning about South Asia. He replied that no task is less than the basic objective for each standard, so no matter what students pick, they will always get at least the basic information to up and beyond proficient. I told him that I saw that every student was working on something that fit to his objectives and to keep up the good work. He appreciated your two minute conversation, and I believe that little time will go a long way for him in continuing to build great tasks for students to do. The last conversation I had was with the 7 th grade Science teacher. I wanted to k now more about the students composition notebooks. When I looked at these books when I was in the classroom, they had three composition books duct tape together, and I wanted to find out more about this because I found it to be a great idea. He told me that two years ago he started having students glue their classwork in their notebooks and then it evolved into putting
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Walk Through Reflection everything into a composition book. He said this year he has finally gotten it down on how it works and looks. He said that it takes three composition notebooks duct taped together to get everything a 7 th grade student will do in a year. At the end of the school year the student will be able to see what they have learned and accomplished in science class. What a remarkable sight for the student, and a great conversation piece for parent/teacher conferences. I asked if I could share this with other teachers, and now we as a math department are going to put something together for next year that has the same ideas this teacher is doing. I believe this will be something that will go widespread throughout our building. I believe it will be done a little differently in different content area, but there will be similar principles. Concerns and Thoughts Overall, I felt that walk throughs were extremely valuable. The best experience was watching other teachers using different learning styles that fit the teachers comfort levels. With all the different strategies out there, I believe there are several that will work for any teacher, and some that will work for all teachers. A concern that I did have was that I did not have a hard conversation with any of my peers, and I believe that was because they were my peers and I had a hard time being critical of their styles of teaching because this was for my class and not part of my job. I have been asking myself how I would handle a hard conversation with a peer. I have come up with the conclusion that I would just ask a probing question that would have them talk about their own concerns, and then give my feedback on what I think might work for them. This was a great experience because I was able to gain more knowledge that can help my own teaching, but also give me topics to share with others. I believe this is what happens when walk throughs are completed and discussed. I feel the feedback conversations were a great tool
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Walk Through Reflection for me, as I learned even more that just what I thought I saw. I also found how different learning strategies work in different content areas. This brought a positive conversation that relieved some stress. This stress release existed because it was a positive experience for the teacher and me. I believe it would be a helpful tool for other teachers to do walk throughs in order for them to see how different strategies are being used to help students. As an administrator I will be promoting peer walk throughs and the benefits of them.