Week 6 - Collaborative Work

As I mentioned in my post last week, my four team members and I have been working on a lesson study and have gotten the opportunity to de-brief in meetings together several times. Thinking about these de-briefing sessions, I have noticed several things about myself and my peers.

The first realization I have had during this lesson study experience is that all educators, whether forced or not, will have to interact and work with other educators at one point or another in this profession. With the push of inclusion and wide resources available online, the field of education has never been more collaborative. This collaboration, however, includes working with people who have different ideas, values, and methods of teaching than I do. While engaging in healthy discourse with my peers at these de-briefing sessions, I have noticed that it is much more difficult for me to speak up for myself and hold my ground than it is for my four other team members. I notice I am often held back by negative thoughts, which include, "What if it's not that great of an idea?" or "What if there is something wrong with this idea that I haven't forseen yet? I don't want to look incompetent." I would consider myself a "people-pleaser" and also value the opinions and judgments that others make of me. I am beginning to realize that if I come into a meeting like this with these types of thoughts about my own ideas, I am never going to come across to my peers (or superiors) as competent, confident, and capable. Therefore, as a way to address this issue, I am going to start thinking more positively about my ideas and how what I suggest can only help a situation rather than hinder it, since I'm offering any advice or idea at all. If I envision myself as a person who can stand up for herself and proudly state what she wants to say, I think I will begin to receive much more positive feedback from those I am discussing ideas with.

At the same time, however, I have often grown tired of not speaking up and then somehow muster the courage to do so. When I finally speak up for myself, I sometimes find my ideas being turned down in a way that is quite different from how I would approach this type of rejection. Also, rather than hearing just one team member's idea about why my idea is not suitable for the lesson or in solving a problem, I usually will hear things from other members, too, either in agreement or to add to why it would not be a suitable solution to our problem. Once this happens, I can't help but feel inferior and tend to withdrawal, having to wait until I gain some more confidence to stand up and say something again. I understand that most people will not disagree in the same manner that I do and I must learn how to interact (and reach a solution) with everyone involved in the group. The process of learning these skills, however, has been a confusing and difficult one...one that is still in progress. How can I effectively stand up for myself and show that my ideas deserve to be heard? How can I be more assertive without coming across as rude or selfish of my own thoughts and ideas? How do I interact and make decisions with others who have completely different personality styles than me?

Week 5- Lesson Study

My co-teaching partner and I had the chance to teach our first lesson with other teachers and administrative personnel observing us. I think this lesson was much more successful than our first because we got the chance to see how students would react to the content, way that we experimented, and gauge some common misconceptions that they might associate with the content (gravity). It is amazing how much can be improved from teaching a lesson from a first time to a second. 

For instance, we cut out a large portion of the lesson completely because the “parachutes” we wanted to use were distracting and consumed a lot of valuable learning time during the lesson. Also, we realized that our terminology within the lesson could create some misconceptions itself, such as the word “drop”. We were able to consider more aspects of the lesson as a whole and the best way to teach the content based on a starting point from the first lesson that was taught.

When I first discovered we were doing a lesson study, I have to admit that I felt a little uneasy and worried about trying to plan lessons with four other people. And, so far, I was right. Working with four other individual people who imagine a lesson going a certain way but having to make compromises or considerations for things that they hadn’t thought of can be frustrating and complicated at times. However, I am finding it to be beneficial, especially for a person like me, because I am forced to speak up more for myself and try to make my opinions and ideas heard as well. Another beneficial aspect of the lesson study is that I get to heard things from others that I would not have considered on my own if they did not bring it to my attention. For example, I thought we should use a bouncy ball in the lesson to demonstrate the concept of gravity (“what goes up must come down”). But, my teammates brought to my attention that this could create a misconception or be too advanced for first introducing the concept of gravity since the ball would be going back up again. 

The lesson study is giving me the chance to work with others who have the same goals as I do (for student learning) while hearing ideas that are new or that I would never have thought about. It opens my eyes to other pedagogical and engaging methods for teaching the lesson. It is also teaching me the ups and downs of working with others and all that needs to be taken into consideration, such as meeting times, differences in methods, and reflecting on the lesson’s success, not focusing on the teachers. I thought this lesson study would be frustrating but I am now realizing that I am learning much more than I thought I would. 

Finally, meeting together for a de-brief session is one of the most beneficial aspects of the lesson study because we have the opportunity to reflect on our teaching and the lesson and figure out what works, what doesn’t, and what we can do better for the next time; all qualities of a truly effective teacher. Having input from older, experienced educators and administration encourages higher-order thinking during the de-brief, pushing us to think about parts of the lesson we may be missing or need to focus on. I am very grateful for this learning experience.

Week 4 - Paying Attention

This past week, my co-teaching partner and I got the advantageous opportunity to teach our very first, co-planned lesson about needs and wants to our kindergarteners. We administered a “pre-assessment” to determine students’ background knowledge about the topic and I thought it would be fairly simple; given a worksheet with 6 different pictures, the students were only to circle what they believed to be a “need”. As we walked around to collect the worksheets, I noticed one student (who I referred to before as “Ty”) did not circle anything. I asked her if she wanted to circle anything before she turned it in and she just smiled and turned, beginning to talk to the student next to her. I sighed and moved on, sad that she seemed to be distracted to the point of not following simple directions. Also, why did I not notice that she wasn’t participating when everyone else was busy circling their answers?


Ty is very behind and has a high chance of being retained and having to be in kindergarten next year. I believe one reason for this is her lack of attention during class. I sit next to Ty quite a bit during small group and whole group instruction, guiding and prompting her to keep up with the rest of the class. Ty is also still working on her potty training and does not know all of her letters and their sounds.  She is one of the smallest girls in the class and, when she is focused, she completes a majority of tasks. However, she doesn’t seem to understand simple directions and the teacher has considered having her tested for special education services.  I have so many questions about this student and don’t know which one I want to focus on but I just know that SHE is a puzzling student for me that I want to help best I can while I’m here.

While reading Tomlinson and Imbeau’s text, I couldn’t help but think of Ty. She needs special accommodations and differentiation in the classroom so she can get “caught up” and be able to engage in simple tasks, such as knowing which number we are working on during whole group. When I sit next to her, I notice her looking around the classroom, at other classmates, playing with things in her desk; everything else but looking and listening to the teacher. Ty cannot sit still, loves rocking back and forth in her chair, and is very quiet (unless talking about something she is confident enough to talk about). What I wonder is how can I harness this energy (kinesthetically) to her work in and out of the classroom? How can I get her to be more focused and actually listening to someone who is giving her directions? How can I get Ty to feel more confident in herself in a way that trickles into all aspects of her life (even outside of school)? Why is she not paying attention? Is she bored? Does she feel too far behind and thinks, “Why bother?” Is she really not interested or is there some sort of disorder interfering with her learning? What are truly effective behavior management strategies which can keep Ty self-regulated and on-task?

Week 3- Patience and guided instruction

This week I realized one of my pet peeves as an educator; students talking while I’m talking. I understand that kindergarteners get very excited and can become easily bored when the teacher tries explaining everything to them. I realized I was most annoyed when working with students individually, asking questions and they respond with an answer that is clearly a guess because I do not get the chance to finish my question and/or they just “go with the crowd” and say what everyone else does. In other words, they’re not using their own brains. The reason this bothers me so much is because I am not aware of what the student really knows and I feel that they are not actively engaged in what we are doing because they are simply guessing. I consider myself a very patient person and able to myself in someone else’s shoes, which is why I feel so bad about becoming frustrated with the students. I know that the students can pick up on non-verbal cues and intonation when I become frustrated. Once this happens, the learning (and my teaching) doesn’t seem as fun and positive. I don’t like this at all.

When I experience this with the students, I notice I think to myself that I want the kids to “just listen” to me. However, I am realizing that I need to change my perspective or my way of teaching/ working with children. While reading my section about guided instruction from the Gradual Release of Responsibility Model (GRR), it made me realize that I need to allow the students to do the talking and show/ tell me what they know already as well as what they are learning during the lesson. I need to ask more questions, scaffold appropriately, and encourage student think-alouds. Kindergarteners LOVE to talk so why don’t I build off of this in my own instruction/ interactions with them?

Another idea I had while reading the chapter was keeping a journal at my side (or nearby after the lesson) and recording my interactions with the students or what happened that caused me to become easily frustrated (Fisher and Frey, 59).  If I can analyze the situations, maybe I can prevent them from happening or become more aware of my reactions. The same reactions often happen when students completely ignore me or do the opposite of what I say. I would like to know effective ways to deter this behavior and change the way I handle these scenarios. Usually I try to handle situations like these with humor but this can sometimes be exhausting and time-consuming. How can I allow students (especially kindergarteners) the time they need to think-aloud and justify their answers? I believe it’s worth the time if I can hear possible misconceptions that the students have. Something else that may be an issue is how the students are learning. Maybe I’m asking the wrong questions or asking for output in a way that is not compatible with the student. Fisher and Frey emphasize creating choice for students, especially in the product, or way that they tell us what they have learned (p. 47).

My wondering for this week is how can I alter my reactions when a student does something that “pushes my buttons” to make it a positive learning experience (for everyone)?

Week 2- Restrictions in my teaching beliefs

         This past week, I had the chance to teach a math lesson on shapes....three-dimensional shapes. My initial reaction when I heard that I would be teaching the concepts of spheres, cubes, and cylinders to kindergarteners was shock and disbelief. My own thinking and beliefs about what to teach interfered with what I believed these students were capable of learning. As Fisher and Frey express in their text, the gradual release of responsibility (GRR) is based on the idea of creating students who are responsible of their own learning. 
         I've realized that my fear as an educator is that I am going to teach concepts that may be too challenging for some students (like, in this scenario, the ones who don't know the names and characteristics of two-dimensional shapes). However, the text reminded me that students need appropriate scaffolding in their zones of proximal development (based on Vygotsky's theory). My limited thinking causes the thinking of my students to be limited, too. How can they learn new vocabulary and concepts (even if I believe they are not developmentally ready) if I don't place the concepts in their hands to ponder, learn, and explore for themselves?
        My wondering for this week has transitioned from a particular student to my own "restricted" thinking as an educator. I feel concerned that I won't know what to teach each age group or that they won't be able to understand the concepts (especially if they are not well-versed in the fundamentals). How can I change my own thinking about what and how to teach students based on the standards and their own experiences? I'm not sure where this wondering is going specifically but I do know that I need to change my words and mentality about the types of things that students are learning now.

I guess in my mind, kindergarten is supposed to be focused on social interaction and enjoying being a kid because that was the kind of experience I had in kindergarten. I remember being read to a lot, playing with playdoh and on the playground, putting on plays for my parents, and just playing with toys and manipulatives at my leisure. In this practicum experience, students are engaging in workbooks for whole-group instruction, are only read to when there is extra time in the day (which is rare), and fill out worksheets related to phonics instruction. Rather than seeing the new standards for kindergarten as challenging and developmentally appropriate for these students, I see it as overloading their mental capacities with unnecessary vocabulary. When I found that they learned with the word “vertex” meant, I felt that this was completely unnecessary. However, I do not know enough about child development to know whether this is appropriate or not. I know from my reading course that many students’ success in school is dependent upon their exposure to academic-style vocabulary. I should not be afraid to use this vocabulary in the presence of my students but, rather, act as a model and encourage them to follow my lead (Fisher and Frey, 2).

How can I stop relating content from my learning experiences to the content my students are learning now? How can I find out more about how students’ brains develop at the different grade levels and how to scaffold appropriately? How can I accommodate the students with my lesson, especially between the ones who don’t understand the fundamentals and the ones who don’t feel challenged?

Week 1- My shocking revelation

The past two weeks, I have gotten the chance to get to know the students in the kindergarten classroom, as well as the beliefs and attitudes of my mentor teacher and co-teaching partner. In this time, it has been somewhat easy to identify the students in little categories: quiet, outspoken, easily frustrated, falling behind, not being challenged enough, etc. In thinking of my inquiry, I have been trying to figure out what I really “wonder” in this classroom setting and it hit me just this past week: helping an individual child (passion 1, Dana, 22). This little girl, who we will refer to as “Ty” is the oldest child, with two baby brothers and another one on the way. She cannot write her name, knows most of her letters and sounds, can be very quiet but speaks when spoken to, and seems to be easily distracted. I had the chance to work with her in the classroom setting individually this past week and found that she seemed more focused, engaged, and to make some progress; instead of writing “TBY” for her name, she included more letters which were in her actual name. 

What concerned me about this child is my discussion with my mentor teacher and co-teaching partner. They both seem to share a particular belief about this student and how much effort we should put forth in helping her. Needless to say, my own beliefs conflicted with theirs and I felt a little hurt. I understand working so intensively with a student like Ty can be time-consuming, frustrating, and perhaps seem pointless at times but, in my opinion, I think it is worth the time, effort, and frustration. After all, for this student (in the near and far future), it will be even more frustrating, time-consuming, and difficult for her in the classroom setting if we do not get her meeting expectations in the areas she should be meeting at this point in the school year. The mentor teacher I had last semester was a third grade teacher who shared very similar beliefs to what my current mentor and co-teaching partner feel. Last semester, I remember feeling sad for the child that the teacher was talking about, especially since I had been working with him individually once a week. I knew once he was focused and actually interested in the lesson, he could make improvements, even if they were very small ones. 

Without disrespecting my mentor and co-teaching partner, I can’t help but wonder, is it really a waste of time to work with one student over another if that one student doesn’t make as many gains academically as the other? I can’t help but think of what I’ve been taught all through the ProTeach program, which is that if a student is not progressing or understanding a concept the way the rest of the class is, it should be commonplace to wonder (as a teacher), “What more can I do? What should I do differently with this student to reach them?” (Dana, 10). Both my mentor and co-teaching partner are wonderful educators with great qualities, please don’t misunderstand me. However, I also wonder how many other well-qualified educators share the same beliefs about some of their students as well. My goal for this semester is to work individually with Ty as much as possible and try different techniques to get her more focused, engaged, learning actively, and truly caring about her learning. 

Additionally, I meant to ask my mentor teacher this but I forgot: what do students have to do (or not do) to be tested for special education or intensive resources? Is it related to scores, growth developmentally, grades?