616 Field Blog Posts

Field Observations 

11/5/2020

Observations have been critical for learning about how the best practices we learn often intersect with real life. This semester, I have already witnessed several instances where decisions have been handed down that have severely impacted how class is conducted. For example, the school has mandated that students should be engaged in live instruction for the first 45 minutes of class, and left to work on assignments for the second 45 minutes. While this does mean that students are spared 90 minutes of lecture, it makes it difficult to include any sort of closing activity.

Another example is that the school board has stated that attendance can only be counted based on completion of the assignment for the day, and not the google meet. Students also have 5 days to turn in assignments before they can be counted late. While I like the initiative to support students who may have less reliable internet or different home situations, it's resulted in a big drop-off of students joining the google meets, putting them at much greater risk of falling behind.

And as much as we learn about alternative forms of assessment, the NC state final still looks exactly like the examples of what not to do. So as much as more interesting assessments would still be great to include, it also remains necessary to familiarize students with the type of assessment that is required to comprise 20% of their final grade.

This year in particular has a lot of new restrictions to which teachers are continually adjusting. While I would hope that not every year has this many new policies and mandates, it's still good to get used to the reality of not being 100% in control of these types of things. And it's been amazing to see the creativity of teachers who, in spite of frustrating restrictions, are still committed to bringing their best to the classroom. My mentor teacher has had to redesign just about every component of her lesson plans, quite a surprise after 9 years of teaching! I can only hope- or rather, commit- to maintaining this level of commitment to my students.

11/13/2020

This week, I've been paying a lot of attention to the questions that my mentor teacher asks her class. As I've observed her over multiple class periods, I have noticed that she uses many of the same questions across classes, with some variation for the honors class. I'd never given much thought to the questions that teachers ask until I began this program. I definitely would not have thought that they were as planned as any other part of the lesson.

One thing I've noticed my mentor teacher doing a lot is asking students to list ideas of things before they are covered, in a context where almost any student could think of something to contribute. For example, she might ask what students notice about a diagram before she's talked about it. Some students might notice that colors or shapes, others individual components, and hopefully some will notice some patterns. By keeping the question open, it's easier to encourage and validate all types of responses. It also helps to figure out what prior knowledges students can apply, without focusing it through a specific lens that might be too narrow to start. 

When she does ask more specific questions, I've noticed it's more likely that no one will volunteer an answer. In the honors class, occasionally she will call on someone by name, and oftentimes they can actually produce a semi-correct answer. In the general classes, she doesn't often call someone out by name. Of course, it seems much preferable to wait for students to volunteer an answer, but this is one area where being in person might produce more social pressure for someone to answer, social pressure that seems less present through a screen.

Personally, I've become a big fan of using PearDecks so that students can provide anonymous answers to questions which can then be displayed to the group. They also have a lot of functions like allowing students to drag icons, or draw on the slides, to provide a more engaging and visual method of answering questions. This is a resource that my mentor relies on fairly heavily. 

It seems to me that the best questions are ones which are broad enough for anyone to be able to provide some answer to, while the more narrow ones only stimulate the more advanced learners who may already know the answer. And opportunities for anonymity can embolden students to try, where they might even realize they knew more than they thought.