Journal 4, Domain 4; Teaching and Instruction

Describe different ways (strategies) the teacher presents material to the students.

Mrs. Davis has a systematic way of presenting material to her students. At the beginning of every unit, Mrs. Davis reveals the topic that the students will be focusing on for the next few weeks. Rather than immediately dive into the book material, Mrs. Davis relies on her students to enlighten her as to what they already know about the presented topic. In other words, she accesses their prior knowledge. While accessing prior knowledge, Mrs. Davis has the students in a whole group discussion setting where everyone can feel free to participate. She acknowledges their knowledge input by writing what the students say on chart paper in the form of a KWL chart. Recently, the students compiled a list about what they knew about the American Revolutionary War and the questions they wanted to know about the war.

In my observations, I have noticed that students like to see their work displayed around the room which goes back to the text chapter regarding “Pride of Place” in Teach Our Children Well. After discussing what the students know about the topic, Mrs. Davis has a “get to know the chapter” activity. This activity is a worksheet that the students have to fill in as they skim through the chapter. They have to comment on the vocabulary words they know and do not know; they have to look at the chapter titles and infer their meanings; they have to interpret pictures, and assess the purpose of the charts. For their social studies unit, some of the vocabulary the students wrote down was colonist, taxes, lobster backs, and parliament. I feel this is an efficient teaching strategy because it gives the students a preview of what to expect in the following weeks so they can prepare and anticipate what they will be learning about.

After the skimming activity, Mrs. Davis has the students open their books to the first page of the chapter and as a group they begin to read. During this whole class instruction, Mrs. Davis periodically stops to ask probing questions to the students, an excellent strategy that fosters elaborative thinking during reading. Probing questions serve as a red flag to students to let them know that a particular conflict or event is crucial in the chapter. Mrs. Davis also asks the students to predict what they think will happen further as they read which causes the students to make a connection between what they know and what they saw as they skimmed through the textbook. Mrs. Davis only reads one section of the book per day during social studies. After they read the first chapter about the French and Indian War, the students had to apply their knowledge to begin their causes of the American Revolutionary War domino diagram. The day before they created the domino diagram, the student were able to see how the “domino effect” actually works; Mrs. Davis brought in a domino set and the students got to experiment with what happens when you line the dominos up in a line. This activity is a good teaching strategy that got the students involved in an authentic activity. The students continuously add a domino piece to their chart with the cause written on it every time they read more of their textbook. This a teaching strategy that allows for hands-on activity and it serves as a way to connect the main ideas the students come across as the read through the chapter. For the American Revolutionary War domino board, the first domino was the French and Indian War, and as they read further they added the Proclamation of 1763 and taxation to their domino board. The domino chart, when it is finished, will serve as a visual outline for their unit.

After they began their domino board, the students continued to read on about taxation. To clarify the concept of taxation, Mrs. Davis had the student experiment with what it would feel like if you were taxed by the British parliament. This teaching strategy of allowing for experimentation allows students to develop a greater understanding of the concept they previously learned about while reading.

Preceding the unit on the American Revolutionary War, the students were learning about space. Near the end of their unit they were learning about space exploration. After they read about space exploration and had a good concrete understanding of it, Mrs. Davis had the students watch a YouTube video showing astronauts in space. In this lesson, Mrs. Davis presented the material to the students first so they would have a concrete understanding of space, then she showed a video that elaborated on their knowledge. Concrete experiences before elaboration is an excellent teaching strategy that Mrs. Davis uses frequently.

Also during the science unit, Mrs. Davis had the students engage in discovery learning to determine whether or not you need gravity to swallow food and drink liquids. Discovery learning allows the students to find the answer through trial and error. This teaching strategy helps the students become self-regulated in their learning. In all, Mrs. Davis utilizes many different ways of presenting material in her classroom and the attitudes I have observed in her classroom tell me that the students enjoy how they are learning.

What type of student groupings does the teacher use? (One-on-one, pairs, small groups, whole class?)

Mrs. Davis’ classroom is arranged in a way that fosters small group discussion. Like I said in a previous journal, the students are in three groups of about six students. Mrs. Davis frequently asks her students to confer with their group or their neighbor at their desks. By engaging the students in small group discussion, Mrs. Davis is giving her the students the opportunity to interact with their peers, formulate ideas, and communicate their thoughts. Mrs. Davis often pulls students aside for one-on-one instruction while the class is working in groups or independently at their desks. Whole group instruction is also utilized by Mrs. Davis.

What techniques are used to assess and evaluate learning? Describe any assessment technique you have observed.

I have seen Mrs. Davis use both formative assessments and summative assessments in her classroom.

In math, the students do “ad” pages daily. Their “ad” page is a math worksheet divided into three parts that covers basic math concepts the students should know, as well as more challenging tasks that force students to elaborate their thinking. I feel this is a form of formative assessment that tells Mrs. Davis where each of her students are at in math. I have been working with a girl in the class who Mrs. Davis has identified as having less of an understanding of basic math concepts such as multiplication and division. The “ad” page does not go in the grade book; it just serves as a progress tracker for each student in math. One summative assessment I have observed during math, is when the students complete their checkpoint page in their textbook. The checkpoint page is an assessment that evaluates the student’s knowledge of the first half of the chapter. The students work on the page individually at their desks and hand it in at the end of math. This assessment could also be a formative assessment because it tells Mrs. Davis which students might need extra help before they start the second half of the chapter.
During reading, Mrs. Davis meets one-on-one with about four students per day to track their reading progress. Mrs. Davis keeps a reading folder for each student for her reference. She has the student read to her for about 10 minutes while she notes their strengths and weaknesses while reading such as fluency and pronunciation. This one-on-one time is a chance for Mrs. Davis to see where each student is as far as their reading level. With this information, she may ask certain students to read a chapter in their textbook aloud for the class for them to practice their reading.

In spelling, Mrs. Davis has each student do a pretest for each spelling unit to see what words the student can already correctly spell prior to the unit. The pretest is a way to formatively assess a students’ knowledge. With this pretest, Mrs. Davis can decide whether or not she wants to add on some challenge words for the week for any students who she sees has done extremely well on their pretest. After a week, the students take a spelling test that goes in the grade book which serves as a summative assessment for that spelling unit.

What are you learning about this age group?

I have learned that fifth grade students love to give their input on everything. Some students are just beginning to become self-regulated in their learning, but others need constant reinforcement and instruction to get them through an activity. The fifth graders were very welcoming and respectful when I came into their classroom for the first time. Three girls in particular really love when I come in. I can tell this because they are constantly raising their hands for me to come and help them. I always acknowledge that their hand is raised, but I avoid just giving them the answer. I ask them what they are stuck on, then I ask them what they were thinking about when they got stuck, and then I ask a question to get them back on track. I enjoy working with fifth grade because most of the students enjoy learning and they like to challenge and question one another’s thinking.

What do students enjoy and dislike most?

The students love to go to their specials like gym, music, and art because they get to merge with another class and let loose. The students also love when they get to get out of their desks and do an activity. The students have engaged in doing a parliament activity, space exploration activity, vocabulary circle activity, and a snowball vocabulary activity. The students also enjoy reading their class novel together after lunch. Right now they are reading, The Fighting Ground and the students avidly listen while Mrs. Davis is reading. There has only been on instance, that I have seen, where the students groan. This groaning occurs when spelling homework is assigned. Recently, Mrs. Davis has been switching up the spelling assignment which has reduced the amount of groans from her students. In all, the students enjoy the school day because Mrs. Davis makes the day productive yet interactive.

Do you see technology being used in the classroom?

Technology has been used a few times in the classroom. After a math lesson on reading a protractor, Mrs. Davis rented the computer cart and the students got to play an interactive alien game on the computer revolving around reading a protractor. Mrs. Davis frequently uses the computer to show the students videos on YouTube to reiterate a lesson. The students have also watched a Bill Nye video on the television they rolled into the classroom. Technology is not utilized very much in the classroom, but the technological resources are not always available. There is one computer cart and one computer lab the school has, so time is limited. When available, Mrs. Davis utilizes technology.

Teaching and Instruction

In a classroom, the way in which a teacher instructs his/her students sets the direction and pace for the lesson. The teacher must understand the content that he/she will be teaching their students, they need to know how they will present the information, and how they will assess whether or not their students understood the material presented. I have learned that instruction always needs to be tailored to the learners in your classroom. According to Helen Maniates, “as teachers observe students’ preconceptions, they learn about the theories that students have constructed to explain the world and can help the students revise their thinking” (2001, pg. 81). By accessing the prior knowledge their students have before a teacher introduces a lesson, he/she can tailor the lesson to fit the needs of the students. By doing this, the teacher will not take up time teaching a concept that every student in their classroom already has a firm grasp on. I have also learned that instruction needs to be explicitly communicated to the students so that they know what they are suppose to do and what the teacher wants them to learn and accomplish. If the teacher does not share with his/her students the goal of the lesson, then the students will not have anything to work towards. Directions and goals need to be explicit to the learner so that they can develop a plan to reach that goal and become self-regulated in their own learning. If the student does not know what to do, they will resort to asking their teacher question after question rather than relying on their abilities to get the task done. Teacher need to give students the direction, tools, and goals for the lesson in order for students to become fully submerged in their learning. According to Maniates, “powerful learning occurs when students can become immersed in a topic, put their hands on the real thing, search out patterns, and put information into the big picture” (2001, pg.81). When students can experience what they are learning, they retain much more valuable information than they would have if they were sitting and listening to their teacher lecture on the topic. I have learned that teacher guided instruction helps the students attain higher levels of academic performance as well as support the learner to understand the ways in which they learn best.

Citation:
Maniates, H., & Doerr B. (2000). Teach Our Children Well: Essential Strategies for the Urban Classroom. Portsmouth: Heineman, 81-110.