Cooperative Learning and Group Work

So, there is apparently this misconception that Cooperative Learning and Group Work are the same. This is not the case. Our class on Tuesday was devoted to the concept of Cooperative Learning. I really enjoyed this class because we not only learned the concept but we were able to experience Cooperative Learning and it's benefits. I learn by doing, so for me this was a perfect class.

Initially, I was nervous about the squares project because we did something similar in 406 with triangles and our group didn't get very far. I think what helped this time around was the fact that we had roles, so everyone had a job, and Dr. Horowitz gave us a couple of examples in the beginning. I would venture to say that what we did in 406 was group work. 

Common problems with group work that could be solved by using cooperative learning. Group work often tends to shift to a dynamic where one or two people do most of the work, either by choice or default. Using Cooperative Learning ensures that all students are involved in the learning process. Group work does not foster an environment where students can build on social skills. Some students may end up in groups either with all or none of their friends. This could lead to segregation in classes. I liked that Cooperative Learning had a method for everything. Group work seems to be, "let's just get together with whoever we're sitting with and work on this..." Cooperative Learning is thoughtful an deliberate.

I was also glad that Dr. Horwitz didn't fluff it over by just telling us how useful Cooperative Learning can be; she also made sure to let us know how much work went into preparing to run a lesson in this way. I think the good thing as we go further in our professional careers will be that we build these lessons and can hang on to them. Our handy, dandy toolbox, right?

There are so many benefits to Cooperative Learning that I struggle to list them all, yet I was able to find this image. It does a nice job of mentioning so many of the positives of Cooperative Learning.

Observation

Alas, I get around to posting my classroom observation. I spent a day in Mrs. G.'s purple room observing her classes.  I quickly realized what a great teacher she is and that she has built an excellent rapport with her students. I was really happy that I was able to do these observations because I was able to make a more informed opinion of my cooperating teacher and the students in CFHS. I was also able to view a technique that I was fairly inexperienced with, which I now see as useful for my future classroom.

For the purpose of this blog I am going to talk about my experience observing Mrs. G.'s 12th Grade AP English class. On the day of my observation the students were doing socratic seminars using the book they were just finishing, The Stranger.  Now, let me say that I have never actually taken part in a socratic seminar. I had a brief tutorial of what they were in 406 and witnessed a poorly executed one in an observation at another school last semester, but that is the extent of my interaction with socratic seminars. I will say that if I never had known anything about them, I would have learned a lot from watching these students. I was truly impressed by the way they all arranged their desks in a large circle around a smaller circle of students. Each student in the larger circle had a student within the smaller circle that they were to be focused on to offer constructive criticism once the seminar ended. As the seminar began, each student introduced themselves to one another and began to discuss what topic they would be using for the purpose of their seminar. Once they came to an agreement they began as one student posed the initial question. They bounced ideas off of one another and backed up their claims by citing evidence from the text. They respectfully agreed or disagreed, again using textual evidence. At one point, I glanced at the board and realized that one of their objectives for this class was aligned with the CCSS to cite textual evidence. Objective achieved. These kids did a great job and I learned a little something about the symbolism of light and dark in The Stranger. Once the students were finished, the outer circle offered constructive criticism. They did a nice job of using, what Professor Kraus would call, the complement sandwich. I picked up on a few things in my observation that I would have praised or critiqued that they brought up to various students in the seminar. It was good. I was impressed.

So what does this mean for me? Well, the purpose of being able to observe these classes is to take away something for my future endeavors as an educator. One of my professors may refer to this as "the golden nugget." First, these students helped to dispel the myth that CF students are not as engaged or motivated learners as other students. While I have been here for three months now and seen this already, I needed to throw that out there just one more time. What I witnessed in this observation, I've seen college students struggle doing. Mrs. G. also gets much deserved credit for this because as she said, it takes a lot of time and effort to get them to this point. She holds her students to high standards and knows that they are able to achieve them. Perhaps this is one golden nugget - see the potential in ALL my students, do not make preconceived notions. I realize you may be saying, well this is an AP class. Yes, I've heard that as I've told this story to people. My response is this, Mrs. G. is also working towards getting her inclusion class to do Socratic Seminars. The work that her inclusion class does is similar to her AP class, they are just behind. So, her inclusion class is just starting The Stranger, as her AP class is finishing it. Potential for ALL.

Second: I realized how useful Socratic Seminars can be. As I said, I haven't had much experience with them, but I loved watching the students engage with the text. It was a useful Summative Assessment. It was refreshing to see students engage in a small group about a piece of literature. The conversation flowed so smoothly. I am glad Mrs. G. told me how much work went into getting them to this point. I'm sure there was quite a bit of scaffolding over the course of the year to bring them here, but so worth it. These students are leaving with a tool for their college tool box. Even if they never use a Socratic Seminar in college, they have a great grasp on engaging with the text and each other. I know my thoughts flow best when I'm able to talk them out and bounce ideas off of my peers and this method totally allows for that.

I found this video of a teacher incorporating Socratic Seminars in her 9th grade class. It's a great example of how Socratic Seminars work, and how Common Core is related to them.

https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/bring-socratic-seminars-to-the-classroom

Cookies and Rubrics...

What do rubrics and cookies have in common? More than you would think.  I really liked this lesson because it made me see how tricky rubrics can become. I thought I could describe the perfect cookie without tasting it. Reality is, there is more to a cookie than the way it looks.  This simple fact made me realize that there is more to an essay than the way it looks.

Sometimes we have this cookie cutter mentality of our expectations of an assignment but I think the thing I am starting to realize is that we need to look beyond the form, especially when creating a rubric. I can read an amazing essay that seems to have all the pieces in place but the fact is it's really not good. Just like the cookie that won according to our rubric. It met all the requirements but it was the one cookie that I didn't even finish because it just wasn't good.

So, I'm left with questions... I feel like many of my classes have crossed at this point in the semester talking about rubrics. The opinions on rubrics seem split. Some teachers, including my cooperating teacher, find rubrics to be the way to go as far as grading is concerned. They provide a guide to grading, a simple checklist. But is it really that simple? I have had teachers who say they can't stand rubrics. There is no room for creativity, like with the Oreo. The Oreo won because it's totally awesome despite the fact that it wasn't a chocolate chip cookie. Now, I realize we need to have standards for our students' assignments but if they can provide me with a really good video instead of an essay is that really bad? I've always felt students should be able to display their knowledge in whatever way works for them. For some that is test taking, others writing, and so on... I feel that if students can show me they learned something then it shouldn't matter how they show it. This may seem unconventional or maybe unrealistic but I just hate that we need to put things in boxes, or neat little packages. I know some things need to be uniform, but can't we allow for creativity and how does that fit in with the rubric?

I honestly can't say that I end this post with a solid opinion one way or another. Fact is, I will have to use rubrics so I did a little research and found two articles to help me learn a little bit more. One also discusses rubrics as a way of backwards lesson planning...hmmm where have we heard that before?

Here are the links:

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.3200/CTCH.53.1.27-31

http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/oct97/vol55/num02/What's-Wrong—and-What's-Right—with-Rubrics.aspx

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

I've gone back and forth this week about what I wanted to blog about. It was a pretty intense class and  clearly many of us have some pretty intense feelings over what seem to be strong stereotypes about CF and it's students...but this is a good thing. This is why we're here. We would have never discovered this had we not had the opportunity to take this class. I would probably venture to say that this would be my number one recommendation for any future students to take this class, in this school. It's real, you see the good, the bad and the ugly, not just what's in the textbook. Like so many of us agreed, many of these problems do not just happen in CF. We will see behavior issues, inclusion classes, diversity in race, culture, and disabilities in any school we're in. Sure it may look different, but let's get past the surface and see it for what it is.

The one thing that I come back to over and over these past few weeks is the relationship we have, or will have, with our students. I saw that again in the panel this week when the teachers gave advice on classroom management. I've also seen this in my observations with my cooperating teacher.  I recently attended a conference at my work and one of the break-out sessions was on Social-Emotional learning. Some of the skills I learned in that mini-session could totally be applied in my classroom and that's one of the goals of CASEL. Here is their website if you want to learn more about what this is and how it is being used in the classroom: http://www.casel.org. There are some great resources there. One of the main things I think Social and Emotional Learning helps is in building relationships. We need a bridge to our students. We can't just view a behavioral or academic issue and then jump the gap to a solution before building a bridge to reach the student.

In our Special Ed class on Friday we watched a video called Including Samuel. I highly recommend it.  Here's their website: http://www.includingsamuel.com/home.aspx. It was about Samuel and a few other students who have disabilities. The video showed the good, the bad and the ugly about inclusion. It was really eye opening, but as I watched it I didn't just think about these kids who have disabilities. I thought about the kids we feel are being stereotyped, or grouped together unfairly. I then thought, "how can we put 'these kids' in a box?" They are all different, just like you and I are. They deserve to all have the opportunity to get the best education we can offer, so does that mean we teach or treat them all the same? We, as adults, are all different and my relationship with one person will vary greatly with my relationship with another for a variety of reasons, but mainly because we are ALL different in one way or another. Yes, we have different races, ethnicities, cultures, but also, beliefs, values, learning styles. I think this is where Professor Horowitz was going with the discussion about looking a student in the eye. Our treatment of our students should not be based on what they're not but who they are and this may look different in every classroom we ever work in.

So, I think I've made it here: We have to have rules, non-negotiables, in our classroom, but I think when creating those we need to think about our students. Are any of our rules going to run into a problem with their races, ethnicities, cultures, beliefs, values, or learning styles. There is one phrase that I have heard over AND over again as a parent, "Choose your battles." Sometimes in our classroom we may need to choose our battles. Everything may seem like an important rule, but what are the ones that NEED to be followed to foster a safe, creative, warm learning environment?

Questions, Questions, Questions

Today's class was quite interesting... I seem to struggle a bit when we go out into the classrooms. I feel like I never really get what I'm looking for but then sometimes there's a diamond in the rough. Today, for example, we needed to go out in search of questions. I figured this would be a breeze, because normally when we go into the classrooms the students are doing group work or it's at least a pretty interactive setting. Today, that was so not the case. Today was Read Alouds, or testing. I did manage to come up with one question to analyze and after going through the protocol with the group, I realized it was a pretty good question to look at: "Can someone give me a summary of Chapter 1?" There were actual several questions that could be pulled from that one that may have given that teacher a better response than what she received. I really enjoyed that activity because it forced me to look deeper into what I will call, "The Art of Asking Questions." It sounds so easy, doesn't it? Not so much, there is so much thought that needs to go into asking students questions, starting with "What answer are you looking for?" I would also venture to say, expect the unexpected answers. I'm pretty certain that teacher didn't anticipate having such a difficult time with trying to get a summary of chapter 1.

I was rather put off when we arrived back in the classroom after our quest for questions. Dr. Horowitz had rearranged the room to look like a "typical classroom." Normally we sit in a circle but she was setting us up for lecture time. She asked us to write about our first thoughts when we came in the room and mine was "UGH." Why? Probably because I'm getting used to this non-traditional way of learning and lecture typically does nothing for me. I've actually switched out of classes after realizing they would be too lecture based. I'm just looking out for how I learn best, so I can do my best and achieve growth and happiness. (Another concept discussed today) Moving on... Lecture does not make me happy. The turning point here is that Dr. Horowitz did a good job showing how to lecture well, while also modeling some no-no's. For example, do not give your students a graphic organizer that they cannot follow. It will drive your OCD students crazy. I also realized why I typically struggle with lecture...it really shouldn't be longer than 10-18 minutes. REALLY?! Can someone enlighten a few of my past teachers about this? Although I was not feeling it in the beginning, I felt that this mini lecture went well and I learned a lot. It proved to me that if I make the most of those 10-18 minutes, I can effectively get some important information out there to my students.

The last thing I'll talk about is the first thing we talked about in class. We started with this quote:

SO, what makes me happy? Lots of things but when it comes to my my education, I am happy when I reach the end of a semester and I realize how much I've learned and how I'm going to use all that knowledge. I also get excited over a really awesome idea I have for a lesson. I am happy when I put that into action and it engages students AND they learn something from it. We can totally have the greatest activities but they may not always foster an environment of learning.  Dr. Horowitz made a good statement: "Be able to define your happiness in teaching." This is something I'll be reflecting on this week and next as I prepare to teach my first lesson and then teach it.   I think this is a thought we should often reflect on throughout our careers to help us remember why we do what we do.