Honestly, this was probably the best day ever for my group. I think they could all tell it was great, too because they were able to spend more than 40 minutes (our usual group time) on creating posters! What we do with the other 15 minutes or so?
1) We went to the office to set up a time to meet with the principal so we could put up posters. I will get a phone call about which day this will be, since no one could confirm this then.
2) We created a list of words and phrases that students thought would be useful on posters.
3) Some wanted to use paint on their posters, so we met with their art instructor who asked us to outline what we would paint on our posters first. Then, if they wanted to paint them, I have the e-mail address of the instructor to schedule a time to meet.
Interestingly, none of the students wanted to paint after they began to make their posters. They wanted to use markers instead. I asked them at the end of our session if anyone wanted wanted to paint their poster the following week, none of them wanted to.
4) Posters were made.
At first, the students broke into two groups: boys and girls. However, the boys found that they all had different ideas about what they wanted to put down and so they splintered off until they were each working on their own poster. They were all focused on making posters, except one student who was at a loss as to what he wanted to do - he was the last to break off onto his own.
He was usually quite active in the group but towards the end of today he really wasn't. I didn't realize this until I saw he had stopped working on his poster. We talked for a bit about this because he said he did not know where to start. He started working on draft ideas on a piece of paper a little after and was the only group member not to start a poster.
Everyone else was mostly finished with their own posters by the end of our time. Most felt that our time together went very well and was quite effective. However, my most active group member was a bit jumpy and disruptive. I had to intervene with him and another student a few times when they were harassing/disrupting other group members. I had to use a warning as well for the one student who was not respecting another student.
Other ways I helped cool things down and redirect students' attention was moving students (I arranged seating at the beginning and revised it after another student arrived). I also moved next to two students who were not getting along for a moment.
While it probably sounds like things did not go well, they really did. When they were working on their posters, they were so engaged that they were fairly quiet and busy. I moved around to see how their progress was. This was also when I helped them find supplies they needed, added words to our word list for spelling, chatted with them, and intervened for behavior reasons.
At the beginning, check-in went very well also. I really feel it has helped every member of the group open up a lot more than they otherwise would have. Everyone is looking forward to next Friday.
Next week:
1) We will continue work on posters
2) Possibly meet with the principal (or know when we are)
3) Have more discussion about the project presentation
4) Have a larger discussion about where in their community they want to put up posters
1) We went to the office to set up a time to meet with the principal so we could put up posters. I will get a phone call about which day this will be, since no one could confirm this then.
2) We created a list of words and phrases that students thought would be useful on posters.
3) Some wanted to use paint on their posters, so we met with their art instructor who asked us to outline what we would paint on our posters first. Then, if they wanted to paint them, I have the e-mail address of the instructor to schedule a time to meet.
Interestingly, none of the students wanted to paint after they began to make their posters. They wanted to use markers instead. I asked them at the end of our session if anyone wanted wanted to paint their poster the following week, none of them wanted to.
4) Posters were made.
At first, the students broke into two groups: boys and girls. However, the boys found that they all had different ideas about what they wanted to put down and so they splintered off until they were each working on their own poster. They were all focused on making posters, except one student who was at a loss as to what he wanted to do - he was the last to break off onto his own.
He was usually quite active in the group but towards the end of today he really wasn't. I didn't realize this until I saw he had stopped working on his poster. We talked for a bit about this because he said he did not know where to start. He started working on draft ideas on a piece of paper a little after and was the only group member not to start a poster.
Everyone else was mostly finished with their own posters by the end of our time. Most felt that our time together went very well and was quite effective. However, my most active group member was a bit jumpy and disruptive. I had to intervene with him and another student a few times when they were harassing/disrupting other group members. I had to use a warning as well for the one student who was not respecting another student.
Other ways I helped cool things down and redirect students' attention was moving students (I arranged seating at the beginning and revised it after another student arrived). I also moved next to two students who were not getting along for a moment.
While it probably sounds like things did not go well, they really did. When they were working on their posters, they were so engaged that they were fairly quiet and busy. I moved around to see how their progress was. This was also when I helped them find supplies they needed, added words to our word list for spelling, chatted with them, and intervened for behavior reasons.
At the beginning, check-in went very well also. I really feel it has helped every member of the group open up a lot more than they otherwise would have. Everyone is looking forward to next Friday.
Next week:
1) We will continue work on posters
2) Possibly meet with the principal (or know when we are)
3) Have more discussion about the project presentation
4) Have a larger discussion about where in their community they want to put up posters
Kevin,
ReplyDeleteI think it sounds like your group time went great. I think you handled the situations you had occur accordingly and things went well, it shows that most of your students got their posters done.
Maybe you could take some time next week with the student who didn't have a poster done, or started on and sit down with him and brainstorm ideas. I had a member of my group in the same situation last week, and by the end of our time together he had his whole idea down on paper and he was ready to make his poster.
I love the way you really think deeply about each phase of the lesson.
ReplyDeleteI am curious as to how you see gender working in your team. I have noticed that you are seeing moments where gender enters into the discussion. What do you make of this?