Current Event Connections
Some of the most powerful moments this week occurred when
children would read current news articles and then discuss them with one
another. Mr. D has a website he uses called newsela.com. The website makes it easy for
an entire class to read the same content, but at a level that’s just right for
each student. The website and articles are also aligned to common core
standards through quizzes and critical thinking questions upon completing an
article. All of the articles are current event non-fiction articles taken from
news sources. It is also great for data collection—teachers can create a class
within the website to see who reached comprehension and who needs more time to
build certain strategies. Teachers also lead students toward a deeper
examination of content through interactive annotations such as highlighting and
note-taking when reading the articles. It is also giving students practice with
technology (using computers and iPads) and testing—since the state tests are
online now. The students read an article about a girl named Luisa who lives in
California. Luisa was bullied in school and now travels by train daily to go to
a more supportive school and play soccer. The students read the article
silently then Mr. D read the article aloud as the students followed along.
After he made sure all of the students understood the article and it’s
concepts, the students turned and talked with a partner about anything they
found interesting in the story. You could tell the students have explicit
expectations and really work hard in Mr. D’s class. After they talked, we came
together as a whole group to discuss more. Overall, we decided the main idea
and theme of the story was “don’t take no for an answer”—something Luisa’s mom
told her often. Through poverty, bullying, and hardship—Luisa never gave up,
but always persevered and kept trying. I was blown away by the connections,
conversations, and content of the discussion. The next day, we read an article
that discussed a girl named Lina who lived in Saudi Arabia. Although there are
many restrictions to what women can and cannot do in her country, she had the
courage to start her own basketball team. One of the students who struggles
most in the classroom said something completely brilliant in the discussion
with the whole group. He said there is a connection between the two articles
because “it was kind of like the government was bullying them”—referring to the
women in Saudi Arabia and how Luisa was bullied by other students. It was so
amazing, I immediately said “oh my gosh” under my breath and sat there in
amazement. It’s within these small moments I have confirmation that I truly
love seeing the learning process and want to be a teacher.
Education is Life
Mr. D and I facilitated a discussion with the students the day
after they had had their first discussion about Luisa being bullied. He asked
the students what worked well when they had their discussions and for ideas for
future discussions to hold one another accountable to those guidelines. The
students effortlessly came up with these ideas as Mr. D wrote them on the board:
1.
Look at each other and make eye-contact
2.
Listen and do not interrupt
3.
Have good body language
4.
Think before you speak
5.
Talk clearly
6.
Put your listening ears on
7.
Everyone can participate
I was so impressed for the children to come up with these
ideas for what makes a good conversation. Not only is the purpose of these
guidelines for conversation to be used in the classroom, but the idea is that
it will transfer beyond and into their daily life. If we can provide structures
for children to communicate and listen effectively, that might be the most
important part of our job as teachers.
Teaching is Magical
Some things that impressed me this week that were teaching
techniques I observed was limited behavior/classroom management Mr. D had to
use or enforce. It seemed he had already set clear expectations that the
children abided by. He said it took doing it on the “front end” for the
students to come in and work as hard as they do in this classroom. I was also
impressed by how well the students know numerous phonics rules and apply them.
When it came to phonics, the students have magnetic boards with blends and
digraphs on them to be easily manipulated and to work on different sounds
within spelling. It is a phonics program called Wilson. In math, the students
are learning fractions in 5th grade and irregular and regular
polygons in 4th. For fractions, the students have created their own
sentence strips in differing colors corresponding to different fractions. It is
such an amazing tool to help visualize what fractions really mean and look like
and how to compare them. The children also played a math game with the fraction
strips called “cover up” where they roll a dice with fractions on it and cover
the whole (1) strip up to see who covers their whole strip first. When the
students get close to covering up the entire whole, they have to go around and
see what fraction more they need to win the game and completely cover their
strip. I was so impressed by the mental thought processes that went on when
students would come up with many different combinations and ideas of fractions for
how to cover their strip and their partners. If they got it wrong, their
partner could choose a fraction strip for them to take off. The children loved
it. They were hooked on this game, yet learning all at the same time. We have
to make learning engaging, exciting, and stimulating for students. School doesn’t
need or have to look like the teacher standing at the “front” of the room, at a
white board, lecturing to students, and students sitting silently. As teachers,
we can do better; I am happy to be in a community that goes above this.
It's all about community. We first, have to know our students.
One story that attests to community felt in ICS is the one
morning the students had a delayed start to school due to below freezing weather.
ICS is a school with 82% of its students qualifying for free and reduced lunch.
Therefore, many of the students rely on the breakfast and lunch the school
provides. The teachers realized that the students, coming in at 10:00am that
day, wouldn’t be served breakfast and therefore would not have eaten until
lunch that day. A few teachers went around and asked the teachers which
students they had that might not have had breakfast that morning. This goes
back to the most important thing—knowing our students. Once they had a
guestimate of how many students would come to school hungry and without having
had breakfast, they called Chik-Fil-A, McDonalds, Jack’s, and Arby’s. The
teachers were proactive and got breakfast donated by all of these local fast-food
restaurants (for over 200 students). Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs tells us that
if anyone’s physiological needs are not being met (food, water, shelter)
everything else is of little importance—yes, even comparing fractions. When the
teachers were attending to the student’s physiological needs first, it spoke
volumes to me (and I’m sure for the students as well). Overall, it was a
wonderful first week with the 2 professional development days (where I learned my
educational philosophy is extremely parallel with those being implemented at
ICS) and 3 days with Mr. D and his wonderful students. The entire environment
of the school is overwhelmingly positive and focused on relationships. I walked
away every day with a smile on my face and in awe of Mr. D’s teaching and
especially the students.
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