India's Right to Education (RTE) Act

http://subirshukla.blogspot.com/2010/09/why-are-you-imposing-freedom-on-me.html

http://subirshukla.blogspot.com/2010/09/right-to-teach.html

I've been reading about it.

I'm arranging to do my alternate practicum at an international school in Bangalore.  Doing research on the school, I realize how hard they, and other schools like them, are fighting to absolve themselves of responsibility for complying with the Act's directive to admit a quota of students from underprivileged backgrounds (within a certain radius of the school).

I've been thinking a lot of about public education (which I deeply believe in... and then barely survived my practicum in) and private schools (where I had a marvelous experience with all the happy children and teachers.... in our beautiful little bubble)

GREAT reading

Greetings from Santiago, Veena, and thanks for some excellent reading.  Truly an amazing teacher you are with, what a complete night and day contrast from your first associate.

I wonder if some of the pressure comes from knowing, subconsciously, that you can NEVER be as good as she is (not this year anyway).  I´m just so very pleased that you have such a fine example of what good physics teaching can become.  You will find your own ways to excel.

http://aweekinsantiago.blogspot.com/

Yours,
Tom

Reflecting on my Second Practicum

Observations:

• From what I've seen, the school I'm at - a private school - is a fully functional, happy place, where teachers teach well and kids thrive.  There is a class limit of 19, and the teachers always smile and engage with you if you walk down the hall.  Students are playful and respectful.
• My physics associate teacher has a deep knowledge and love of physics, which I can see - and she has told me explicitly - is the key to her teaching philosophy.  Knowing her physics well allows her to take it to creative places, be in the moment with it, and respond to student comments in an insightful and fun way.  

Some of the strategies she uses:

• The lesson has a clear structure (even if it's a practice lesson, where students are working on problems from a worksheet) that she states at the beginning of the class explicitly, "Today's lesson is about ___.  The main purpose is to understand...." and she always concludes the lesson restating the purpose.  "So the purpose of today's lesson was to...."  Often she ends with, "I really hope you enjoyed today's lesson."
• If the period is a teaching period, she starts it off with an introductory analogy related to daily life to bring the concept to life, be it related to cars or bouncy balls.  She has simple objects at hand - like balls (momentum), beakers and test tubes (hydrostatic pressure) that she can just grab when a teachable moment arises.
• Her problem solving on the board is extremely clear and well-structured, she makes use of fun drawings with coloured chalk, and different colours for different kinds of forces.  Moons and satellites are given characters and personalities.  The earth is an evil dragon that traps the princess satellite in its orbit.  Can she escape?  Will a prince meteroite come and save her?......onto the formula for escape velocity... 
• The class is a social environment.  Students are allowed friendly chatter, but when it starts to get too loud and distracting she says a few simple words and the room hushes and heads are down.  There is a great deal of respect for her authority.  When it seems there is an energy in the room - for example about how many exams there are in the last week of school - she creates a vent for it before moving on: "Okay... it seems that this is really on your minds.  Let's go around and see what the most stressful aspect of this last week is for everyone..."  then back to the topic.  Or she will tell a story, or a student will tell a story about something that's happened to them, and all will be fully involved in that, and then "Ok.  That's enough side talk for now.  Let's get back to work."
• For her last two spare periods, she scheduled past students, now in university, to come in to discuss the fluid dynamics that they were not understanding from their current professor.  It seems like a true pleasure to her.
• She's a smart-marker, with clear answer keys defining knowledge, application and thinking marks.  Marks are only taken off for aspects that are missing, and students understand what the difference between knowledge/ application/ thinking are, and talk about the improvements they need in this language.  The rubric for marking a detailed lab report makes a daunting task almost simple.. the key concepts are clearly identified, the report has a logical structure that must be followed, and weightings are attached to each.  Beside each section on the marks sheet that the students receive is a column called "Reason" where the reason for that mark being taken off is explained.

Ok... we understand how wonderful my associate is, but what have I been up to all this time?!

• Observing a great teacher, that's for sure.
• Using her model for a lesson to inform and improve mine (I never really had one, to be honest... it's still in its infancy of formation)
• Learning to clearly think of my purpose for the lesson, and to clearly state it to the students.
• Learning to present information in a way that students can take clear notes from.  Learning how to make better use of the board, coloured chalk, and improve clarity in problem solving examples.
• Interacting with students A LOT in class.  The students in this school like to interact, engage, and participate.  They like to question, test and, in one of the classes I'm in, just throw out random comments just to say something :)  They have me running all over the place trying to address all their concerns about the content sometimes.  Today was definitely one of those days!  I think I could have been clearer in how I presented the material the first time, but honestly was not feeling as crisp as I would have liked. 

What I need to improve on:

• Learning to better direct the enormous energy of a group of students learning new material/ students at the end of the day who are generally engaged, but are kind of tired and just want to chat.
• Strategies to keep them on task when we're not doing work together as a class on the board (a pop quiz did work...)
• Practice with that whole "assessment for learning" stuff... (their pop quiz showed that some key concepts had not been understood by many)..... and how to get them to do that necessary after-school review if concepts are to really sink in?
• Review of physics concepts for myself.  It's been great fun reviewing the stuff I've had to in order to prepare for the lesson and the barrage of questions.... but I need familiarity with the whole curriculum in order to link concepts and build on them.  That all takes time, practice, and teaching, I guess.
• Oh!  I almost forgot a big part of my needed improvement.  I need to learn how to RELAX.  Being this tense and anxious about everything just drains energy that could be much better used.  My associate actually told me to just sit back and have a tea during one period... I think I wear my over-thinking about things on the outside.................

third law

Today I had the opportunity to teach a 11th grade class about Newton's Third Law of Motion. 

I had to do a lot of leaning on walls, watching items at rest, and drawings of cars and apples to feel even somewhat up for the task.... the colourful markers really helped!

My new associate teacher has a heart of gold and a mind of steel, and gave me a ton of constructive feedback that I will work hard to put into practice in the next couple of weeks.  I couldn't have dreamed of a better physics placement...

How to Teach Math as a Social Activity- Edutopia Video

Becoming more caring, socially-responsible human beings goes hand in hand with becoming better mathematicians/ scientists/ artists/ musicians/  electricians/ whatever! I love it.

http://www.edutopia.org/math-sel-video

I'm looking forward to starting my second practicum tomorrow.

Making the Abstract Concrete

I was reading "What Expert Teachers Do" by John Loughran the other day and, like one of the teachers in the book, could not model the synchronous rotation of the moon in my head.  It just wouldn't all rotate and revolve like it was supposed to.  I had to look it up:
Synchronous Rotation of the Moon

It's very difficult to understand many physical concepts without a simulation. I couldn't wrap my head around the abstract idea of synchronous rotation of the moon until I saw it with my own eyes. (to answer the question "why do we always see the same face of the moon?") Sure, it now seems "so obvious".. once you've crossed the bridge you can't go back, but we need a bridge in the first place!

Group Dynamics

Thanks for pointing me to that article, Veena--it may be 20 years old but it's certainly very relevant.  I really like the way you have allowed it to guide and focus your thinking!
One of the challenges of being a teacher candidate is that you have so little opportunity to influence positively the group dynamics.  And despite the best of intentions, it's often hard to "get it right" in your first year of teaching, partly because the moves really exist only in theory until you start to enact them and partly because very little plays out as we would like it to on the first try (but don't give up!--I'm sure you wouldn't!).
Having read all that, I wonder what you think about the group dynamics in our physics class. I'm sure you notice differences from class to class. Can you pinpoint which teachers' actions have affected group dynamics positively or negatively??  Are there any issues we should be discussion in physics about group dynamics, specifically or generally??
I like your questions and I love the clarity of your statement that "I don’t want students to have to try to learn in a war zone."
THANKS
Tom

Further on my last post: Group Dynamics in the Classroom

I read an online journal article that I accessed through the Queen’s library server called “Fostering Positive Race, Class, and Gender Dynamics in the Classroom” by Lynn Weber Cannon in a 1990 issue of Women’s Studies Quarterly.  Though the article is more than a decade old, I found that it provided some good entry points for me to consider the experiences of my first practicum as they relate to group dynamics.  While the discussion in the article identifies race, class and gender explicitly, I have considered differences in broader terms in my analysis below.  I used quotes from the article to start off reflection on my experiences.

Resource:

“Fostering Positive Race, Class, and Gender Dynamics in the Classroom”, Lynn Weber Cannon, Women's Studies Quarterly, Vol. 18, No. 1/2, Curricular and Institutional Change (Spring - Summer, 1990), pp. 126-134

Published by: The Feminist Press at the City University of New York, http://www.jstor.org/stable/40004032

“When I started teaching, I was reluctant to address the emotionally laden content of the classroom.  But over time, I gave more and more attention to classroom interaction, which, like all group interactions, is structured by inequalities of power among the participants.  They are not random, haphazard, or out of the control of the teacher.  Our behaviour as faculty members and the way we structure our courses play major roles in the nature of classroom interactions as they unfold throughout the semester: they mimic, reproduce, and with creative management can interrupt, the normal hierarchies of society.”

The importance of understanding the classroom dynamic was made very clear to me the first time I tried to do some group work with the Grade 12 College Math students.  I had assumed a feeling of community that just wasn’t there.  A random grouping method was met with violent opposition, revealing deep divides between the groups of students who sit in different corners of the classroom working together during regular class periods.  Some students didn’t know each others’ names even though they had been sharing a space with each other every weekday for over an hour since the start of semester.  They had been used to coming in as separate individuals, working alone or with their friend beside them, and leaving the class (as quick as they could, because this was not a class they seemed to look forward to in any way).

I now feel very strongly that the start of the semester should include dedicated time for a series of community-building activities among class members (and the teacher).  I want to teach in a learning community, I don’t want students to have to try to learn in a war zone.

“I believe that an ability to critique the social environment should be at the core of what all of the social sciences convey to their students.  It is through this type of analysis that students will learn to act intelligently to shape their own future.”

I spent my first practicum in a math classroom not a social science one, but I think the above statement applies to any learning environment.  To think critically- about the social environment, about the materials we are using in class, about the way they are being assessed, about the type of activities we engage in – makes for an engaged student who is being allowed to mature and grow emotionally and intellectually in a supportive environment.  By shutting down these types of important discussions - something I experienced with associate teacher – I think something vitally important was lost for the sake of “quiet and getting back on task”.  What task could be more important?  I think that as teachers, we need to make an effort to learn how to guide these discussions rather than shut them down.  Not an easy task!  But a worthy challenge.

“I make a special effort to encourage and reward students for working together to accomplish assignments, including preparation for graded tests.  This is done to reinforce the working-class and racial ethnic value typically places on group cooperation for group gain, and to contradict the value placed on individual competitiveness in the “normative” classroom environment.”

It is very rewarding to see students working harmoniously with their peers, helping each other to learn, and encouraging each other with the material.  I saw a lot of this occurring naturally in my first practicum.  The challenge was how to make sure that each student was benefitting to make their group work something more than what they could come up with on their own, and to not use it as an opportunity to copy word for word each others’ answers.  This process happened easily with some students, while others seemed happy to copy answers that they did not understand for the sake of getting it done.

I think that group work skills are something that needs to be taught explicitly in classrooms.  It cannot be assumed that the social interaction in a group will be constructive and enhance learning, without the proper detailed guidance.

“The process of critical thinking begins by recognizing that as the teacher in the classroom I am a key actor in the classroom dynamics that evolve.  I must recognize who I am, where I teach, and whom I teach.”

Effective teaching starts with thorough self reflection.  I would like to make it a point from now on to deeply consider my identity, the identity of each of my students, and consider the factors at play when we are working together in a learning community.  This will be different for each group of students, and even each day in the class, possibly even each moment!  It is an ongoing process of widening my awareness of the different ways people can work together.

“The social structure of the classroom defines the balance of power within it.  Structural dimensions that strongly influence classroom interaction include: the number of students; the physical organization of the classroom and seating arrangements; the class distribution across gender, race, religion, ethnicity, age, national origin, physical ability, social class background, and sexual orientation; and the teacher’s characteristics on these same dimensions.  As teachers, we should take stock of these factors and consider how they will shape each class from the first day.  The distribution of power in the classroom will affect which teaching strategies may be most effective.”

I would like to further research the effects of the structural elements of classrooms and how to use them to assist with learning- What seating arrangements work best for which activities?  What else in the physical organization of the classroom could affect the mood as students walk in, work alone, work together, interact with the teacher?

here here

“When I started teaching, I was reluctant to address the emotionally laden content of the classroom.  But over time, I gave more and more attention to classroom interaction, which, like all group interactions, is structured by inequalities of power among the participants.  They are not random, haphazard, or out of the control of the teacher.  Our behaviour as faculty members and the way we structure our courses play major roles in the nature of classroom interactions as they unfold throughout the semester: they mimic, reproduce, and with creative management can interrupt, the normal hierarchies of society.”

Lynn Weber Cannon

Women's Studies Quarterly
Vol. 18, No. 1/2, Curricular and Institutional Change (Spring - Summer, 1990), pp. 126-134

Published by: The Feminist Press at the City University of New York

http://www.jstor.org/stable/40004032

Struggling in 12 college math

Hi Veena!
Thanks for your rich account of your PPT Review Quiz. My apologies for a slow response, time keeps rushing by--a feeling you must be very familiar with!
Interesting and sad that distracting behaviour never drew any response from your AT--that leaves you more or less on your own...
I really like the way you seem to be focusing on UNDERSTANDING the concepts and I'm very pleased that you had a class that was fun to be in.  I'm sure today has been different! There are no secrets to creating a mood of focus, but it always takes planning and concentration on the part of the teacher!!
Have you had a chance to ask these students why they are taking math in grade 12, given that they don't have to? (So many students taking courses at the college level can't wait to stop at grade 11).  Might be an interesting topic when you need a change of pace!
Hope your weekend was at least somewhat restful!
Tom

the beautiful struggle

The mood dropped significantly after I introduced new material on two variable analysis to the 12 College class and gave out an assignment to work on... There are two students in particular who have good days and bad days- every so often they will fill the background with dramatic and vocal complaints about the teacher-- me, this time, since I've taken over this class. In my first week here I observed that this kind of totally distracting behaviour, from either them or the eraser-throwing crew at the back, never resulted in any consequences from their regular teacher, not that I would know what effective consequences might be...

I really needed to do something different for the next class. I made up a Review Quiz on Powerpoint with graphs, true and false questions, questions about definitions, and easy to read data tables. There were 10 questions, one per slide, and they were not difficult but did require a clear understanding of the concepts we had been covering (which are likely the easiest out of the course-- so I want them to do really well!). I had it set up when they walked in with the "Review Quiz" slide showing and when they were all seated I dimmed the lights and told them to not shout out any answers as I want everyone to get a chance to think through these questions in their head. (The culture I've seen so far is one of calling out answers, or more usually unrelated comments....)

They were into it!

At first they started calling out answers (and not extremely rude comments about me from the young lady in front, thank goodness) and I reminded them to let others think about it first, and to raise their hands please.

One by one we worked through each question, and each one led into other questions not planned for. And so for a little while, we had an atmosphere of focus in the classroom, and the focus was on learning together as a group... After the review quiz, they steadily worked on a second part to the assignment.

There's no telling what will happen next time (every day is completely different with them), but this was a peaceful and lovely class to be in.... today :)

Windy spaces indeed!

Hi Veena,
I love the image of windy spaces in the brain!  almost everyone got through university with marks that suggested more understanding than they really had.  Part of the reason is that being a student doesn't challenge you to think about the subject the way that teaching it does.  Truthfully, the only way to get the deeper understanding you want is to get in there are teach!  So let's revisit this issue when you return from October's month of classroom experience.
I'm sure you feel the adjustment much more than the  people who finished university a  few months ago!  Glad that you have noticed that there is a lot of research on teaching itself.  Quality if extremely variable, but some of it is exciting reading!
Thanks,
Tom

The windy spaces in my brain.

Teachers college is reminding me how hard we make students work!  How we require them to focus for long periods and struggle through their learning.  I have been out of school for about 7 years now, and have come to a place where I admire these students.

I have plenty of physics and math to review.

I know that you have to understand concepts deeply and have much practice in applying them to be an effective teacher, and I feel lacking in this deeper understanding.  In university I constantly felt like I was "getting away" with not fully understanding topics yet ending up with reasonable grades.  I felt like there was a problem with the structure of the whole thing. 

In any case, I'll keep at it and see where it leads.

One thing that I didn't quite understand before starting teachers college was how much research there is into the science of teaching.  It seems like there are endless ways to improve as an educator, through research and practice.

Here I am in class, setting up this blog.

I hope to use it to store my reflections on being a student in the Bachelor of Education program at Queens University in Kingston, Ontario, and chart how my beliefs about teaching change over time, through new experiences and new ways of thinking.

What kind of teacher do I want to be and in what kind of setting?  What are my long-term aspirations and how can I make the most of this next year to progress towards them?