Dialing up the dialogic...

Today was a good day!  Since our class last Saturday, I've been trying to figure out how to include more dialogic discourse into my classes while making sure that I am still able to meet the objectives of the lesson - which in this case, was introducing descriptions, and then completing a group plan as a model for a plan children will complete for homework.

On the whole, I think my class went well:
*we covered descriptions
*the children had more opportunities to speak freely, and even though I guided them through the activities, they had freedom in terms of what they talked about
*we managed to work together on the group plan - and they did really well
*we didn't run over time!

During the class, I felt as though the children were really talkative, and they listened to each other well.  They commented on each other's stories, helped each other and in general, took an interest in the topic.  
After watching the video, I do think that there's been an improvement on last week's class.  I think the energy was better, and I think the children seemed like more active participants.

If I were to reflect on the class according to the CD and CI features we've covered, I believe I would see an improvement, but I realise that I still have a ways to go.  For example:
I feel as though I made progress towards having dialogic discourse - but I don't think the class was truly dialogic in nature - I did still steer them towards certain directions.  I realise this may not be ideal, but I also think that if I didn't our time would run away with us, and the objectives wouldn't be met.

I tried asking more open-ended referential questions, and I definitely feel as though I got a lot more from the children in terms of content, and I enjoyed having a 'freer' conversation.  I feel as though me having a good time may be a good indication that they are having a good time too, and that's great!  I also think the referential questions enabled the children to give slightly longer answers, giving them more of a chance to explain things to the group.  I feel as though being able to answer the open ended questions had them relaxing a little - in that there weren't really "right or wrong" answers.

I noticed that I did do some recasting, and some repetition...probably more than I would have thought I'd have.  When I watched the video and noticed the repetition...I tried to 'go back' and think of why I would have repeated what the child said...it was rather sad to see that I couldn't really find a logical reason for some of them...It makes me think of that cellphone app "Talking Tom" when you speak into your phone and a cat repeats what you said???  (Why WAS that app so popular????)

I gave some positive feedback in the form of comments and added in some of my own stories/anecdotes which hopefully encouraged children to keep sharing their stories, and gave them a sense that I was acknowledging not only their stories, but their participation.

I would definitely like to continue working on making the class even more dialogic.  I realised, after the last video, that for the children, a writing class is probably NOT the thing they're looking forward to.  I think if I'm honest, I'm usually really lazy and tend to have short introductions (note: not warm ups...more like a short greeting) and then I dive straight into work... it can't be fun at all.  Today - but making it a little more interactive, I feel as though the energy was up, and the children were more interested in working together when it came time to do the group model.  

I said once before that I felt as though I was performing for the class, and that I had constructed some 'random' activities that I thought would help in the recordings... Well - I am happy to report that i no longer think I am performing... but I am REALLY excited about the way in which I'm really motivated to work on my classes following on from what we're learning.  I keep talking to friends and colleagues, and it's so interesting to see that so many of us who have been here for a while...kind of just go through the motions.  I am definitely a culprit of having said "well, you know...I've been in this job for like 5 years, so I know the drill - I know how to teach this..." and after just 3 weeks - I realise that  I really have become 'that teacher' who comes to class without a concrete plan of what they're doing...because they feel they have enough experience to 'wing it.'  I've probably been boring the socks off some classes for a while...and maybe spent the rest of the classes enjoying the sound of my own voice. 

I'm so happy about the fact that I now find myself THINKING about my classes, THINKING about the children and their strengths, their weaknesses and the opportunities I can create for them, THINKING about what works, THINKING about what doesn't work...and WHY...(something I am sure I haven't really thought about for a while...at least, not for longer than the 30seconds after they have left the classroom...)

It's not going to happen at once, but seeing small changes that are headed in the right direction...is just awesome.

By the way...two things about the video:
1. I somehow managed to but myself out of the frame for the first few minutes...then
2. My phone ran out of space - so I deleted some stuff and started again, so there is an interruption.

Sun is shining in the sky...there ain't a cloud in sight!

 After my class on Monday, and my reflections yesterday, I was a little anxious about going to my writing class today.

I didn't film the class - I WISH I had, because today was awesome!
The energy was up, I had a clear plan of what I was doing, the children were interacting well together - it was really fun, and really productive! Following on from my last blog, I feel as though some part of the success MAY be due to the fact that I didn't feel that lens on me... But, I also feel like I went into the class prepared:

*I had a short warm up activity where I modelled the grammar point on the boar(different kinds of sentences: questions, statements).  I asked questions to individual children, and we also went through a few rounds of TSST. 
I also encouraged children to help each other and referred questions to the group.

*The writing prompt was much clearer and thought out this time.  I told them a story to begin with...and then we discussed the writing trait (main idea and details) before we did a group graphic organiser together as a model.  We had enough time to talk about our own ideas, and begin our own graphic organisers (to be completed at home).

I feel like this was the kind of class that I can be proud of, and I am now determined to make sure that future classes run as well, and as successfully! 

Here's some theme music that's been around since I finished my class...



)

"Vloer...sluk my..."

An interesting title for those of you not well versed in Afrikaans.  A saying my mother uses a lot, which translates to "floor, swallow me up (please)"  and is generally used when one is embarrassed...or wants to get out of a situation fast.  When I watched the video of my class yesterday...these were some of the first words that came to me...

When I finished taping this class, I knew that it hadn’t gone well.  In fact…from about 10 mins in, I knew that we weren’t going to be able to meet the goals I’d set…

It all started last week when were learning about questions, and we practiced asking, answering and summarizing responses to questions.  My intention, last week, was to do a warm up of questions (which we did), and then we were going to do some more in-depth practicing, specifically with regards to how to write interview questions if you want to learn about someone’s life.

However…last week was our first day of term, so, the class started 10 minutes late, and we didn’t get anywhere near the main focus of the lesson.  As a result – children were asked to write questions for HWK…as I had planned…and I was hoping that they would be alright…but alas, it was not so.

When the children came in with their questions, my plan was to look over them and see how we could group similar questions into groups – these would form the base for some paragraphs when we started writing.  However, it was clear that many of the questions they brought were not quite right for interviews (not bad questions – just not appropriate.) 

We spent a while talking about how we could group similar questions – but this was difficult for them, especially because some of the questions were ‘random’ (When are you going?)  We managed to get through grouping some questions.  We also began a tiny bit of writing (I wanted them to use their questions to help them write an introduction about themselves – a sort of autobiography…) but again, most of them seemed unsure of what to do, and they had to do the bulk of the task at home.

When I watched the video.  I became very aware of a few things – which honestly, startled me.  Here’s a list:

1.    If I’m honest, I don’t think I really thought this project through…the pieces of it don’t fit together at all – it’s landed up being messy and confusing for me and the children.

2.    It became painfully apparent to me that I spent the majority of the class talking… the children (all except one) were basically bored and silent (SHOCK HORROR!!!) and confused.

3.    The one child who did talk monopolised all the talking time…and to make things worse, I noticed that I directed most of my questions to her.

4.    This is a writing class, but there was probably less than 2%’s worth of writing in it.  I only did verbal models – and given that this prompt is probably confusing them, I definitely should have given them a written model.

5.    I go off topic…a lot.  Tshirts, my brother’s friend’s hair length…the list is endless and embarrassing.

Now – my initial gut feeling was to try and record something again…but I decided that this video was really valuable as a tool from which to start identifying areas that I need to improve…  So – if you do watch this – I’m sorry!  I assure you – my classes don’t usually run this badly (I think…)

I’ve been thinking about how things went wrong and I have a second list:

1. From the get-go I think I’ve been nervous about filming, and, as John mentioned in his blog, was trying to portray an “Amazing Amy” full of energy and excitement and knowledge (what a dismal failure this video would have been…)  I think one of my biggest problems was that, rather than focusing on the lesson I SHOULD have been doing, I tweaked it to make it “STG friendly.”   I put my needs ahead of my children’s needs… big mistake!  As a result, my lesson was unfocused and I was mostly distracted.

2. We’ve just started a new time schedule for After-School, and our classes are 10 – 15mins shorter…   One of my weaknesses is time. I think I’ve been trying to squeeze things in – but instead I just get tongue-tied because I can’t focus on anything except “finishing on time…”  Also – just my luck – the blinking clock in the classroom is broken.

3. I am guilty of “finding the keen student who wants to answer all the questions and using them to push the lesson forward.”

These children are mostly a quiet group.  They probably wouldn’t have lively discussions without my encouragement.  BUT – this is no excuse.  I should be managing talk time.  I should be asking individual questions.  I should be doing comprehension checks with everyone – not just one child!

4.  A lot of my questions were met with vacant stares…and I feel as though I didn’t do m best to address them – I mostly passed over them – OR answered them myself L  My unfocused objectives and my lack of REALLY knowing what I wanted meant that I couldn’t tell the children what I wanted…

So – as much as I may be being overly dramatic… Watching this lesson (and transcribing it – even worse when I hear the stupid things I say more than once) has made me realise that I need to:

**BE PREPARED – know my own objectives clearly, and set out how to meet them…I also have to make sure I give children what they need to meet the objectives!!

**BE MYSELF – putting on a performance for STG is pointless – I won’t learn a thing unless I do what I do best, and learn from what I do wrong.

**BE MINDFUL – make sure I am giving each child an opportunity to ask, and answer questions, and not focus solely on one child!

**BE QUIET!!!! Or at least be sure that what I say is worth saying…

These are just a few things that I need to work on…I know this is going to be a learning experience and I am committed to making sure I move forward!!  So I’m looking forward to ‘turning it around’ tomorrow when I see this class! 

 
 

Until next time...

Every journey begins with the first step...

I have had a certain amount of anxiety surrounding starting this blog.  I'm not usually one who reflects in a 'public' way.  I find I am more comfortable doing quiet reflection, both concerning my job, and in other areas of my life.  Still, I am up to the challenge of putting myself onto 'centre stage' - especially if it means I walk away with new insights into how I can make meaningful changes both in my career, as well as my classroom.

It took me a long time to decide on a warm up activity for my first recorded class.  I wanted the warm up to be interesting, and linked to what the children were learning in the unit (questions and sentences.)  While I was working on the plan - it struck me that I very rarely do warm-ups these days.  I always have "talk time" at the beginning of a lesson, but I don't often do planned out warm ups - and it made me think that I really should be doing them more often.  

My plan for the warm up was to review questions.  Knowing that the children were familiar with how to identify and make questions - I thought it would be a good warm up to have them unscramble questions, and then have the opportunity to ask and answer those questions, before reporting back to the group.  I had planned a backup of children making their own questions to ask, but timing meant I wasn't able to get to that stage.  

In the lesson I used few materials - 4 envelopes each containing the pieces of paper making up the questions.  I also gave children tape to use to stick the questions together.  In our discussion time, I used the whiteboard to highlight important points.  I feel as though the materials were effective.  Watching the video made me feel as though the activity may have been a bit boring for the children because of the lack of materials.  On the other hand, fewer materials meant that they were able to practice the questions - which was the main aim.

Thinking about the activity - I think it worked well, in that children did get to ask and answer questions, and reflect on how questions are different to sentences and statements.  I also asked them to summarise the answers that their friends gave, meaning they needed to think about tense and grammar.

During the planning stage, I specifically included pair work, because I don't often do pair work with classes.  I usually often ask children questions, or they ask me questions, but I don't often do pair work - perhaps because at my school, children are encouraged to do a lot of free speaking, so in our lessons, children are always speaking to each other...although admittedly, it's not always correct.  I also took the opportunity to do pair work because I knew the children were a merged group from 2 different kindergarten classes on their first day, so I wanted them to get to know each other.

I feel like the lesson had a good flow.  I gave directions, and children followed through, meandering along the way with comments and their own questions.  Children had time to share their ideas, and in this lesson, they did bring up different topics and unrelated news, which kept us all talking.  

We did have an amusing point when one of the children noticed a man in the building next door.  He must have been installing something, and she asked about him.  At first it threw me, but I took her lead and included him as a way to make some more questions, and this sparked some interesting conversation (especially, 'When will a bot become a man?)  I think I was happy at the way the lesson turned out in terms of the free speaking that emerged - that may be the main accomplishment of the day.

I think the most successful part of the lesson was the children being able to ask and answer the questions, as well as summarise their partner's answer for the report back.  They all had a chance to practice using the questions, and they all had a chance at answering them.

I wish we had more time to move to the back-up of making their own questions, but that was part of their homework, so even though we didn't do it together in class, they will be forming questions for homework, and we'll use these next week.

The things I will definitely take with me from this lesson:
doing more warm ups... and doing more pair work!  If I am honest, I think I avoid both because
a)I am lazy when it comes to prepping,
b) our classes are so short, and we need to cover a lot, so I usually don't make time for children to do pair work.  We usually do group discussions, or individual teacher-student questioning.

One other thing I noticed is that in the video, I paid a lot of attention to one of the pairs more than the other.  While I don't think it was necessarily unfair, I noticed it.  I think I will be working on circulating more often, and not staying with one group more than others.  Being that this class only has 4 children, I do realise that splitting "teacher time" with all children is important.  I'm going to work on that.

Seeing myself on the video was quite startling at first.  Listening to the way I interact with the children was interesting.  I use a lot of "action sounds" to create humour or effect, and while this may be appropriate with these 8 year olds, it wouldn't necessarily be appropriate with older students.  It has me wondering whether I always sound that "silly???"