Task Four Reading

I chose Domain 3 as the framework I would like to think more deeply about. I wanted to choose Domain 3 because I started teaching Lucy Calkins Writing Workshop, along with Making Words and FCRR Student Centers this year and I thought one would be a good lesson to focus on for my Individual Inquiry Plan. Since I am teaching in a more student-centered way this year, incorporating everything I am learning in school, I am interested to receive some feedback on how it seems to be going in my classroom. My students seem to really love to learn this way, and I love it because it seems a little less painless than trying to do most lessons whole group.

For example, I like the way Calkins approaches writing as introducing the student to the whole idea of writing and letting them go at it without tying them to one part of the big idea in the beginning. In centers, the kids are really enjoying learning together in an inquiry based way, and they love making words… trying to come up with as many as they can, always trying to discover the mystery word.

I am the most comfortable with Component 3e: Demonstrating Flexibility and Responsiveness. I feel that I am flexible in making adjustments to the lesson when necessary. I feel that I am always trying to capitalize on each teachable moment. Which there are many, I think that technology has really helped advance teachable moments as well... I love to introduce students to things they have never seen before. For example, a couple of weeks ago, we were reading a story called "Mrs. Brown Went to Town" where at one point the animals are judging each other dive and jump off the bed, like in an Olympic match. We started discussing how judges score like this in the Olympics and I discovered one of my students actually went to the opening ceremony last summer. I pulled up the opening ceremony and some other Olympic pictures. Many of the students had never even seen Chinese people. That student brought in his own pictures the next day. This was a great teachable moment. I believe I am targeting this component well.

I feel that all the components in Domain 3 strongly tie to instruction. This is a hard question for me; I have been hearing, learning and working on so much active engagement this year. I believe I will say this ties the strongest to instruction because as Danielson says; active engagement is the"raison d’être of schools". While I was in the KY Reading Project this summer, I started to realize that I may not have been engaging my students as much as I thought I was. Many times I taught things whole group so I could make sure everyone was paying attention and on task, but yet I always had a few that were off task. So I have been really working on intentionally incorporating active engagement into all of my lessons, everyday.

This is why I would like to zero in on active engagement for my own instruction. I have become very aware of how crucial active engagement is and I have a better idea of what it looks like now. I am working towards providing active engagement into all of my lessons. I think I am doing a much better job, and as I said earlier, I would love to hear some feedback on how I am doing. Right now, I am asking the students to discuss different topics during a lesson.

For example, one day during writing I was teaching about the different genres of writing. I was creating a list of things I needed for a cookout at the pool. I started off by mentioning a few things, and then they worked with a partner to come up with all different types of things I could put on my list. In Making Words, the students work in groups to manipulate and form words, making as many as they can, listing them, and ultimately trying to solve the mystery word. They help each other spell and rhyme, and decode, it is really neat to see.

During a guided reading lesson, I always have the kids take a picture walk and come up with questions they have about the pictures before we read the story. Then I have them explain why the author did this or that in the story. Once in Social Studies, I had the kids choose a community helper to draw a picture of and tell how you become one, ex. doctor, and what that person does to help the community. I gave them a big piece of chart paper and they had to work on formulating ideas in group and work together to create their information. There are lots of other things I do like this, and I would like to make sure I am doing enough to engage my students.

My question for others to respond to is: How do you use assessment (other than observation) in your instruction when you are using lots of hands on activities for active engagement?