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Field notes 3/19/13
3/19/13
Ms. R 11th grade American History
Mr. T 10th grade English
Today Ms. R seems a little more stern than usual. While she is still joking around and not being “mean” in any way, she raises her voice to get the students attention at the beginning of class and tells them to put their “lids down” (referring to their laptops). She begins reviewing what the class accomplished yesterday, and shows a list on the smartboard comparing individual needs/interests in the environment versus business needs/interests in the environment. She says, “I feel like you guys didn’t get the most out of that activity, so we are going to try something else. I’m giving you three prompts: “I notice..” “I wonder..” and “What if?” and you have to look at this chart and fill in those sentences. So for example, I went to New York this weekend, and I noticed that M&Ms sold in Times Square were more expensive than those sold in the regular stores at home. I wondered why they would charge more and if other people noticed this price change. What if they donated the difference in that cost to a charity or non-profit organization?”
class and college access
Check out these two articles about the college access and experience...
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/17/education/scholarly-poor-often-overlook-better-colleges.html
&
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/17/opinion/sunday/does-affirmative-action-do-what-it-should.html
Field Notes March 8
Field Notes March 8, 2013
Math Lesson: Fractions
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the class was studying equivalent fractions by working on an equivalent fractions question like a puzzle. The initial question was, which fraction is greater than the other? Teacher L would talk out the problem like he was having a conversation with his class. He did this a few times, with the next question comparing three fractions, and for the last question he asked me to say a fraction (2/5) and had the class independently write 5 equivalent fractions on their own.
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He chose one student, T, to come to the board and write his answers and then explain how he got them to the class, just how he had explained the previous two questions
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He continued the conversation, and waited until the end to ask students to take notes.
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At one point during the end of the lesson, he spoke with one student, I, but directed to the larger class conversation, about how fractions are like pizzas, because his dad works at a pizza shop sometimes.
Philosophy
“I think;
Therefore, I am,”
Said the philosopher, Renee Descartes.
“I think;
Therefore, I am;
Therefore, I can change who I am,”
Argued the neurobiologist, Paul Grobstein.
I write;
Therefore, I know;
Therefore, I can change what we know.
Might the poet, Martin Espada, write.
Field Notes Visit 7
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Observation |
Analysis |
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Monday, 1-3:30 p.m. (March 4, 2013) |
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When I arrived, the class was working on skip-counting by ones, fives, and tens. Mrs. D explained to the class that this is a helpful skill to count money and tell time. |
I like that Mrs. D explains how skills are relevant beyond the classroom. |
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After Mrs. D teaches the whole class lesson, the students are given a worksheet to practice skip-counting. To accommodate differences in ability, Mrs. D gave the kids the option to count by fives or tens. |
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Mrs. D gives step-by-step directions for how she wants the students to do the worksheet. The first thing that she tells them to do is just write “fives” or “tens” in the space at the top (so she will know what they were intending to do when she checks them later) |
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Notes from the Road
Strange and beautiful
You appeared, beautiful
Stranger.
I think
I know you,
But what do I know?
Text me
Mixed messages. Test me.
I want you
To want me
To please you. You tease me,
Appease me, confuse me,
Excite me, unease me.
It's easy.
I don't think
I know you,
But what do I know?
Strange and beautiful. You appeared
Beautiful.
Cross-Visitation field notes, 3/6
March 6th, 2013
Ms. Gander’s class – 5th grade music
I arrived for my visit with fairly few expectations, feeling open. I knew I'd be with 5th graders (a new age group for me) and that we'd be doing music, and that was about it. We jumped right in: the class entered, and Jim, my classmate, led them in an initial name game. The children went around in a circle and said their name along with a gesture (a swoop of the arm, a snap, jumping into in “x” shape, etc.). Momentum built as they went around the circle; laughter bubbled up as the kids (obviously very comfortable with each other) shared nick-names, made gestures more active, and generally had a good time with it.
Timing and distractions
On Tuesday, I worked with Erica again on both reading and homework. “Work with me, work with me,” she asked, so I agreed to come upstairs and work with her. After 20 minutes of reading, we switched to work on homework.
Looking back over my notes, I was surprised by the number of distractions we had. While we were reading, a tutor and a student came upstairs and started reading out loud too; another student had a tantrum in the corner and the director, Mariah, and 2 other tutors were talking to him for 5-10 minutes to get him to settle down. Erica was, for the most part, able to stay focused during that time. However, when we were doing homework, she was more prone to distraction – both of her own making, and others.
Erica had one double-sided worksheet of math problems. She wanted to work upstairs instead of downstairs, where students usually do homework – I assumed this was because it was a little quieter and less hectic upstairs. We sat down on a couch, and Erica took out two whiteboards, and put her paper on top of them. She also got a sharpened pencil and a dry-erase marker.
