Project-based learning in a fifth grade STEM class
Academic Expectations
In this classroom, the teacher begins by clearly stating the day's objective and reminding them of how their previous work on this project can help them complete the task. This is a great way to set the tone for the lesson. Possibly more importantly, the groups are set up so that each student has a unique job and is responsible for different aspects of the project. This shows the students that each of them must participate and contribute to the assignment, and is a great way to make sure everyone is involved. Since there are certain aspects of the project that one person would have been responsible for, the teacher is able to assess how that student performed on their task. She has clearly set this classroom up for success.
Behavior Expectations
Due to the nature of the project, students must do independent planning work, then collaborate, troubleshoot together and reach consensus to create a final product. The teacher also implements a great feedback activity called "chiming." Each group chooses a spokesperson who shares their successes and failures of the previous work day with the class. The other students may "chime in" as well. This is an opportunity for formative assessment, surely, but also creates a space where the students have to self-assess and other groups may affirm them or share suggestions. The amount of listening to each other and and collaboration that happens among the students is impressive.
Norms and Procedures
Aside from the "Chime" activity and the group jobs mentioned previously, another successful procedure in this class was the budget and "shop" the students used to purchase their product supplies. Although no money was exchanged, the groups had to reach consensus on their purchases, which involved having conversations about which materials would work best for their roller coaster and budgeting their spending. The norms and procedures in this classroom created an environment where the students had to collaborate, think critically, be responsible for their contribution to the work, and develop "real-world" skills as well.
Math lesson in a third grade, Chinese-immersion class
Academic Expectations
Although this was a short video, there were some good examples of high academic expectations. The students were well-engaged with their math drills. The numbers or equations they were repeating had a rhythm to them that seemed to keep the students participating. Based on this article, it might be safe to assume that the students are repeating centuries-old rhymes about number relationships. The downside to this short video is that it was not evident that the teacher was able to provide space for all students to participate or for her to even gauge that all students are participating, as she was in the front of the room. At one point, a boy can be heard saying, "why isn't she picking me [to answer]?"
Behavior Expectations
The teacher was keeping everyone on track with their routine, and as soon as they started getting out of control or speaking out of turn, she used some attention-getters to help them re-center. Those seemed to work very well for her group. I do not speak Chinese, but I do teach in a similar setting in a Spanish immersion classroom. It's often said of foreign language-immersion classrooms that they are "chattier" or "noisier" -- sometimes on purpose. Students are encouraged to repeat and practice language, and it can be a delicate balance of letting them vocalize the new language vs. keeping them on track. So, that being said, I saw some of that in this video and although the students weren't totally under control the whole time, I don't think that's necessarily "bad." But there may have been other ways of arranging that lesson that allowed for student engagement that would have been more constructive than speaking out of turn.
Norms and Procedures
The teacher clearly has taught these students a routine and they seem very engaged while they are reciting. Whether or not it is just rote recitation, I am not sure, but the article mentioned previously suggests that to some extent, China's math scores show that it makes a positive difference. The article states, "The goal of math education in China is to develop conceptual and procedural knowledge through rigid practice"(Wei). The other procedure that is evident in this lesson is the attention-getting chant. This seems to be effective, and the students seem to enjoy it. But, I would have liked to see how these students did with collaborative engagement or with some sort of method to make sure each student was being involved. Of course, it was a short clip of a lesson, so I can't be sure if that is happening at another time in the class.
Whole-brain teaching in a ninth-grade geography class
Academic Expectations
The video I watched about whole-brain teaching didn't show this very clearly, but from what I read online about the methodology, it is formatted to provide students with concise (1-minute) chunks of information, lots of repetition, both with the teacher and with each other. It makes information intake more manageable and includes body movements to help students absorb the information on multiple levels. As well, students are expected to participate and engage with the group (for example, with the "speed reading" activity) so it seems that academic expectations are quite high.
Behavior Expectations
What is most fascinating and impressive about this methodology is that classroom management is built in. Although it seems very "teacher-centric" (the teacher must be energetic and engaging and prompt the students constantly), it is effective. The students were focused, involved, and on task during pair work.
Norms and Procedures
This video was full of norms and procedures. The students clearly had been taught many of the norms, which seemed to be a mix of "call-and-response" and prompted behaviors--for example, repeating the page number they were turning to until they were all there. There were a variety of exercises that served as check-ins for both the students' attention and the information being taught. The student-led activities had clearly been practiced before. I can tell that a lot of time is spent on teaching effective routines and procedures in this Whole-Brain Teaching classroom.
Summary
There are a number of great methods that I could use in my Spanish-immersion Kindergarten classroom. While I feel that the Whole-Brain Teaching method would take some training on my part, I have a class of high-energy students who can be unruly at times, and the dynamic, kinesthetic approach of Whole-Brain Teaching would probably help them stay focused.
As I mentioned before, the verbal engagement of the Chinese math class is similar to the approach I currently take of engaging my group as a whole and encouraging them to participate that way.
While project-based learning is more difficult for me to imagine in my kindergarten classroom, I think it would be beneficial to integrate more student-driven work into our routines. Even a more simplistic variation like assigning and/or rotating class jobs would be a great way for students to gain more responsibility for their behavior and academic achievement and would also encourage collaboration and real-world skills.
References
Chen, C. [Crystal Chen]. (2011, June 13). 3rd grade Chinese--math class.avi. [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7LseF6Db5g
Newell, B. (Producer). (2012). Roller Coaster Physics: STEM in Action [Online video]. WLIW. Retrieved from https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/teaching-stem-strategies
[roxishayne]. (2011, May 31). Whole Brain Teaching Richwood High - The Basics. [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8iXTtR7lfWU&feature=youtu.be
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