Classroom Managment Observations in an AP Classroom

In Ms. ELA’s AP Literature class, classroom management is more about developing a reflective nature in her students than directly interfering during off task behavior. This is in line with her overall teaching approach for this class. Students are part of making decisions regarding reading material and deadlines and then asked to reflect on their decisions and how it affected their work. I have seen these conversations in other classes. The reasoning for this approach Ms.ELA explains as a response to the fact that students had to sign up for this class. It is the only AP Literature class and about 10 students dropped the class in the first week. The students that remain want to be there and are continually asked to show that.

This classroom management culture was evident as the class split into two groups to work on a project related to The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison. To receive one of their speaking and listening grades for semester (ohhh hi Common Core), students would stage a faux court case taking the roles of lawyers and witnesses. The class did not have a ‘do now’ or anything to really signify the beginning of class. This is in contrast to Ms.ELA’s other non AP classes which always a have a ‘do now’. I believe she does not do something like this as religiously for her AP class because she expects better behavior for them. For the most part she is right. They are pretty well behaved even though they are often off task. The class started with a discussion on attendance. It was filled in through a program set up by the school on her classroom computer. About 6 students were absent because they were on a field trip to URI. They were all from the same group. From that group there was palpable fear. How could they possibly practice as much as the other group? An absent student had all the work they’d done! She decided their group would have an extra day to work. It almost affected the level of fear in the group.

To start the academic work, Ms.ELA had the class break into their groups. She spent the first half of the class working with the group that had all its members present. She was helping them solidify their roles in the court case and helping them to flesh out their argument by citing the text. During this time the other group was not making any of their own progress and Ms.ELA was not addressing that. When she began working with the group missing students the first group began having conversations about their cousins and babies and weddings in a really obvious way. They weren’t loud but they weren’t trying to hide their conversation. She did not admonish them until it was time for the groups to check in within each other. She was calm but made statements like:

“Why weren’t you looking at this passage?”

“I don’t understand why you can’t put this together.”

Students responded with statements like:

“We should have been finding it miss.”

“Sorry miss. We’re procrastinating."

At one point during this class a student asked if they could go to the bathroom but it was too close to the end of the class. This was a school policy that prohibited students from going to the bathroom 10 minutes at the beginning of class or 10 minutes at the end.

I believe the way Ms.ELA conducts her classroom management is yielding some of the desired results. She is trying to have her students be cognisant of their learning processes. Acknowledging their shortcomings and areas that need improvement is the first part to fixing the problem. Ms.ELA comments that these students want to go to college next year, they won’t have someone collecting drafts or setting up checkpoints. I hope they develop the habits she is working to instill in them.

Observation Assignment #4

Oh my! I'm posting Observation Assignment #4 before #3! Can you handle it blogosphere? I think so! I have high expectations for y'all! 

I observed a lesson dealing with vocabulary from Krik? Krak! by Edwige Danticat and the following literary devices: antonyms, synonyms, metaphors, and similes. 

Accordingly, these are the objectives that I believe go with the lesson: 

- Students will differentiate between synonyms, antonyms, similes, and metaphors.

- Students will recall the meaning of the following vocabulary from Krik? Krak! by Edwidge Danticat: ancestors, massacre, revolutionary, undetected.

What's that?
What level of Bloom's Taxonomy do these deal with?
Why comprehension, comrade!

I have developed the following 10 minute quiz to access the lesson:

Krik? Krak! Literary Device Quiz

Name _________________________________________________                         Date ______________

Circle the letter of the correct answer.

1. An antonym of ancestors is: 2. An antonym of undetected is:

a)forefather a)Haiti

b)descendant b)undiscovered

c)predecessor c) noticable

d)revolutionary d) blind

3. A synonym of massacre is: 4. A synonym of revolutionary is:

a) slaughter a) rebel

b) encourage   b) conservative

c) conserve c) witch

d) deliver d) night woman

5. Which of the following sentences contains a metaphor:

a) Little Guy worked like a dog to learn all his lines.

b) Lili was disapproving of the hot air balloon right from the start.

c) Everyone was thrilled when Little Guy was selected to play the role of the revolutionary.

d)The pain Little Guy felt was a knife through his heart.

6. Which of the following sentences contains a metaphor:

a) Princesse felt like a stumbling newborn at first.

b) Her first sketches empowered her beyond words.

c) Catherine was a beautiful gardenia in Princesse’s eyes.

d) Princesse thought she would cry for a million years when she learned Catherine had gone to Paris.

7.Which of the following sentences contains a simile:

a) Josephine’s mother when to great lengths to flee the Dominican Republic.

b) To Josephine’s mother, the rituals they performed were as good as gold.

c) Some readers are surprised to learn of the violence portrayed in “Nineteen Thirty-Seven”.

d) The name, Massacre River, paints a vivid picture.

8.Which of the following sentences contains a simile:

a) Caroline’s love for Eric burned deeply.

b) Ma expected her bone soup to work like a charm.

c) Grace thought Ma was being Morbid when she requested her belongings be burned after her death.

d) The weeding loomed over the rest of Caroline’s family.

Krik? Krak! Literary Device Quiz Answer Key

1. B

2. C

3. A

4. A

5. D

6. C

7. B

8. B

Microteaching II

Hello Sarah, Emily, Mi- I MEAN NICK, and Ryan!  Thanks for being a a great class on Tuesday. Looking forward to your comments : )

I Had a Great Time at NCTE Even Though Tony Danza Didn’t Show Up

         The third weekend in November, I attended the 103rd Annual Convention for the National Council of Teachers of English in Boston, Massachusetts (Whew! Try saying that ten times fast!). I attended several panels and was lucky enough to see RIC’s own Dr. Johnson present some of her research. I had never been to a conference before and it sometimes felt a little bizarre. For instance, one of the keynote speakers was Tony Danza. The actor of ‘Who’s the Boss?’ fame had apparently spent a year teaching at an urban school in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and was coming to tell a bunch of teachers who felt they had their work cut out for them that boy were they right! Whatever. But it looks like teachers really are the tough, resilient type because even with the last minute cancellation from the ‘Taxi’ star, the conference was ultimately really empowering and energizing. Who knew there are hundreds of teachers who hate the 5 paragraph essay as much as I do and have come up with a bunch of great alternatives? My favorite part of NCTE was realizing that there is a whole community of educators who see the work they do as social justice work. Who, if they wrote a book about their experiences would take a little responsibility for their own actions and not title it “I’d Like to Apologize to Every Teacher I’ve Ever Had” (is it chilly in the shade Mr.Danza?). Turns out, these people call themselves social justice teachers and there is a whole body of academic research on the subject. What?! So cool!

   
         The best panel I attended was a roundtable discussion with a teacher who formed a Social Justice Book Club at his Title One middle school (went home and googled Title One….eep there is so much I don’t know!). He selected three 8th grade students who were well liked and had leadership potential. He let them pick 9 more students from the 6th and 7th grades using some simple guidelines. There could not be more than three students of the same ethnic background, and there had to be an even number of males and females (I spy with my little eye actual diversity!). Students then worked together to select books with social justice themes and develop reading schedules. Students discussed topics such as equity vs. equality and why only Title One schools in their area had a standard mode of dress policy. The most awesome thing they did was successfully campaign for more freedoms during their free period. After meeting with the principal and drawing up a contract, 8th graders were awarded more free period privileges. How fun would it be to work with students who call meetings with their principal (and to have a principal who is into that sort of thing)?
         
          Before attending NCTE, I knew that I wanted to create a classroom where social justice was at the heart of my lesson plans and was a topic that was often and openly discussed. However, I didn’t really know what that looked like or how to articulate my thoughts regarding the issue. I still have a long way to go in that department, but NCTE gave me all this new vocabulary and all these new ideas about what it means to be a teacher committed to social justice. For example, I now see the importance of making students realize they can be agentic forces of change in their own lives. To help them see inequity and leave it at that is a great way to create life long cynics, especially in middle school. Since the conference, I feel really excited and hopeful about being able to create a classroom I’ll have a wonderful time teaching in, even I didn’t get a chance to pick up some of Mr.Danza’s pearls of wisdom. It was wonderful to hear teachers talk about the ways their students responded so positively to social justice oriented classrooms. I am once again incredibly eager to get my own classroom and incredibly terrified because there is so much I still don’t know! At least now I am getting in touch with a whole population of like minded educators who can help point me toward some answers when I find myself, as I often do, a bit discombobulated.