Chapter 1
When working in groups, students should have clearly assigned individual tasks in order to complete the group task. Teachers need to be sure they are in charge of the class, but not necessarily each group. If a group feels the teacher is incharge of their group they may ask questions or expect explanations from the teacher.
When I first used groupwork, I got a lot of questions. I realized there was little to no group discussion. I had to teach the students to ask these questions to each other before asking me.
Chapter 2
For students, groupwork helps them achieve not only content goals, but intellectual and social goals as well. When all students are working together the group can arrive at standings that no one individual could have ever achieved. Groupwork causes students to think critically, creatively, and also analytically. Groupwork situations should be things such as simulations, demonstrations, and debates, where it is required for students to work together.
I see too many situations where groupwork is not being used properly. I see students dividing up the work and working individually to complete the task at hand.
Chapter 3
There can be many problems when trying to implement groupwork in the classroom. When working in groups, there is usually one student who dominates the groupwork. things such as academic or social status help determine which students will talk in the group. Teachers need to make sure all students are participating.
Last semester, I had assigned a group project and I had one group of students where one person did almost all of the work and the other two students did not participate much at all. When I confronted the group, the two students not working on the task said they were happy with what the other group member was doing. The group member that was doing all of the work was frustrated he was not getting any help even if he asked.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Week Three Reading Reflection - Ethnography Piece
3 things I learned/connected with:
1. I learned that ethnography means writing about the nations. Before this reading, I was actually not sure what ethnography meant. I had assumed it would have had something to do with ethnicity, but there is more than that.
2. I learned that it is important to be reflective of your findings. We need to take our findings and truly look at what we have discovered, and not just state what we have found and be finished.
3. I learned that the questioner must sometimes suppress their own beliefs. I would think that if we are trying to come to a conclusion, that it would be okay to leave some findings out that we did not agree with or that disagreed with all of our other findings. It is actually very important to be objective and share all findings equally.
2 disagreements/questions:
1.Can the questioner not guide the answers desired by asking the proper questions to get the desired results? I feel like I could ask a certain question to hint at a desired result, only ask certain people, or only share certain information that benefits my study.
2. Becuase there is a lot of information available for ethnographers, how do we decide what is "good" information to use and what is not? There are a lot of topics to choose from to research, and there is a lot of information for each topic. I am just not sure how to make my project worthwhile for me and others.
1 thing I would still like to learn:
1. I would like to learn about school ethnographies done in the past and also look at those done today. I feel that it would be interesting to learn how people felt about certain schools in the past versus the same school as today. I feel like this might show how the school has or has not moved forward in keeping up with the twenty-first century.
1. I learned that ethnography means writing about the nations. Before this reading, I was actually not sure what ethnography meant. I had assumed it would have had something to do with ethnicity, but there is more than that.
2. I learned that it is important to be reflective of your findings. We need to take our findings and truly look at what we have discovered, and not just state what we have found and be finished.
3. I learned that the questioner must sometimes suppress their own beliefs. I would think that if we are trying to come to a conclusion, that it would be okay to leave some findings out that we did not agree with or that disagreed with all of our other findings. It is actually very important to be objective and share all findings equally.
2 disagreements/questions:
1.Can the questioner not guide the answers desired by asking the proper questions to get the desired results? I feel like I could ask a certain question to hint at a desired result, only ask certain people, or only share certain information that benefits my study.
2. Becuase there is a lot of information available for ethnographers, how do we decide what is "good" information to use and what is not? There are a lot of topics to choose from to research, and there is a lot of information for each topic. I am just not sure how to make my project worthwhile for me and others.
1 thing I would still like to learn:
1. I would like to learn about school ethnographies done in the past and also look at those done today. I feel that it would be interesting to learn how people felt about certain schools in the past versus the same school as today. I feel like this might show how the school has or has not moved forward in keeping up with the twenty-first century.
Week Two Reading Reflection - Disrupting Class
3 things I learned/connected with:
1. Everybody learns differently. This is something I have seen in the classroom and experienced. I have explained things once and some students understood. Then when others did not understand I would take a different approach.
2. I learned that approximately 1/3 of a districts budget is spent on educating special needs students. I had not before realized how much it actually cost to educate special needs students.
3. The students that tend to learn like the teacher succeed, the others do not. I have experienced many of times throughout my educational career. For example, I do not learn well on my own and when this is how teachers expect us to learn I do not learn well.
2 disagreements/questions:
1. Why do some teachers feel like saying the same thing over and over helps? I feel things need to explained/demonstrated in a different manner if there is still confusion.
2. Why do we continue to build schools set up for standardization success when this mode of teaching is not successful for most students? The set up of our schools has been the same way and the results are not changing.
1 thing I would like to learn more about:
1. I would like to learn how to be the teacher that does not just say the same thing louder and slower when a students is confused. This is one thing that I do not like to see and do not want to ever be like this teacher (even if it is 10 years from now).
1. Everybody learns differently. This is something I have seen in the classroom and experienced. I have explained things once and some students understood. Then when others did not understand I would take a different approach.
2. I learned that approximately 1/3 of a districts budget is spent on educating special needs students. I had not before realized how much it actually cost to educate special needs students.
3. The students that tend to learn like the teacher succeed, the others do not. I have experienced many of times throughout my educational career. For example, I do not learn well on my own and when this is how teachers expect us to learn I do not learn well.
2 disagreements/questions:
1. Why do some teachers feel like saying the same thing over and over helps? I feel things need to explained/demonstrated in a different manner if there is still confusion.
2. Why do we continue to build schools set up for standardization success when this mode of teaching is not successful for most students? The set up of our schools has been the same way and the results are not changing.
1 thing I would like to learn more about:
1. I would like to learn how to be the teacher that does not just say the same thing louder and slower when a students is confused. This is one thing that I do not like to see and do not want to ever be like this teacher (even if it is 10 years from now).
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Week One Reading Reflection - Rethinking High School
The concept and idea of a small school really resonated with me. I went to what I would consider a small high school, approximately 750 students. I felt like I was actually a part of the community. I knew a little about every classmate and even those older and younger. I knew every teacher, and mostly every teacher was approachable. My experience observing at the larger schools is that the students do not necessarily feel like they belong. The students just go through a day of school by going from class to class, and not really experiencing any other social aspects. For this example, I felt like even though they were aiming for any student to attended their school, they received a certain group of people. For example, they had no football team, swim facilities, etc. Had they had a wider range of activities, I feel like there may have been other students who would have considered this school. Like they stated in the book, they feel like they got the risk takers to enroll in their school.
I feel that most of the Second to None components were touched upon in chapter 1. Both talked about the teacher always reflecting and learning, creating a new schedule for the school, support and encourage all students, create student centered learning, change current assessment practices, and teach students skills that will help them when they leave, not just content. I would like to further investigate the idea of community experiences and relationships. It is important to find something you enjoy even if it is outside of the classroom.
I feel that most of the Second to None components were touched upon in chapter 1. Both talked about the teacher always reflecting and learning, creating a new schedule for the school, support and encourage all students, create student centered learning, change current assessment practices, and teach students skills that will help them when they leave, not just content. I would like to further investigate the idea of community experiences and relationships. It is important to find something you enjoy even if it is outside of the classroom.
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