St. Andrew's Visit 8: Teaching a Lesson (1)

Focus: Teaching a lesson

Because of the program's schedule, only 9 of our 10 visits took place on Tuesdays, so I popped in on a Friday to round off my semester.

The morning began with a bit of confusion on their part - they weren't used to seeing me on a different day - but they quickly settled to finish labeling and correcting maps they had drawn. I sat with A to help him complete his Venn Diagram, walking him through the process by which he would determine whether an item fell in one of the circles or in the overlap area. Students who had finished their maps and their Venn Diagrams completed a short microwriting session or added to the previous day's writing.

At 9:30, students engaged in quiet reading time. I pulled out K and I (and later M and J) to assess the progress they had made in reading comprehension since an intervention had begun for them in November. They each read a story that was 2 levels higher than where they had been initially and answered a few questions. If they answered all the comprehension questions correctly, they then tried another level up.

Mr. Barry later explained that the assessment was, in part, to test the method's effectiveness for each of the students as well as to determine their current levels. For many years, the school had simply thrown a variety of resources and supplements at students who lagged behind, hoping that something would work without knowing for certain. In recent waves of accountability, the focus has been on figuring out which interventions work and which ones don't. Interestingly, students who had tested on the same level initially and have been exposed to the same intervention have not all made the same progress. Some struggled with the initial test (2 levels higher than where they had started) while others excelled and completed tests at 3 or even 4 levels higher without issue. To me, this simply proved that students learn in different ways, and not every plan will work for every pupil.

For the rest of the morning, both before and after the break (which was sadly inside because of rain) the students researched different animals for their current science unit on food chains and predator-prey interactions. Mr. Barry explained to the students how they could create mind maps to organize the information they collected. I sat with W, who was eager to learn about sharks regardless of his partner R's absence.

Rain continued through lunch, forcing the students inside again. Containing the students within the small classroom proved treacherous as it removed their ability to put space between them and potential conflicts. More than one disagreement erupted as a result. Ms. Bryant and I took turns removing students from the classroom when the need arose. I had a particularly interesting interaction with J, who I would describe as introverted, but not shy. She has no issue interacting with other students, but I've seen her at times opt to work alone on an assignment when there is an odd number of students. She had been building with a pair of other students during the midmorning break and during the first part of the lunch hour (they eat their lunches right in the middle of the lunch hour, allowing them a chance to play before and then again after). During the last part of the lunch hour, she continued to build, but this time she gathered some materials and then found a quiet corner of the classroom away from other students. I checked in with her briefly and discovered that she was happy to be on her own. What I assessed as contented, however, Ms. Bryant thought to be loneliness. She subsequently tried to convince J to join other students, which she eventually did reluctantly.

After lunch, the students completed a short session of micromaths, followed by a chance to choose their own activities. 9 of the girls joined me for a dance lesson, although I ended up having to send 2 of them back to the classroom when they refused to listen to instructions. For those who remained, I opted for the animal game (in which they embody an animal and others try to guess) followed by the food chain game (a version of rock-paper-scissors that helps them understand the pyramid-nature of a food chain as only one person ends at the top and many more are at the bottom, with a medium number at the middle level) until it was time for the afternoon assembly.