Deborah+Barr

Journal Response 1 Hello my name is Deborah Barr and I am a teacher at the American International School of Riyadh. I have two sons who have graduated from the IB program here, with one to go! I am liking the fact that I can write to my sons about my studies. This year I am teaching Grade 8 English and enjoying the classes very much. Before this life we were living and teaching in Bangkok for four years and before that, I was a part time teacher at my local polytechnic and before that I was a high school English and Social Studies teacher, so I have had a fairly varied teaching background mostly as a result of working around my family and traveling. All my life has been in education and over the past years I have worked with some excellent and hardworking teachers. I feel privileged to be part of a course that will I hope push me back to re-examine those teaching ideals that I started off with and that have sometimes been lost along the way. I hope the course will re-awaken the good teaching practices that I know I am capable of, but get pushed aside for expediency. I am always thinking about ways I can make my classes more interesting and meaningful and already I am evaluating what I do in the light of the articles I am reading and commenting on. Journal Response 2 Knowledge Alive by David Perkins Probably the greatest pleasure my students have in their Literature classes are the ones in which they have assigned roles and are engaged in meaningful group work to present their findings to the rest of the class in the form of a role play or dramatic improvisation. In other words they are making their knowledge come alive. I agree with Perkin’s idea that our task as teachers, is to enliven teaching and learning through the knowledge arts. However I also agree that the times I do so are “oases of glory” interspersed with’ deserts of neglect”. When I do ask my students ask my students to reflect on their learning, “make it visible”. I am continually surprised at just how perceptive they can be and resolve to get them to do it more. The reminder to “strive to create a culture of inquiry and excitement” is a timely one. Preparing for Today and Tomorrow by Elliot Eisner In ‘What Schools Should Teach’ Eisner makes the point that ‘ Meaningful Literacy’ is more broadly meant to include the student’s ability to respond to the arts. Some years ago I was doing some research to argue in favor of the inclusion of an Arts program in a Middle School. In some cases, some students find themselves in cultures that only allow minimal exposure to the arts. Eisner believes that schools should be places that offer these experiences for all. Eisner’s contention that exposure to the arts “evoke,develop and refine the modes of thinking that contribute to the cultivation of…the mind”is a strong argument in favor of an arts program. In “Critical Thinking” I thought about the fact that those of us who live in an international setting often have limited connection with the culture we live in.In this situation students need to develop the ability to critique the ideas that may be different from their peers back home. “Collaboration” and “Service” are very important aspects of a curriculum that is attuned to the needs of students today and tomorrow. Debates, discussion groups and active service to the community are some of the activities that my students are regularly involved in an effort to get them to realize that they are part of a wider society. Once again Eisner’s article reinforces many things I know are good teaching practice. Journal Response 3 Constructivism as a Paradigm for Teaching and Learning I feel very comfortable with this model. It seems like I have discussed, read about and mulled over this theory in various ways in the past 30 years of my teaching. The main reason students respond well to this model of teaching and learning is the active component-they feel like they are in charge of their learning, they interact with other students to make sense of their learning and they see that learning is meaningful to them. The teacher of course must be a skilled facilitator of all of this and this takes a lot of hard work and thought on the part of the teacher. I believe that if the student really feels connected to the learning in this way deeper and more powerful learning takes place. What should educators be careful of? Falling into a rut, teaching the same thing in the same way, believing that the students are listening therefore they are learning, being guilty of not challenging yourself as a teacher to operate in a constructivist classroom. Other pitfalls could include forgetting the importance of basic skills, making sure that everyone has a say, keeping focused on the topic and making sure that all students have the prior knowledge to keep up. Journal Response 4 Give an example from your own experience for each of Brandt’s conditions for powerful learning What they learn is personally meaningful The study of adolescent literature is ideal for this. Under the general theme of Adventure and Challenge the students in my class looked at the way three different characters in two novels and a movie. The 13 year old protagonists left their families behind temporarily, set off to sea to have an adventure and came home again after finding out more about who they really were. This literature study leant itself to many opportunities for self reflection and for the students to make parallels in their own lives. What they learn is challenging and they accept the challenge. Many of my students are loosing the “Battle of the Screens vs Books”. In other words they don’t read for pleasure anymore and spend leisure time in front of a screen instead. We set up small book clubs to meet this challenge, where every two weeks the students met in a small group with other students and a teacher and talked about the book they had been reading .The aim of each student was to sell their book to the others in the group-they tried every technique they could to persuade the others to read their particular book. This was a challenge for many of the students who really had to work hard at getting their book read in time and sell it in a short sound bite! What they learn is appropriate for their developmental level Many of my students seem to have a lack of practical hands on skills. Many have maids and cooks in their households. I am often surprised at how much our students love to get in the kitchen –some have never been allowed to use a knife for chopping! Studying another culture or period in history such as ‘The Egyptians’ has been an opportunity for the students to do just this and lots of students included this cooking session as one of the highlights of their school year. They can learn in their own way, have choices, and feel in control My students have been studying some famous 20 Century writers including Naguib Mahfouz and Maya Angelou. The students had a choice of assignments and various options to present their findings. By far the most popular was the assignment where students interviewed the character Mahfouz sitting outside his favourite café in Cairo dressed in fez and thobe and drinking tea. Students set up the café and dressed for the part completely from their own ideas. Many bought extra props in an effort to be original and consulted and listened to podcasts of the author. They use what they already know as they construct new knowledge One of the good things in our school is that we have a school wide policy of teaching the 6+1 Traits of Writing across the school This makes it easy to reinforce, consolidate and build on prior knowledge as we teach good writing practices .Terminology and standards and expectations are already familiar to the students. They have opportunities for social interactions My classroom is arranged in groups and I probably use group activities such as Literature Circles every day. I try to make sure pair work and group work an integral part of the Speaking and Listening module. They get helpful feedback Writing conference is an area I would like to spend more time on. Even though I try to give my undivided attention to the student I am helping I cannot seem to stop keeping an ear out for the rest of the class. I often feel I need another teacher to look after the rest of the class so I can really give focused feedback. They acquire and use strategies Teaching good writing strategies involves a regular drill of brainstorming and prewriting, planning editing and proof reading. Once again this is a school wide policy and students are usually all familiar with these strategies. I think this is good teaching practice –to discuss this using familiar terms mean that all the students are clear about the correct process They experience a positive emotional climate and the environment supports the intended learning I try to be as understanding as possible when my students come to school. Many quite young students get themselves up for the early start and many don’t have breakfast. I think this adversely affects learning. I often allow students to have a quick snack at a short break dividing the 90 minute block. I make sure I have water available at any time for them to drink and comfy seating to relax and read. I make an effort to display all the student’s work regularly. I plan a break from the hard work we do and we often do fun stuff with small prizes .Last year I tried to make an effort to report one positive comment for each student each week over the year. The tone of the class is purposeful and well organized but occasionally its good to have fun too. Which of these conditions are viable in your present teaching assignment? I think all these conditions are present but I am sure there are ways I can enhance these learning conditions for my students. Reading Response 5 When I was planning the Backwards Design work for my class I was reminded of the Stephen Covey model of prioritizing first things first by categorizing all learning activities to do with the targeted results in a matrix of ultimate importance: Quadrant 1- important and urgent; Quadrant 2-important,non-urgent;Quadrant 3-urgent,not important Quadrant 4-not important, not urgent .Like Covey’s model in Backwards Design you are also making sure that the skills and knowledge the students acquire are the vital ones and the unimportant ones discarded. By using the Backwards Design model, you are committed to eliminating all the activities that don’t make it to the important quadrants. Teachers can then plan corresponding and appropriate assessment and narrow the focus to the parts of the content or textbook that will reinforce the essential parts of student learning. Backwards Design planning should help sort the wheat from the chaff and hone in on truly meaningful learning with transferable thinking skills.

Reading Response 6 I taught my present class two years ago when they were sixth graders and I quite frequently find myself reminding the class “ we already did this”. I sometimes feel depressed at how little they appear to remember of what I taught them!To cheer myself up I share this with my colleagues and they commiserate and recount their own similar experiences. What is the essential difference between a student knowing and doing ,to really understanding and thus being able to transfer this knowledge? This is difficult to assess but Backwards Design urges us to plan activities that reinforce these essential skills and the all important knowledge base that the students can build on and continue to add to.