A week ago I attended a professional development session for Teach for America. There was a panel discussion on how to empower students behind their race and cultures. Most of the discussion was around African American students. They talked a lot about providing appropriate culturally relevant materials in class and in discussions. Also, they talked about being sure to talk to families and communities to get them involved.
I work in a school with predominently Hispanic and Latino/a students. Thinking about how the panel discussed getting African American families involved, has caused me to think more about how to get my students' families involved. My students' families are very community and family related. They always do things with their whole family and aunts and uncles and cousins. I have been trying to learn more about my students' families and what things they do with their family.
Monday, November 14, 2011
Thursday, November 3, 2011
small groups
Last week another special ed teacher in my school and his co-teacher tried out parallel teaching. They had great success with it. They seperated the class in half, one side facing the front, one facing the back of the room. They had the kids scoot in close and created the expectation of working quietly so that everyone would be able to learn. When they had taught one skill, instead of the students moving, the teachers just switched. This eliminated any transition time or chaos. The students were very well behaved and were participating more in the smaller group setting.
Seeing this type of co-teaching work well was really exciting because it showed me that it could happen. My co-teacher and I do smaller group instruction as well, but the noise level is the hardest part since both of us can be quite loud usually. It also strengthened my belief that small group instruction can be really effective. I see students jumping at the chance to answer a question or even ask a question. I've had students tell me they are only comfortable doing that because they are not in front of so many people. I hope to be able to utilize a lot more small groups in my co-taught classes.
Seeing this type of co-teaching work well was really exciting because it showed me that it could happen. My co-teacher and I do smaller group instruction as well, but the noise level is the hardest part since both of us can be quite loud usually. It also strengthened my belief that small group instruction can be really effective. I see students jumping at the chance to answer a question or even ask a question. I've had students tell me they are only comfortable doing that because they are not in front of so many people. I hope to be able to utilize a lot more small groups in my co-taught classes.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)