The classroom community has definitely seen some changes because I have seen rapport expand beyond the materials. The conversations I have with people are pretty laid back when they are working in groups. By the second and third round, the classroom community that I had established was evident. I had improved on finding engaging lessons and was doing so consistently. So much of this is credited to planning and my mentor James finding the key areas of improvement and faculty mentor, Letina, helping broaden my scope of resources and access to tools to use.
James and I took quiet moments throughout the year to play ongoing games of Go, an ancient game of strategy where one tries to capture territory with pieces. In giving me feedback he’d make some analogies to the game. My growth in establishing a classroom community has much to do with tactics, which are decisions for specific situations, and strategy which is the more broad and overall plans. Applied to teaching, it tactics align more with LAPS and strategy is aligned with CUPS. My improvements in lesson planning have led to the growth of a classroom learning community. I add variety to activities, test them out in advance, and adapt often with their input.
Observers in my classroom have noticed that I have a good relationship with my students, that in starters, they see that students volunteer to try without fear of repercussions. The access to classroom resources like a copy of the inputs and outputs, a student work hanging up, and focus on team work has aided in developing this.
My role in all of this as the teacher is to provide structure and consistency daily. The stability provides space in their minds and allows them to focus on learning and not be less worried about safety needs.
Excerpts from reflection 4.13.16 – 4.19.16: Today was a pretty relaxed day in terms of teaching. I did end up having to move around a lot to help students but I didn’t have to do a lot of direct instruction. I wanted to show them that this project required a team in order to do a good job.
On Tuesday I found that people were doing a good job of using the roles and accounting for the forces at least in their discussions. One of their outputs was to address the concerns of a particular force possible breaking their bridge. The clean up process was the most important to me and they did a great job overall. There wasn’t a lot of trash around their workbenches or glue on the tables. The one issue I saw was that the person responsible for cleaning got left with a lot of the work. I am going to adjust it so that people clean as they go. The inspiration for adding roles came from when I worked in a restaurant and learned about Mise En Place. It means “everything in place” and pertains to all aspects and materials prepared before starting a task or job. I have used roles before, but this time I was able to provide a person connection.
Next Up: Professional Learning Community