My last post detailed the physical space where I student teach, and focused on SLA’s core value of collaboration. You may then recall that desks are arranged in pods of four or five for all portions of the class. We will have presentations this week, but I doubt the desks will change position. With the desks being structured in pods so often, Brad has taken his belief in collaboration and extended it into the physical space of his classroom. This post will take this physical space and use it to examine my classroom mentor’s approach to establishing a strong classroom community.
Brad does a great job of establishing relationships with students and establishing a sense of community within his classroom. We know Brad has his desks groups to emphasize collaboration. He follows up with constant verbal connections to collaboration with extend throughout his entire class period. Some things he has said to the class include, “check in with your group, make sure you’re on the same page”, “check with everyone at your table to make sure you agree”, “discuss as a group”, and “as a group, you’re working together”. Brad can only do so much to get students to work together, but these quotes from one class period alone signify his consistent efforts to get students to work collaboratively. Brad is currently having students in all four of his classes (2 courses of alg 2, 2 courses of calc) prepare presentations on varying math topics as groups. They were given plenty of time in class to work on their presentations and ask Brad and myself questions on their topics. They are getting plenty of practice working together collaboratively and thankfully we have been given a terrific group of students who work diligently. Another example of Brad incorporating collaboration into this classroom routine occurs every morning, where a group of 2 students are tasked with presenting the warm-up problem of the day to the class. Presenting alone can be scary for some people, so having a partner up there to present with can be a huge help for students (and adults alike). I have seen warm-up presentations where one student was struggling to explain some work on the board when their partner stepped in to help. To put it succinctly, having help, helps. And one thing Brad has told me repeatedly is that he doesn’t want students to view him as the only source of learning in the room. He wants students to also be able to learn from each other. I’ve never heard this concept expressed about a classroom before, so I am excited to remember it and try to implement in my own classroom one day.
1 Comment
Sarah Poncz
9/18/2017 07:39:36 am
You may want to delve a bit deeper into the concept of students working together.
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Alex KoroljowStudent teacher at SLA @ Center City, Philadelphia. Archives
January 2018
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