Outcome: Participants conduct effective classroom visit activities which include modeling instruction, helping with the lesson planning cycle, providing technology assistance, reflective practice, problem solving and program implementation.
Portfolio Entry Narrative: Classroom visits vary in a multitude of ways. Teachers and I work together to find different ways to incorporate the best use of technology in their classes, how to create a student-centered lesson, and how to bring real-world scenarios to students.
In the pictures below, you can see two different class environments. A second-grade teacher wanted her students to create using the iPads, instead of using them for center work. I suggested using the app Poplet but since she had never used it, she was hesitant. When I offered to come model a lesson, she was eager to get started. She, the students and I sat on the carpet in her room and worked through the program. We took pictures through the app, we made connections to what they were studying in Reading, and we had an awesome time! The two other pictures were taken in a high school setting. This teacher was more confident in her technology skills but wanted to try something new. She had a friend working in an embassy in Africa and wanted her social studies students to be able to talk to him in real-time. I suggested Skype and Google Hangouts. She chose Skype and we set up the appointment for the call. The excitement on the students' faces was priceless! They loved being able to talk to someone who was half a world away.
Sometimes, class visits don't go exactly as planned but that works out for the best, too. One participant asked me to model a lesson for her. The topic she was interested in was cooperation. I designed a mini-lesson, with her input, centered around silent communication. The lesson bombed! I'm not sure what was going on that day, if it was me, the class, or the lesson; it just wasn't a good time. My teacher participant had a very negative attitude about her students and how they reacted to different scenarios. After asking specific reflection questions about the lesson, how it was implemented, what scaffolds the students were missing, and what we might change if we were to do this lesson again, she stopped putting all the blame on her students. She appeared to understand that many different factors go into a lesson excelling or failing. The next time I was at her school, she mentioned that she had tried a different version of the same lesson I did and it went beautifully!
Below, you can also see my classroom visit calendar. I try to visit with my participants once a month for an hour each. Sometimes, because of things out of either of our control, that might not happen. My favorite part of classroom visits is seeing how excited my participants are with how their classroom has changed. I've really noticed it more in the past couple of visits and have been pointing it out.
In the pictures below, you can see two different class environments. A second-grade teacher wanted her students to create using the iPads, instead of using them for center work. I suggested using the app Poplet but since she had never used it, she was hesitant. When I offered to come model a lesson, she was eager to get started. She, the students and I sat on the carpet in her room and worked through the program. We took pictures through the app, we made connections to what they were studying in Reading, and we had an awesome time! The two other pictures were taken in a high school setting. This teacher was more confident in her technology skills but wanted to try something new. She had a friend working in an embassy in Africa and wanted her social studies students to be able to talk to him in real-time. I suggested Skype and Google Hangouts. She chose Skype and we set up the appointment for the call. The excitement on the students' faces was priceless! They loved being able to talk to someone who was half a world away.
Sometimes, class visits don't go exactly as planned but that works out for the best, too. One participant asked me to model a lesson for her. The topic she was interested in was cooperation. I designed a mini-lesson, with her input, centered around silent communication. The lesson bombed! I'm not sure what was going on that day, if it was me, the class, or the lesson; it just wasn't a good time. My teacher participant had a very negative attitude about her students and how they reacted to different scenarios. After asking specific reflection questions about the lesson, how it was implemented, what scaffolds the students were missing, and what we might change if we were to do this lesson again, she stopped putting all the blame on her students. She appeared to understand that many different factors go into a lesson excelling or failing. The next time I was at her school, she mentioned that she had tried a different version of the same lesson I did and it went beautifully!
Below, you can also see my classroom visit calendar. I try to visit with my participants once a month for an hour each. Sometimes, because of things out of either of our control, that might not happen. My favorite part of classroom visits is seeing how excited my participants are with how their classroom has changed. I've really noticed it more in the past couple of visits and have been pointing it out.