The Skillful Teacher
Today I want to talk about a book that we're reading for the other section of 605 - Literature - that I think is a good resource for teaching Rhet Comp, too: Brookfield's The Skillful Teacher. Particularly, I want to discuss Chapter 3, called "Understanding our Classrooms," because the whole time I was reading I was marking every other page for some helpful tidbit that I could implement in my classroom, and I'd like to hear some other opinions on the practical solutions he's offered to problems we've been dealing with. Here's a run down of the contents of the chapter:
One of Brookfield's tenets of skillful teaching is an awareness of how your students perceive your teaching and your classroom. This chapter offers tools to find out, as well cultivate classroom engagement. The first tool he discusses is the one-minute paper, which can be used either before or after class - it's a essentially a check in, a free write. He usually asks questions like "What was the most important idea or insight that you engaged with today?" or "What issue was raised in the discussion today that mod needs addressing next time we meet?" to gauge what was clear/what wasn't clear. In the same vein, he also often has students answer the question, "What was the muddiest point you encountered in the material covered in class today?"
I also liked his idea of the "learning audit": at the end of the week, he asks students three questions - "What do I know now that I didn't know this time last week? What can I do now that I couldn't do this time last week? What could I teach others to know or do that I couldn't teach them last week?" This is usually just for the students, so that they have some small idea of their progress in the class, but I think it also could be looked through to find themes to gauge the areas the students are strongest and weakest in.
Use of iClickers and Twitter are another way he gets the classroom involved - these are the two I'm least interested in. I know some of the professors here use Twitter in their classroom, but I'm wary that it would cause disengagement, and I think iClickers would only really be useful for a larger class.
He also uses chatrooms and/or has students text him answers to the questions he asks while in class. What do you think about these tools? Would you use them in your classroom?
The tool he spends the most time on is the CIQ (Critical Incident Questionnaire). This is a sheet he gives out at the end of the week, which has the questions: "At what moment in class this week did you feel most engaged with what was happening? At what moment in class this week were you most distanced from what was happening? What action that anyone took this week did you find most affirming or helpful? What action that anyone took this week did you find most puzzling or confusing? what about the class this week surprised you the most?" He usually goes through these and reports back to the students about what popped up in their responses. I really like the idea of this one, but it's a lot of work to do at the end of every week - I could see myself doing this at the end of each unit, though.
What do you guys think about these strategies? Which ones do you think might be useful or helpful?
I really appreciated hearing about this other book you are reading. The activities you discussed seem like the perfect way to get into students minds a little bit (if they really share what’s actually going through their minds). I particularly liked the idea of the Critical Incident Questionnaire. This could certainly help with some of the issues I am seeing in my class: students being confused and not asking questions, students not paying attention, lack of overall engagement. I keep wanting ways to make the classroom more learner-centered (thinking that it might negate some of these problems), but have struggled with thinking about a tangible way to do this without resorting to anarchy. I will definitely try this one out on Friday and see how it goes.
ReplyDeleteI was also thinking, these activities you discussed, they may be a good way to test out how much the student-centered teaching approach is actually working (for students, for us). The intangibility of results/learning progress from the student-centered model is a little bit of what Mary discussed in her blog post this week.
Mika,
ReplyDeleteI definitely think that first strategy, the check-in, is helpful. My mentor did something similar with journals, which I've implemented. It's somewhat in place of me giving feedback on student drafts. Instead, I have them tell me their plans or what they've accomplished or are struggling with at different points of the writing process. I have them submit initial sources or interview questions, or any other type of check in. So far, it works well for gauging where students are at.
I also liked the idea you mentioned about the learning audit. Not only does it help teachers gauge how effective their classroom time has been, it also helps students to reflect. I think at times students can wonder what the point of learning something specific is or if they're getting anything out of class, and this could be a way to help them see what we've accomplished in the classroom this semester. I like that a lot!
Mika,
ReplyDeleteI really liked your exploration into alternative teaching methods. Checking in with our students is so important, and these activities make it seem easier to get feedback as opposed to dedicating an entire day to it like I do. I did an anonymous feedback circle with my students (I explained the process in my response to JJ's post) at the very beginning of the semester and again after their first project was due, but using a check in throughout the week and at the end of the week sounds really useful for getting feedback.
I'm not sure how I feel about using social media as a way to check in one students, like the Twitter idea you mentioned. I think it can work depending on what types of students you have, but our students are so engrossed in social media that I feel like it could turn negative very quickly. I hate social media because of the obsession with it in our society, and I think our students are starting to feel the same way. We also shouldn't be forcing our students to be active on social media if they don't want to be, since social media can be such a negative, damaging place for some people. By giving them a different way to give feedback, this takes them out of the nasty atmosphere of social media. I think by using something similar to iClickers, like maybe Cahoot or a quick Google Survey you could review the results of in class, may work better in smaller classrooms like ours for feedback.
Thank you for your post! I really enjoyed learning about other ways to get feedback.
-Natalie
Mika,
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing this resource with us! The first tool that you discuss, the free write check in is something that I want to definitely implement in my classes more. I did something like this after the first unit to get feedback on the assignment and the unit as a whole, but I like the idea of using this as a tool for assessing individual lessons as well. The “learning audit” also sounds like a really great idea to help students reflect on the progress they are making in the course. As for your question about using those different tech resources in the classroom, I feel a little bit hesitant as well. Today in class I had to call someone to help me with the computer, only to be told that it just wasn’t turned on….So I think I might be better off keeping my use of technology simple for now. The CIQ sounds like another interesting reflective tool, however I agree with you that it would be a lot to do every single week. I think that choosing from these different tools and applying them at different points in the semester would be great though.
Thanks again for sharing these ideas!
-Taylor
Mika,
ReplyDeleteThat book sounds really interesting! These ideas are really engaging and I think they could be a great way to keep the class involved and thinking about their own learning process. It is actually pretty similar to a freewriting activity that I do in my class. Usually every week (sometimes less if I'm short on time) I have the students grab a piece of paper and do a freewrite about their current project. I ask them to tell me how far they are, their resources, any questions, and their next steps. After this, I usually have them turn the paper over and tell me how they are - how class is, how life is, whatever, I leave it open to them. This is really helpful for me to get a sense of where my students are coming from and how they are progressing.
I like the questions you pulled from the chapter, especially the ones that highlighted specific moments from class in which they learned the most. I would like to try this, but I fear my students wouldn't be able to answer. Maybe I need to have more faith in them, but I feel like a lot of them don't put enough stock in my class to be able to think that critically about writing or their research. I mean some days I will ask them what their favorite food is and several of them will be like "I don't know." Maybe that's on me, but I feel like my students aren't mentally engaged or present enough to really be able to answer some of these higher thinking questions. Maybe I should give it a shot and they'll surprise me, who knows.
Kristen