[nobe-l] Visual observations? Help?/instructional method idea

Wed Mar 1 01:23:55 UTC 2017

Hi Valerie,

I totally understand your concerns. I particularly hated student teaching because although we are encouraged to take ownership of students, the setting is completely irelivant at times. And the classroom is not our own. So what ends up happening many times is we do not necessarily incorporate techniques that we would use  in our own classrooms. So let me begin by saying that you have started developing useful strategies for observation of students.

I would be careful about the leader system. While it may work in some situations, this is going to sound awful but children do not always tell the truth. Plus, they may feel indebted to their peers. Or quite frankly, children are young and they may just tell you something that is not correct. And while it would make me sad that One of the students was crying. Unless it was an absolute emergency. Children often learn and should learn how to resolve this among themselves during a time that is appropriate. Once the situation gets inappropriate is usually when I step in with some conflict resolution strategies. 

I think it is totally appropriate to be concerned with how everyone is feeling in the room. But children often cry or act out for attention. So if we stop every single time it sends out the wrong message. For instants, Lily, one of my students began sobbing during class yesterday simply because she was having a bad day. I asked her if she needed a break and gave her the classroom pass, allowing her to go to the bathroom  for a walk to collect herself. I talk to her after class and asked if there was anything I could do. But I encouraged the students to leave her alone. It's not always a good idea for children to be in each other's business all the time. That being said, I also encouraged her peers to talk to her after if they were concerned. But I totally understand what your supervisor meant about worrying about oneself. The classroom is the place were children often times learn things about basic rules of comportment.

Still, pier assessing is always useful. Children learn as things are pointed out to them. So it is a great idea to have the students push and encourage each other. Assigning them jobs is a good way to get this accomplished. It's also a great way to get them involved in the classroom, building community and helping the students to learn more about each other in order to make friends. Many teachers undermine this, but this is such a huge part of teaching. Children need to learn how to interact in perform in all kinds of situations. As you observe, I encourage you to pay attention to how students speak to one another.

As you walk around the room, engage the students in a conversation so they don't necessarily feel like you are checking on them. Ask them what questions they are working on. Have them read what they are writing. You will find that some students have written nothing at all. You can then help them comprise a response. As you do this, getting to know the students is going to help you notice other things about them. You will start to notice who sits with who and why. Think of it less as tattling, but many students will just volunteer information in order to be helpful. Ask students directly what they are doing. If they are doing something they are not supposed to be doing. Odds are somebody will tell you. Again though, I would just be careful about asking somebody about somebody else directly. They might feel in between. I experience this and it was very unpleasant. By all means, sometimes it needs to be done. It's all about how you do it.

I hope this helps,

--
Valeria

> On Feb 28, 2017, at 7:38 PM, Valerie Gibson via NOBE-L <nobe-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> Hi,
> 
> Thank you so much for your responses. I think one of the problems for listening to see if a student is working is that my CT has her students in groups at tables.  At least from when I have been in there, she’s allowed them to talk as they write. They’re not loud, but it wouldn’t exactly be easy to hear what one student is doing compared to the other four or five in the group.  I don’t know if that makes sense.  
> 
> I’m starting to wonder if blind teachers really do have super human hearing, that somehow I missed out on, if you’re able to hear one student writing. Lol
> 
> I could go around and ask how Everyone’s doing?
> 
> I don’t want to encourage students to tattle on one another, but what if you made it so that each group, as in ym room, had a leader, and that leader could be responsible for making sure the group stays on task and does what is instructed of them. For example, if I wanted students to line up for lunch, the leader would be at the front of his or her group and would make sure that the group was silent (as is the rule in my CT’s classroom) when they were in line. 
> 
> For writing, the leader of a group could tell me how their group si doing—who’s writing, who’s not. A leader wouldn’t hold all the responsibility all of the time, such as in the example of the lining up, and every week or so, a leader would change members in the group.  There could be a chart or something on the wall, explaining to leaders their responsibilities and how best to go about them.  I figured it would encourage accountability, and it could, in a basic way, form leadership skills. For example, if a student tells me “Alex is not reading”, a student could be reminded by sed chart that “tattling”, for lack of a better word, should only be done in order to help, not to hurt a classmate.  I think even adults have trouble with this basic rule of etiquette. 
> 
> Is that a totally horrible idea or no?  I apologize if I come across as a total newbie in the realm of teaching. It’s just so hard to complete the observation assignments when the class is not you’re own, and when you’re only there for two days out of the week.  
> 
> I’m just trying to think of ways to create a classroom community where students look out for one another, and where, if a student needs help, it’s not considered “tattling” for another person to tell me.
> 
> One of my second graders went up to my CT and told her that this girl was crying. My CT told her that she needs to focus on her own work and not worry about other people, but I’d want my students to worry about one another, and that made me sad.  
> 
> What do you all think?
> 
> If assigning a leader to a group is a good idea, I might be able to bring it up to my CT for her to do when I’m in her classroom. She is really cool, and she’s as curious and open to new ideas on how to make this teaching internship work for me.
> 
> The problem before me though is, how to focus on one student, when you’re not allowed to be right by that student all of the time, and yet I still have to gage what everyone else is doing.  I figured having each group have a leader might streamline the process.
> 
> PS: the observational assignments is not just listening to students. One of them, for example is to divide the classroom into chunks and analyze how each chunk is designed to incorporate learning and to discuss what that teaches me about teaching and learning and how that might show my CT’s philosophy on learning.  I’ve got my proffessor/superviser helping me out with that, but it is tricky.
> 
>> On Feb 21, 2017, at 9:33 PM, Jackie Larrauri via NOBE-L <nobe-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>> 
>> Hi all,
>> I was thinking that you could maybe just walk around the room and see
>> if you hear anything amiss with what students are doing. If that
>> particular child has a history of not doing their work immediately,
>> you could probably check in on them a little more often or check in on
>> a neighbor and see if you hear the other students pencil moving.
>> As for the picture with the writing, I think having someone describe
>> it for you would be fine. If you ever have that in your classroom, you
>> could probably have the child describe what they drew and then read
>> what they wrote to you.
>> Jackie
>> 
>>> On 2/21/17, Tara Abella via NOBE-L <nobe-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>>> Hello,
>>> 
>>> Listen for conversations and playing with classroom supplies. Also, I don't
>>> teach or encourage telling on other students, but it happens. My sighted
>>> teacher of 20 years uses information given by students. Ask the teacher who
>>> struggles and who has a pattern of not completing work or getting
>>> distracted. It's usually the same students. I pay a visit to a group on a
>>> consistent basis. Kids generally like you checking in, because they like to
>>> be right, so don't be shy about asking to read a problem because you think
>>> it's distracting them.
>>> 
>>> Sent from my iPhone
>>> 
>>>> On Feb 21, 2017, at 1:22 PM, Valerie Gibson via NOBE-L <nobe-l at nfbnet.org>
>>>> wrote:
>>>> 
>>>> Hi,
>>>> 
>>>> Thank you for your response, but I think my professor is looking for a way
>>>> for me to get more immediate feedback.  It’s not so much about completing
>>>> assignments on time as it is gaging what students are doing when the
>>>> assignments are given.  Do they take a second to get started, do they
>>>> waste time with other tasks to avoid doing the writing assignment.  This
>>>> class that I’m having these questions in has to do with writing
>>>> assignments mostly, though I’m sure this could apply across all content
>>>> domains.
>>>> Like I said, my cooperating teacher had to go over to a student and
>>>> comment that she’d not written anything since the assignment was given
>>>> out.  I could go to every student and ask what they’d written. I just
>>>> didn’t know if there was a more efficient way that would be less
>>>> distracting.
>>>> As for other students pointing out someone who is not working…how do you
>>>> accomplish that without making it look like a student is “telling on” a
>>>> student?
>>>> 
>>>> Thanks for your feedback again. Please keep the ideas coming.
>>>> 
>>>>> On Feb 21, 2017, at 5:17 AM, Tara Abella via NOBE-L <nobe-l at nfbnet.org>
>>>>> wrote:
>>>>> 
>>>>> Hi Valerie,
>>>>> 
>>>>> I am student teaching in first grade and I have a student who struggles
>>>>> to complete assignments on time. I also have a group of boys who rush to
>>>>> finish math assignments. Usually, if you have students who turn in the
>>>>> assignment right after you finish giving directions, you should have them
>>>>> read you what they wrote to make sure they answered the questions
>>>>> correctly and followed directions. As far as students not working, ask
>>>>> the students who seem to not be turning in work with the majority of
>>>>> their peers to read you an answer towards the end of the page. Also,
>>>>> other students will not be shy to tell you if their neighbor is not
>>>>> working. The idea of having a peer reading you the work sample sounds
>>>>> like your best bet.
>>>>> 
>>>>> Good luck,
>>>>> 
>>>>> Tara
>>>>> 
>>>>> Sent from my iPhone
>>>>> 
>>>>>> On Feb 20, 2017, at 10:16 PM, Valerie Gibson via NOBE-L
>>>>>> <nobe-l at nfbnet.org <mailto:nobe-l at nfbnet.org>> wrote:
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Hi,
>>>>>> So as some might know, as part of our teacher education program, we are
>>>>>> put into classrooms with elementary students. We have college courses
>>>>>> attached to that where we talk about classroom management, instructional
>>>>>> methods, etc. We then take what we have learned in the college course
>>>>>> and observe and practice that in our elementary classrooms under the
>>>>>> guidance of our professor/supervisor and the cooperating teacher.
>>>>>> I’m in a class of second graders. I’ve been observing how the teacher
>>>>>> teaches them, and it seems like I could make teaching accessible, but
>>>>>> there are some things that I have no idea how to get around.
>>>>>> This is a part of an email from my professor regarding an assignment
>>>>>> that we have to do, and I wanted some feedback on how best to do this
>>>>>> and what to tell her.  I’m posting this here because it’s an example of
>>>>>> what I wanted to know.
>>>>>> My main question is: How do you know when a student is not doing their
>>>>>> work?  There have been times when a teacher has asked the classs to
>>>>>> write something, and a student is just … not writing. She has to go over
>>>>>> there and see what’s up with the student.  How do you, as a blind
>>>>>> person, catch this?  I imagine it would be hard to go to every single
>>>>>> student and ask them if they are completing the task, trusting that they
>>>>>> will be honest and tell you the truth.
>>>>>> Here’s the email:
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Next, we will begin the week 6 power point on slide 5. We are watching a
>>>>>> 30 min clip where we will be practicing taking observational notes. I
>>>>>> have attached the link here:
>>>>>> http://www.learner.org/libraries/readingk2/wilson/first.html
>>>>>> <http://www.learner.org/libraries/readingk2/wilson/first.html><http://www.learner.org/libraries/readingk2/wilson/first.html
>>>>>> <http://www.learner.org/libraries/readingk2/wilson/first.html>>
>>>>>> I have attached my observational notes on Justin to this email titled,
>>>>>> Justin oral language video. Essentially, as teachers we want to be
>>>>>> observing what a student is doing both behaviorally and academically.
>>>>>> For example, do they hesitate to begin their assignment? How does what
>>>>>> they are speaking align with what they are writing? Are they the same?
>>>>>> Does the student work on the assignment for the entire allotted time or
>>>>>> do they rush to finish? I need you to think about how this task will be
>>>>>> for you. Maybe watch the movie prior to class or in class and then
>>>>>> compare your notes with mine? Observing a student is part of your hidden
>>>>>> gems assignment and your job as a teacher. What will your observational
>>>>>> notes consist of? I just want to make sure that we are getting started
>>>>>> on this now, so that we can brainstorm ways for you to approach this
>>>>>> important task of teaching and to have your hidden gems assignment
>>>>>> completed.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Finally, we will look at some kindergarten writing samples and determine
>>>>>> their developmental level. They are a student's drawing with a typed
>>>>>> caption of what they picture is about. Again, what do we need to do to
>>>>>> make this a successful task for you? Your classmates could describe the
>>>>>> picture to you and read the caption? What are your thoughts?
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Pleas help.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Thank you.
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>>>>> 
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