PROF 191 – 2008-09
In-School Weekly Discussion Topics
Teacher candidates meet in associate school groups, each week, during the three practicum.blocks This time is devoted to collaborative work on issues arising in the school and related to the field-based courses Prof 191 Your instructor will ask you, as a group, to provide an email report on your group’s discussions. During the first two practicum blocks the fall term, we expect that the in-school groups will meet for approx. half a day per week or the equivalent of two consecutive 76 min. classes per week.
First Practicum Block- October 2008
Week 1-4: Ongoing theme for the 1st. practicum block- Classroom Management practices
Week 1: Observing, School Classroom Context: week of Oct. 6-10/08
Date:_________, Time:_________, Location:__________ Recorder for the Group:______________________
Before getting started, it is important that the group, clearly understand WHY you are meeting. A useful reference is to review Section 5 “Practicum Expectations” in your courseware package. The first item is titled “Weekly meetings of the Teacher Candidates – Frequently Asked Questions”. PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU PROCEED ANY FURTHER! As you can see, in this section a variety of “in-school” resource people are suggested. Review the list of questions below and then explore the possibility of having one or more of these people join you, as applicable, on the date the topic is being discussed. Since you have just arrived in your practicum placement, the topic for today is designed to get you thinking and focusing your “observations” during this initial week. You will see above, that the topic of “ Observing and Classroom Management Practices” is suggested to be included EVERY week, as this tends to be a topic of ongoing interest. Use the questions below to begin your weekly practicum discussions, and email your reactions, thoughts, ideas and concerns to your Prof 191 instructor.
Focus: Initial observations, initial days: What did we learn this week about observing in classrooms?
•Use a strategy recommended by Judy Jablon to record your observations in your Associate Teacher's classroom. Your focus for these observations is these categories from Gary Borich: Learning Climate, Classroom Routines, and Task Orientation of students. Describe the strategy for observing that you used, and share your observations in your meeting.
• Describe the situations and times when you were able to observe.
• What suggestions can you make for your future use of these strategies for observing students? For example, is it more effective for you to focus your observing on a narrow aspect of the classroom?
• How does your Associate Teacher handle classroom routines? Share your Associate's best ideas.
• What evidence of a professional learning community have you observed among school staff? How might you become involved?
• Additional thoughts, questions, issues raised by the group.
• Looking ahead: Discuss the activities and questions you will be addressing at your Week 2 meeting. Implement these during the week ahead.
• How are you starting to negotiate your relationship with your host/associate teacher(s)?
• How do you beginning to negotiate your relationship with the students you will be teaching?
• What strategies have you observed that seem effective in managing the classrooms you are involved with??
• Find out how the school endeavors to maintain students' safety? e.g. staff handbook, code of Behavior
• What best practices have you observed so far that you can discuss/share with the group?
• What do you (teacher candidates) expect of one another as members of this associate school group?
Week 2: Theme – Observing Classroom Management: week of October 13-17/08
Date:_________, Time:_________, Location:__________, Recorder for Group: _________________
• Focus: What did you learn this week about classroom management?
• Using the checklists your group created in your on-campus Session 2, spend some time observing in your classroom.
• Create a visual map of at least one of the classrooms you are in showing details. Explain how this classroom arrangement is designed for student learning.
• Describe the responsibilities your Associate Teacher(s) has/have outside the classroom, as part of her/his Professional Learning Community. Describe how you are becoming involved.
• Share your observations about the most effective management strategies your teacher(s) typically use. Explain why you think these strategies are effective. Do they match ideas presented in your summer reading or our readings on managing learning?
• Additional thoughts, questions, issues raised by the group.
• Looking ahead: Discuss the activities and questions for your Week 3 meeting. Implement these during the week ahead.
• How are classroom rules and procedures established?
• How do you talk and respond to colleagues when your viewpoints differ?
Week 3: Theme – Lesson Planning: week of October 20-24/08
Date:_________, Time:_________, Location:__________, Recorder for Group: _________________
•Focus: What did you learn this week about lesson planning?
•How are you planning lessons in your classroom? Is this approach working well for you?
• What resources, in and out of the school, have you found to assist you in lesson planning?
• Which parts of the courseware pack are most helpful?
• Which lesson planning ideas from your two curriculum courses have you implemented? What did you observe when you used these ideas?
• How are you adapting lessons for the exceptional learners in the class? Did you find the ideas in Education for All helpful?
• What have you found to be most challenging about planning lessons? How can we all work to support our learning?
• Looking ahead: read the questions and note the activities you need to do to prepare for your Week 4 meeting.
• In your classroom, what strategies are used where students finish their work early?
• How are lessons adapted for exceptional learners and/or courses at different levels e.g. Essentials, Academic, Applied?
• Additional thoughts, questions, issues raised by the group?
Week 4: Theme – Instruction : week of October 27-31/08
Date:_________, Time:_________, Location:__________, Recorder for Group: _________________
•Focus: What did you learn this week about classroom instruction?
• Describe for your group one instructional idea or lesson, that one of your Associates used, that seemed very effective. Explain why you think it worked so well.
• Describe one lesson or instructional idea that you used that seemed to be effective. Try to explain why you think it worked well for your students.
• Share one good teaching/learning resource with your group. Explain why you consider it to be "good". Add shared resource suggestions to your Prac Pages, section 5.
• Describe one teaching "dilemma" that you had to resolve during this practicum round. How did you resolve it? Was your decision a good one?
• Have you seen IEPs for any students in your class?
• What resource support is available for students inside and outside the classroom?
• How do classroom teachers and special education personnel collaborate?
• Consider/share ways of “wrapping things up” with the classes you are teaching as well as with your associates
- esp. if you will not be back with the same classes and associate teachers in Nov./Dec.
• Additional thoughts, questions, issues raised by the group?
Please note: The topics and sub-questions outlined above serve as a starting point for your twelve weekly meetings and are NOT meant to limit the scope of your discussions. It is to be expected that additional points, issues, topics, and questions will arise as your practicum progresses. We hope that you will take time in your meetings to discuss such items as required.
Second Practicum Block- November-December 2008
After being away for three weeks you have just arrived back in your practicum placement. Some of your will be in the same classes as your were in October, and some of you will be in new classes and possibly be with new host teachers. The topic for today is designed to get you thinking and focusing your “observations” during this second practicum block. You will see below, that the topic of “Assessment Issues” is suggested to be included EVERY week, as this tends to be a topic of ongoing interest. Use the questions below to begin your weekly practicum discussions, and email your ideas and concerns to your Prof 191 instructor.
Week 5-8: Ongoing Themes - Assessment, Teaching/Learning Strategies,
Classroom Management
• What methods of assessment do your host teachers use in the various courses you are involved with?
• What is the role of standardized testing in the school? E.g. grades involved, courses/subjects involved, time of
the year, impact/involvement of other subject areas
• How is assessment adapted for exceptional learners as well as for other diverse students?
• How is group work evaluated?
• How are report card grades determined?
• Additional thoughts, questions, issues raised by the group?
Week 5: Theme - Assessment: week of Nov. 24-28/08
Date:_________, Time:_________, Location:__________, Recorder for Group: _________________
• Describe and demonstrate for your group one of the methods your Associate Teacher(s) use to assess student learning. Do you consider it to be assessment for learning or assessment of learning
• Describe and demonstrate for your group one of the methods you will use to provide feedback to your students. How does the age and stage of the students add special challenges to this aspect of assessing for learning?
• Describe how you/your Associate Teacher(s) assess prior learning in your classroom. What other methods could you use? Try one of these other methods in the week ahead.
• What do you consider to be the most challenging aspect of assessing student learning? How do you plan to deal more effectively with this difficulty?
• Additional thoughts, questions, issues raised by the group.
• Looking ahead: note and discuss the activities for your Week 6 meeting.
Week 6: Theme: - Effective Teaching Strategies: week of Dec. 1-5/08
Date:_________, Time:_________, Location:__________, Recorder for Group: _________________
• Describe your most effective teaching strategy. Explain why you think it "worked" for your students.
• Describe your least effective teaching strategy and explain why you think it was not appropriate for your students.
• Describe a lesson you taught, in which you used one of the lessons or instructional ideas presented by one of your curriculum instructors. What made this lesson effective or not so effective, in your opinion.
• Does your teaching "work" for all students in your class? Why do you think this?
• How does your Associate Teacher(s) select students to work in cooperative groups? How do you select students for cooperative learning?
• Describe some positive and negative aspects of having your students work cooperatively.
• Explain how you dealt with negative moments, when your class was in cooperative learning groups. How do you ensure that all students in groups are learning?
• Additional thoughts, questions, issues raised by the group.
• Looking ahead: look at the theme and activities for Weekly meeting #7.
Week 7: Theme: - Managing the Environment: week of Dec. 8-12/08
Date:_________, Time:_________, Location:__________, Recorder for Group: _________________
• Positive learning environments include these elements: physical layout, atmosphere, routines, responses to student behaviour, effective teaching methods, appropriate learning experiences, interaction with parents and professional learning community. Comment on which of these seems most important for the smooth running of your Associate Teacher's classroom. Why do you think this is the case?
• Make some comparisons among your group's classrooms: which elements are most effective for gr. 9/10 students? for gr. 11/12 students? For Academic vs Applied, for everyone?
• What aspects of managing the classroom environment do you find most difficult? Why do you think this is the case? What changes can you make in your own teaching in order to improve this situation?
• What strategies have you or your Associate Teacher(s) used in order to improve the sense of "community" in your practicum classroom? What impediments are there to creating a community of learners?
• What students do you find difficult to teach? Why?
• How do you ensure that your lessons are not racist, not sexist and not heterosexist?
• Additional thoughts, questions, issues raised by the group.
• Looking ahead: take a look at the focus and activities for your meeting next week.
Week 8: Theme – So Now I Think………. week of Dec. 15-19/08
Date:_________, Time:_________, Location:__________, Recorder for Group: _________________
• Describe your biggest professional "aha moment" during the Fall Practicum, What made it so important for your professional learning?
• List and explain 2 or 3 items that you consider you need to focus on during the Winter Term, in order to foster your professional learning. Why are these important to you? Have you added them to your Professional Learning Plan?
• Describe your biggest teaching/learning challenge during your Fall Practicum weeks.
• Describe your happiest moment during your Fall Practicum weeks. What can you learn from this?
• What aspects of the in-school discussions were problematic? How could these things be improved?
• What did you find most useful about the weekly in-school discussions?
• Which resource people from the school have been able to join your meetings over the 8 weeks of practicum?
• Consider/share ways of “wrapping things up” with the classes you are teaching as well as with your associate teacher(s) – esp. if you will not be with the same classes/associates in Feb./Mar.
• Additional thoughts, questions, issues raised by the group?
Please note: The topics and sub-questions outlined above serve as a starting point for your weekly meetings and are NOT meant to limit the scope of your discussions. It is to be expected that additional points, issues, topics, and questions will arise as your practicum progresses. We hope that you will take time in your meetings to discuss such items as required.
Third Practicum Block February-March 2009
You have just arrived back in your practicum placement after being away from the school for eight weeks. Some of you have opted for a gr. 7/8 experience so will no longer be in the same school. The second semester is just beginning so your host teachers will have all new classes Please note, we recognize that you will be taking on more teaching responsibilities in the 3rd. practicum block, so we expect that the group meeting time will be less. In the fall we expected you to devote the equivalent of two (2) 76 min. periods per week to our group meetings, during this block we only expect you to devote the equivalent of only one (1) 76 period to your group meetings. Use the questions below to begin your weekly practicum discussions, and email your ideas and concerns to your Prof 191 instructor.
Week 9-12: Ongoing Topics— Community, Teaching/Instruction, Assessment
Week 9: Theme: Community, week of Feb. 16-20/09
Date:_________, Time:_________, Location:__________, Recorder for Group: _________________
• Review the listing of possible resource people in the school who might come in and discuss what they do with your group..If there are people who you did not get to talk to in the fall, go after them now and see if they can join you in one of your three remaining sessions.
• Implement one idea from the learning we did about Classrooms as Communities of Learners. You will be using your observation skills as well as negotiating with your Associate Teacher, in order to select an appropriate strategy relating to classroom community.
• Reflect on the experience of implementing that idea: what outcomes had you anticipated accurately? What outcomes surprised you? What would you change?
• Share your learning about this experience with your group.
• Additional thoughts, questions, issues raised by the group....
• Looking ahead: find out what the topic and activity is for your next weekly meeting: you will be trying another teaching/learning idea.
Week 10: Theme: Teaching Instruction week of Feb. 23-27/09
Date:_________, Time:_________, Location:__________, Recorder for Group: _________________
• Candidates should implement one idea from the on-campus session on teaching instruction and write a reflection/analysis to compare outcomes with expectations
•Implement (try) at least one idea from the learning we did about teaching/instruction: an idea from Marzano or Education for All, chapter 2 or 6. You will be using your observation skills and negotiating with your Associate Teacher, to select and try an appropriate lesson idea with your class.
• Reflect on the experience of trying that idea. What outcomes had you anticipated accurately? What outcomes surprised you? What would you do differently next time?
• Share your learning about this experience with your group.
• Additional thoughts, questions, issues raised by the group....
• Looking ahead: your topic for next week's activities is assessment.
Week 11: Theme: Assessment week of Mar. 2-6/09
Date:_________, Time:_________, Location:__________, Recorder for Group: _________________
• Candidates should implement one idea re assessing for learning, write a reflection analysis comparing outcomes with expectations
• Try one idea to enable you to assess student work for learning. Talk this over with your Associate Teacher(s) before you try the strategy.
• Reflect on the experience of tryng that assessment strategy. What outcomes had you predicted accurately? What outcomes surprised you? What would you do differently next time?
• Share your learning with your group.
• Additional thoughts, questions, issues raised by the group....
• Looking ahead: Final Week of your school practicum!
Week 12: Theme: So now I think…………. week of Mar. 9-13/09
Date:_________, Time:_________, Location:__________, Recorder for Group: _________________
• What did you try that seemed successful for our students and their learning (community, instruction, assessment)? What do we think are reasons for success or non-success?
• What are the implications for our future professional learning?
• What did you find most useful about this round of the in-school discussions?
• Which resource people from the school have joined your meetings over the past 4 weeks of practicum?
• Consider/share ways of “wrapping things up” with the classes you are teaching as well as with your associate teacher(s)
• Additional thoughts, questions, issues raised by the group
Please note: The topics and sub-questions outlined above serve as a starting point for your weekly meetings and are NOT meant to limit the scope of your discussions. It is to be expected that additional points, issues, topics, and questions will arise as your practicum progresses. We hope that you will take time in your meetings to discuss such items as required.