Response 2

Articles:

Kai Smith (16 February, 2011) Supporting Transgender Children in the Primary Classroom: A Reflection.

http://www.genderandeducation.com/issues/supporting-transgender-children-in-the-primary-classroom/

Safe Zone Training: 2012-2013.  NDSU. http://www.ndsu.edu/fileadmin/safezone/2012_2013_Safe_Zone_Packet.pdf

For the summary and connection to the readings, tune into the video:

If your interested in learning more, check out the power point presentation Katie and I made:

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/15rzXK7kctgRFlFJL4ZaaqMu4XX2o5SBntjoiTWMcg_s/edit

Lauren's Response to Question 3

Lauren's Response to Question 1

Response 3

Thinking about classroom order and equal opportunity at my practicum site, I immediately think about the seating charts in my two periods of math.  In my first period, students are grouped by ability and each “group” can have their own type of distractions and interruptions.  In my second period, my teacher has placed the students who have the hardest time focusing and participating right in front of him.  So when he teaches and uses the board at the front of the room, the trouble makers are right in front of him.

A couple of weeks ago, I had a sub for two days in a row.  It was the same sub both days.  There is this group of boys that disrupts the class verbally – in a loud fashion.  The sub kept addressing the boys’ disruptions.  However, there were also a group of girls who kept disrupting the class.  Their disruption was passing notes.  It was not causing an audible distraction, so the sub did not address it.  However, two boys were very displeased by their distraction and started getting angry about the sub not doing anything about it.  This passing notes distraction ended up being an audible distraction and a physical one once a boy got up and snatched a note away.  He ended up having the whole class’s attention during the sub’s lesson.  To me, this goes back to Lampert’s finding a balance.  I think the sub was letting the note passing go because he deemed the distraction not worth disrupting his lesson to address it, while he did stop teaching to address the boys who were shouting.  These thoughts have now led me to ask myself: what distractions are worth bringing attention to and which ones are not?  And is there a line that can be crossed that changes the distraction? 

Question 2 Response

Stanchfield, J. (2012). More Ideas to Engage Learners From the Moment They Walk in the Door. WoodnBarns, Retrieved from http://woodnbarnes.com/uncategorized/more-ideas-to-engage-learners-from-the-moment-they-walk-in-the-door/

I found this article on a blog called “The Inspired Educator Blog”.  This article is a follow up from a previous article.  The main point of the article was to address the importance of engaging students in the first few minutes of your lesson.  Stanchfield discusses that students tend to remember what happened first and last in a lesson.  She calls this a bookend learning experience.  As soon as students walk through the door, they need to be engaged.   Most teachers start class with taking attendance or collecting homework.  However, these activities are not engaging and can impact student engagement.  A lesson beginning should set the tone for the rest of the lesson and may make a difference in whether students will be engaged and stay engaged throughout the lesson. 

This reading connects with our course content because I feel as though we have been trying to make math more engaging.  Teaching math in a traditional way is not very engaging for students.  When we talk about reform teaching, math becomes more authentic and students are more eager to participate.  Often, the beginning of a lesson is what I remember most.  Thinking about the group lessons we have been teaching I remember trying to fit people in a 1 meter by 1 meter box and pulling colored paper out of a bag.  When I think about these activities, I can remember what each group taught.  Without having these activities to remember these lessons by, I am not sure if I could tell someone what lessons my peers have taught these past few weeks.  The beginning of a lesson is very important.  When I start to make a lesson plan, I know what content I want to teach, but I always seem to spend a lot of time thinking of different ways I could excite my students enough to be engaged for the whole lesson.  The process of coming up with a good lesson opening can be challenging, but it is so worth it if I can create something that will engage the majority of my students.

Question 1 Response

Response to Question 3