Observations were made for a neighboring science teacher. Ms. C (whose name will remain confidential) teaches all marine ecology courses. A class typically filled with juniors and seniors. At the school, this is an elective course taken as a student’s final science requirement for graduation. Most of the students who enroll in the class do not wish to take the harder elective options such as an AP class, physics, or chemistry. I observed the teacher during her first block class while she was covering a lesson on marine plants. This particular day was the day prior to the summative assessment. Classes are 90 minutes in length.
Class began with the teacher “stamping” student work for completion. Afterwards, all material was reviewed in …show more content…
Ms. C leads an extremely teacher-centered classroom. There is a large amount of direct instruction and not much room for student inquiry. Although, she is aware that 80% of her student population are “just trying to pass” she may see more engagement from students if they were permitted more opportunities to construct their learning. One of the axioms in the logic of combing UbD and DI as mentioned by Tomlinson and McTighe, state that students should be provided with time to explore, interpret, apply and self-assess (2006). There is not always a need to check for the basic understanding before students can involve themselves in thinking. There is evidence that suggests most students show mastery while having meaningful interactions with the concepts and content. If the teacher is anxious about the thought of student mishaps in their learning and would prefer to closely guide them towards more success one technique may serve as a platform to wien away from the teacher centered classroom. The ground could still be laid and the teacher may find more engagement and attention from students if she reviewed the questions that most students got incorrect rather than every question on every worksheet done the day prior. Additionally, to give student more autonomy she could remove the pre-filled chart that is used to make the posters and allow student to create their own by following a rubric. Ms. C does focus on the essential. She knows what learners are supposed to recall, understand and be able to do at the end of the unit. This is an essential component to differentiation (Tomlinson, 1999). The poster activity ensure students were attentive to the core components they often struggle with on the summative assessment. With the amount of understanding she has for her students and the content, a recommendation would be to
Class began with the teacher “stamping” student work for completion. Afterwards, all material was reviewed in …show more content…
Ms. C leads an extremely teacher-centered classroom. There is a large amount of direct instruction and not much room for student inquiry. Although, she is aware that 80% of her student population are “just trying to pass” she may see more engagement from students if they were permitted more opportunities to construct their learning. One of the axioms in the logic of combing UbD and DI as mentioned by Tomlinson and McTighe, state that students should be provided with time to explore, interpret, apply and self-assess (2006). There is not always a need to check for the basic understanding before students can involve themselves in thinking. There is evidence that suggests most students show mastery while having meaningful interactions with the concepts and content. If the teacher is anxious about the thought of student mishaps in their learning and would prefer to closely guide them towards more success one technique may serve as a platform to wien away from the teacher centered classroom. The ground could still be laid and the teacher may find more engagement and attention from students if she reviewed the questions that most students got incorrect rather than every question on every worksheet done the day prior. Additionally, to give student more autonomy she could remove the pre-filled chart that is used to make the posters and allow student to create their own by following a rubric. Ms. C does focus on the essential. She knows what learners are supposed to recall, understand and be able to do at the end of the unit. This is an essential component to differentiation (Tomlinson, 1999). The poster activity ensure students were attentive to the core components they often struggle with on the summative assessment. With the amount of understanding she has for her students and the content, a recommendation would be to