Playing the Game
This is my note for newer teachers in the classroom and a lesson that was very frustrating for me to learn. No matter if you love to make learning authentic and meaningful in your own classroom, you also need to know how to play the game when it comes to outsiders judging what is happening in your room. I really did not stress about this AT ALL when I started and sadly it was something that I had to learn how to do. Just because you are doing the right things and you feel it should be obvious to those also in education to see that you are doing right by your students, you sometimes have to take the time to make it super obvious for the observers of your classroom. Yep- on top of all the other actual work of meeting students’ needs and communicating with parents, and racking your brain with your teammates to have creative collaborative units, you will also need to prove you’ve done it all to someone who sticks their head in your room for 5 minutes.
One thing I have found to be helpful that I learned from a previous school was writing a classroom story. Here I can give a quick overview of who is in my class. Boy to girl ratio, learning differences that are within my room, and an outline of cultural and linguistic differences as well. After that a little summary of what differentiation can look like in my room. For example, sometimes differentiation looks like students submitting a demonstration of their knowledge in different ways a la Universal Design structure that allows the student to use their strengths in the final product and process. Or perhaps there will be a math concept being worked on but students will be working with different numbers or different difficulty levels but should only be noticeable upon closer examination. I also point out how I keep “learning tools” accessible at all times and will point out that the use of tools is always available to my students, as the goal in my classroom is to demonstrate understanding whether the student can show that 3D, pictorial, or more abstract.
There we have a good cover your bases for an observer to have a quick overview and see that you are thoughtful in your room set- up. Additionally, I like to keep several types of exit tickets near my desk that focus on the reflection of what went well, what else do I need to work on, or what questions do I still have that can be given at the end of lessons that don’t allow for a wrap-up time. While I don’t always do a wrap-up for each lesson as I feel many of the lessons should be building upon each other in a more natural and authentic way- many of the observers like to see a nice and tidy end. This exit ticket shows the observer an “endpoint” has occurred and a way to collect data on the end. While I will be collected data throughout the class anyway, this allows an observer to check that box that an end with data collection has occurred in an obvious way. The bonus is that the exit ticket data is also helpful. I do use exit tickets several times a week anyway, but ensuring I use them during an observation keeps me in that box of “doing the right thing” under observation.
A simple version of an exit ticket found in the Microsoft library. Many more avaiable at Teachers Pay Teachers or a quick search.
Finally, trust your strengths and the students to show all the community work you have put in. I like to make an observation lesson have a great deal of small group work. This allows the observer to talk to the students with or without me at the table and lets my students speak for themselves. For me, I know my strength as a teacher is community building and management. I set up a lesson that can showcase that strength.
In summary, do a little legwork in your class story that you can easily hand to anyone who enters your room that shows you have been thoughtful in how your space and lessons are structured in a literally written out way. Use a wrap-up/exit ticket that is obvious and allows for the observer to see a reflection or assessment is occurring, Teachers Pay Teachers has many awesome ones. Last but not least, play to your strengths. While we should always be doing the right things to the best of our abilities, some lessons look better to outside observers than others, and knowing when to put on the show is another part of our current reality. I’d like to note I hate the idea of being non-authentic in my teaching, so everything I have included in 'playing the game’ I believe is good practice but as a bonus plays well to others.
Below is an example of an Early Years Classroom Story:
My class is the KG1Starfish. We are split evenly between boys and girls. We have three EL students completely new to English this year, however half of the class speaks another langauge as their primary language at home. Over all the Starfish are very social and most students have high emotional awareness. Our classroom uses a freeflow model that allows the children to move between centers and have choice. They have “tickets” with their names and choose any center they wish if there is an open space for their ticket. This allows children to have choice and provides opportunity to problem solve should more children wish to join a place. There are always a variety of centers that allow for quiet and individual time as well as more boisterous and collaborative opportunities.
Students are called over to work on specific projects with the CRA, TA, or teacher throughout the day. Sometimes small groups may play a game in various differentiated levels, but most of the class-time is in mixed ability groups of the children’s choosing. Individual students work is differentiated based on their needs for maths and language arts. I have seven that need to be extended across all subjects and have been ensuring their maths uses not only concrete and pictorial interactions with maths, but abstract representation as well. For language arts they are expected to attempt more in their writing and beginning to read emergent reader books.
We have three EL students who are new to school and English this year. Pictures, visual timetables, and cues, such as gestures and call and response are used to help them follow our class routine. One of the ELs who is new this year has adapted quickly and requires differentiation for extension in verbal communication form, as his fine motor ability is very low and therefore finds it difficult to express himself in drawings or any form of writing.
The starfish class is a lively and caring group that has shown great growth since the beginning of the year and continues to grow as our year continues. The adults in the class act as facilitators to learning and are here to guide students towards being inquisitive problem solvers, thinkers, and caring citizens of our classroom as well as the larger community. I am enjoying being a part of the KG1C learning journey as they become IB learners.
