Today, I got to watch two teaches co-teach a World History class that was half native English speakers and half multilingual learners (MLs). The MLs had a wide range of English proficiency.
Folks, having the opportunity to sit and watch your colleagues teach is a gift! I used to wander into people's classrooms on my planning period (with prior permission), but now my district has formalized this opportunity. I had a guest teacher for the morning. One of our instructional coaches led us through a briefing activity with one of the teachers and a co-hort of observers. Then, we watched the lesson. Before we returned to our regular classes, we had a chance to de-brief about what we saw.
It was so cool. They were reviewing for a test, but they used conversation cards and stations to make it more interactive and engaging. Each station had maps or readings or ideas to reference. Each student had a partner they rotated with. At each station, Partner A would read a sentence frame and Partner B would respond using the materials and their notes. Then, Partner B would read a sentence frame and Partner A would respond. The sentence frame provided a structured converation to discuss key ideas that have been learning.
Heather, one of the co-teachers, was worried that the sentence frames would feel to babyish to her high schoolers or that students would just try to work the questions on their own, but they didn't. They read the frames, asked clarifying questions, referenced the maps and charts and pictures. Sometimes they asked her for clarification, or they asked other groups. Sometimes the clarifying questions weren't even in English.
It was cool to see a history teacher engaging her students in the four language domains while reviewing the material. At the end of class, Heather pulled up a Wheel of Names on her smartboard. She asked a question that students had just reviewed and spun the wheel.
First of all, I loved how this gave students time to think about the answer (or consult their partner). Second, ALL of their eyes were glued to that wheel. (Maybe they were hoping it didn't land on their name, but they were definitely engaged!) Whomever it landed on, they knew the answer too! What a confidence booster for kids who need to take a test tomorrow.
The lesson was a homerun. But, even if it was a flop, it was so cool to see colleagues do their thing and then tell them how awesome they are. I highly recommend it.
Folks, having the opportunity to sit and watch your colleagues teach is a gift! I used to wander into people's classrooms on my planning period (with prior permission), but now my district has formalized this opportunity. I had a guest teacher for the morning. One of our instructional coaches led us through a briefing activity with one of the teachers and a co-hort of observers. Then, we watched the lesson. Before we returned to our regular classes, we had a chance to de-brief about what we saw.
It was so cool. They were reviewing for a test, but they used conversation cards and stations to make it more interactive and engaging. Each station had maps or readings or ideas to reference. Each student had a partner they rotated with. At each station, Partner A would read a sentence frame and Partner B would respond using the materials and their notes. Then, Partner B would read a sentence frame and Partner A would respond. The sentence frame provided a structured converation to discuss key ideas that have been learning.
Heather, one of the co-teachers, was worried that the sentence frames would feel to babyish to her high schoolers or that students would just try to work the questions on their own, but they didn't. They read the frames, asked clarifying questions, referenced the maps and charts and pictures. Sometimes they asked her for clarification, or they asked other groups. Sometimes the clarifying questions weren't even in English.
It was cool to see a history teacher engaging her students in the four language domains while reviewing the material. At the end of class, Heather pulled up a Wheel of Names on her smartboard. She asked a question that students had just reviewed and spun the wheel.
First of all, I loved how this gave students time to think about the answer (or consult their partner). Second, ALL of their eyes were glued to that wheel. (Maybe they were hoping it didn't land on their name, but they were definitely engaged!) Whomever it landed on, they knew the answer too! What a confidence booster for kids who need to take a test tomorrow.
The lesson was a homerun. But, even if it was a flop, it was so cool to see colleagues do their thing and then tell them how awesome they are. I highly recommend it.