Week 1!

So technically I'm into my second week, but I decided to wait to post until I had a little bit more to talk about. I've just started the 7th grade with their Giver unit, and so far, so good! It's really eye opening to see how crazy and spontaneous the real teaching world actually is...I really did think everything could be planned out, but I'm learning that the truth is the complete opposite. Maybe it's different in high school, but it is nearly impossible in a middle school to have an entire week planned out, let alone two days! Already I'm seeing a change in pace and feel like maybe some of the features in my unit plan can be tossed aside for something with better flow and transition. I'm only a few days in, but I'm looking forward to seeing how everything pans out. My mentor says that eventually the unit will take a life of its own and just...work out. Ideas and activities will come naturally, and the reactions of students will really drive the lessons. Maybe it's common knowledge, but I'm excited to see it with my own eyes in my own work.

Aaaaand the 8th grade research paper unit starts on Monday. Yikes. A lot of these kids are SUCH great writers, but hate it so much. I tried sitting down with a few students yesterday to help write their paragraphs for an in-class activity, and I had to pull teeth to get them to write down five sentences. They know how to do it, they just won't. Not sure if it's laziness or something with their past experiences, but I'm really worried about this unit. I don't want to be a bad teacher and end up responsible for enabling poor writing habits.

The Common Core and YOU!

As you read Ravitch and Peggy, think about how YOU can teach authentically with the Common Core (or PA Core in our case). In what ways can you and should you rebel against its deceptive charm? How can YOU make a difference in the lives of your students, with or without its effects on you? Discuss!

Assessment v. Evaluation

As you read and observe assessment and evaluation in action, please blog your ruminations!

Co-Created Classrooms: Possible or Pipe Dream?

Ruminate on the ideas put forth by Deborah Stern on co-created classes. What aspects seem doable and which ones seem far fetched? What place does this type of inquiry have in America's classrooms?

Sense of the Crazy!

What is baffling you as you are in your placement and how are you making sense of it all?

Week One

Discuss your first impressions of your PDS classroom. What evidence of engaged learning do you witness? How is engagement cultivated? When there is a lack of engagement, can you discern why that is? How could you reverse apathetic underpinnings that are evident?

Engaged Learning Part I

The first part of Engaged Learning grapples with Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's ideas of "flow" - what it is, why it's important, how it happens. After you read this first section, reflect on the times you have experienced flow and how/why we should consider the role of flow in our teaching.

Is engagement really that important or should we only be concerned with our students doing what we ask them to do: read the canon, write those essays? After all, that's what our curriculum calls for, doesn't it?

Discuss.