Observing Students

Today I was reminded of the importance of taking a step back to observe students. Yetta Goodman calls it kid watching. Others may call it listening in. Whatever you call it make sure to take a few minutes every day to observe and record your observations while students are working and interacting with each other. You will discover things you had not noticed before and you will get insights that will help your teaching go more smoothly giving you the perspective you need to be a better teacher.

Today I watched my class interacting with our artist-in-residence. I was particularly interested in one student who often has a difficult time controlling his responses when we are working in a whole group setting. I rarely get to finish what I am saying before this child will interrupt with a comment of his own. Often these comments are funny or silly and they don't contribute to our collective learning process. When he is not interrupting, he is off to the side seemingly withdrawn. Today as I watched I noticed how this child's attention was controlled by his own running commentary on everything the artist was saying. These comments were often accompanied by gestures and sounds that oddly enough did not distract the rest of the class from focusing on the artist's lesson.

After the children sat down this student was able to complete the art assignment as well as anybody else in the class. The artist, who has worked at our school for a number of years, commented that he thought this child was a good artist despite a comment early on by him that his illustration was "terrible".

Later in the day I decided to ignore the interruptions of my student and to keep going with the lesson. Surprise! Everyone was focused on what we were doing and I wasn't distracted by correcting this child every two minutes. In the end, he did no better and no worse than anybody else in the practice part of the lesson. I also noticed how focused he is during our writing workshop. He can stay with one story over a few days and is always proud of what he has done.

Although I know that ignoring isn't always the best solution, and certainly not the only solution with this child, I have learned that his interruptions may be his way of dealing with school. There are times when my student is focused and on task and produces wonderful work. This was important for me to affirm since I have been focusing too much on the negatives and not enough on the positives.

After the children had gone home and a colleague asked me how my day had gone I could honestly say, "Great!"

Partner Reading and Content, Too Routine (PRC2)

I'm a hoarder. There, I've said it. I try to deny that I'm a hoarder but it comes back to haunt me every time I move houses, or pack up my classroom at the end of the school year. I have old articles, lesson plans, handouts, folders brimming with teaching ideas, past issues of profesional journals. I hardly throw anything out though I've learned to be more selective over the years. My one rule of thumb, and I really try to stick to this, is that if I haven't used or referred to something in a year, then it's time to toss it into the recycle bin. One exception to this rule (you knew this was coming, didn't you?) is past issues of journals from professional organizations. However, with the ability to locate articles online through my professional memberships, even this exception is becoming less and less useful, which brings me to the topic of this blog post. I am currently reading a copy of The Reading Teacher from 2010. I've clipped a cou

The Reading Strategies Book - Chapter 12, Supporting Students’ Conversations – Speaking, Listening, and Deepening Comprehension

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Are we listening?

A child sits alone with a ripped worksheet packet on his desk. He appears to be singing or subvocalizing something though no one hears him. Or, perhaps they're ignoring him. The teacher stands at the front of the room teaching on the SmartBoard. The children follow along in their worksheets. Except the child sitting alone. He is in his own world. No one engages him and he engages no one. My heart aches for this child. He is physically and emotionally removed from the class. I ask him why his paper is ripped. (It's not an accidental rip.) He says he did that on a different day. When he had been frustrated about the work. He tells me that he sometimes sits by himself because the work is too hard for him. He later tells me that he sits by himself because the teacher thinks he talks too much during the lesson. He says he does that because he wants to find out about the "lives of the other children". My first impulse is to rescue him from the wrongheade

A Teacher's Ruminations

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