(1) coaches and reinforces peer-to-peer dynamics that are appropriate and constructive
(2) communicates behavioral expectations that are appropriate to class activities
(3) develops a mutually respectful relationship with each student, instilling confidence that the teacher is invested in their success
(4) demonstrates cultural competence by promoting inclusivity
(5) designs and facilitates a classroom culture that promotes student preparedness, engagement, self-advocacy, perseverance, and collaboration
(1) coaches and reinforces peer-to-peer dynamics that are appropriate and constructive
(9/2018) Day 2 activity in Algebra 2 that puts students into random groups and has them working together immediately. They are so focused they never see me take these pictures. And then I use them for this evidence in supporting the norm-setting conversation about, “What does good groupwork look like and sound like in math class?”. And then their words are captured and all of this is shared in the class OneNote for us to reference later in the year.
Further the idea of working well with random classmates is instilled in them early. And that is a habit we continue to do throughout the first half of the year. Making people comfortable in the room to make mistakes in front of others who are often younger/older than themselves is essential to me.
The activity to create the random groups is focused on SEL. I pose a spectrum question, or the class creates their own, for the students to talk and organize themselves with. For example, “how spicy do you like your food?” or “what does your closet look like?” are simple ways to get the students talking and spreading out across the room. Once they have all found their place, I ask to hear from the ends of the spectrum, the middle, and from anyone else who wants to share. Then I just number the students off into groups of 3-4 and they will then find their new seats.
Classwork immediately after forming groups has a SEL focus to it- this helps breaks down the social barriers and gets the students more comfortable working with each other.
Once accepted as a class norm, the pushback dies off. After the first trimester the classroom has the togetherness which was initially desired. So I allow for them to choose their own seats.
(2) communicates behavioral expectations that are appropriate to class activities
(2/2020) Included is a screenshot of the Algebra 2 OneNote with the specific messaging shared with students for their Problem for the Week Presentations along with specific feedback from Winkelmann during his classroom observation.
Ryan Winkelmann observed part of class that day and his observations are shared below:
- Students were consistently respectful of each other and actually paid attention to each person’s approach. It was cool to see that although the problem was the same, all five presentations I watched took dramatically different approaches to following the problem.
- The fact this was ungraded and students were still dialed in and put in a lot of effort was awesome.
- Steve praised students for their patience with technical difficulties.
- Some groups who I would expect to be disruptive of each other are not at all, and are quick to get back on task when the next presentation starts. There is a clear expectation of respect in this class. And, as I say that, some of those kids weren’t paying attention while instructions weren’t being given, but Fassino addresses this with them later.
(3) develops a mutually respectful relationship with each student, instilling confidence that the teacher is invested in their success
To be honest, my F period Algebra 2 class was becoming a class I didn’t look forward to going to. You know when class just doesn’t feel right- like there is an underlying low grade tension. Well, that’s how I felt near the end of the fall trimester. And so naturally it was something I wanted to fix but I wasn’t sure how.
Fast forward to the middle of the winter trimester, enter Verity Sayles in a random Wednesday F period class after lunch, and here’s her observation:
12:39 – Steve checks in with Cyrus and Fino who seem done, “Looking pretty cozy over here.” Checks in about Math and also checks in about basketball game last night. Warm up seems like a good time for Steve to circulate and do some informal relationship making. Dang I love this. Cyrus is glowing in this interaction. 🙂
You show you are invested in if the kids learn math, but also in the relationships you form with each one of them separately. This interaction with Cyrus was a great example.
If Verity had observed this class in the fall, she wouldn’t have seen this positive of an interaction with Cyrus. Not because I wasn’t seeking those moments but because of where the students were, physically in the room and mentally as freshman. What I did to get the class to this point was to organize the room to better fit their introversions, reinforce my expectations of what doing math at EPS looks like, and frequently chat with and coach the classroom leaders, like Cyrus and Fino, inside and outside of class. I must say it feels rewarding to have a colleague come into the room and innocently notice something that I had been focusing on without knowing the backstory.
The more thorough progression of identifying the problem and working through solutions is below:
Identifying the problem:
-Given collaboration is a huge component of my classroom philosophy, I force random groups at the start of the year, typically the entire fall trimester. Usually this works well as it allows people to get to know other people in addition to their friends and sets up the rest of the year to have a more welcoming vibe in helping each other (more on this is in Classroom Culture #1). This almost exclusively freshman class bucked this trend. The beginning of the year excitement had worn off and my dedication to them working with others outside their friend group was causing friction. The random groupings, especially mixing genders, seemed to kill the energy in the room. Think, pair, share and its variations mainly turned into Think, stare, stare. In troubleshooting how to improve my class, I talked with Kip about it because he teaches all of the freshman. He wisely pointed out they are mainly introverted students. So, in leaning toward the introverted end of the spectrum myself, I quickly determined that the random groupings might be what’s causing some tensions.
-In addition to that tension, I also had a few students who culturally were violating, I believe unintentionally and due to a lack of awareness and maturity, some of my classroom values. Mainly, they acted in ways that unnecessarily valued speed and were not inclusive to others. Their intent to engage I believed came from their genuine interest and passion for math. But what they were doing and what they said in class screamed to everyone else, “I’m a jerk. And look how smart I am!”
So mix a quiet class with a few strong voices that hadn’t been fully onboarded to EPS values and that’s how you end up with a class you don’t look forward going to.
Working through solutions:
-To tackle the loud and proud, I decided to have a series of one-on-one conversations with these students- during office hours and after class. I asked them how they wanted to be perceived in class and shared with them some of the unintended consequences of their actions. Additionally in class, I called out their culturally negative behaviors more publicly. To maintain balance and especially make sure those students knew I cared about them, I doubled down on building relationships with these students. I didn’t want them to feel as if our only interactions were “negative”.
-To tackle the introversion in the room and reservations in engaging, I made the transition from random groupings to letting them sit with whoever they wanted earlier than in my other class. This allowed for them to continue to build the relationships they wanted to build with each other which allowed for more overall comfort in the class.
Results:
What happened over the course of the ensuing weeks was a big shift of mood in the room. Students feel more comfortable in class, so engagement has been up. The few loud and proud began acting in more appropriate and inclusive ways, so that their peers enjoyed working with them more. Fun and life has re-entered the room and F period is a class I truly look forward to going to again.
(4) demonstrates cultural competence by promoting inclusivity
(9/2019) My belief statements shared with all of my students on the first day of school and with all of their parents at Back to School Night explicitly aims to bring this into my classroom.
(5) designs and facilitates a classroom culture that promotes student preparedness, engagement, self-advocacy, perseverance, and collaboration
(2/2020) Included are two time-lapse videos from Algebra 2 classes along with Observation notes from members on my PDP team as they observed various classes.
SAYLES (from F period Algebra 2 observation on 1.29.20)
What’s great about the tone set in this class is that students are more ready to work with each other than not. This means they can get chatty, but they are always working together to figure things out. Similarly, they have a problem set that they can work on at their own pace, because they work independently, you can circulate and check in with them and also allow for listening to their ideas about so many things other than math.
WINKELMANN (from C period Algebra 2 observation on 2.3.20)
Seven groups presented, all of the five students I saw were incredibly prepared and consistently talked about each other’s presentations and their process. When assigned practice problems, students jump up immediately and start working. Throughout Steve is going around and putting out fires, which aren’t really fires but just students who are lost of need some more direction. Adi just said “I did this completely” wrong, in a way that shows that failure is an okay thing and that it is how we learn. Some students are opening their old notes and looking through them. “We need a new method” “Jordan, I need help”
VIOLETTE (from F period Algebra 2 observation on 1.21.20)
Students appear to be self-seated in pods. Each pod has a distinct style of working. One pod (rear boys) is more independently-minded. One pod (front boys) gets up and works – individually and collaboratively – on the whiteboard. One pod (girl pod) works collaboratively and chattily, each on their own computer.
BRIGGS (from H period Calculus observation on 2.5.20)
The topic of the day began with an informal poll of the class as to how they would like to approach the new material. Would they like to be led through the question, allowed to try it cold or start on it and then have Steve lead them through it after 3 minutes. They chose the latter option and transitioned well between individual attempts and focusing on direct instruction.
Students were presented the problem and split into pairs to solve the problem on the white-board. Steve checked in from group to group as they worked through the example. While waiting, neighboring groups would also assist their peers. Steve would then announce that the answer to a particular part was about to be explained and he would talk through the first step. This backstop seemed to serve two purposes. First, it served as a challenge to some students to try and get to the answer before it was revealed and second, it served as a safety net for struggling students that they would not be left behind. It was a simple technique that elegantly allowed for a differentiation of experience in the room within the same time format. More importantly, this invitation to challenge allowed for any student to achieve a small win at some point in the class if they understood a sub-step.