Inquiry 3 Part A

(Whitney) Inquiry 3 Part A section 3

·      To what extent were you expected to follow a scripted curriculum, or add your own ideas to a curriculum that already exists, or create a unit that is entirely new?

·         My MT and I were creating this curriculum. I was given full freedom, all that was asked was that I included word sorts on a daily basis in some way.

·         Most of the spelling lists came from Teachers pay teachers (Denise purchased them for me as a guide).

·       What was problematic or challenging about planning a unit in this context?

·         I have never been taught explicitly the things I was asked to teach (spelling patterns for long vowels sounds).

·         I was unclear as to how the students would or could use this information, the connection between sound and spelling if the words were unknown was difficult to understand at first.

·         Organizing all of the pieces into manageable parts

·         Introducing it to my students without overwhelming them, building the routines

·               What obstacles did you face? How did you overcome them?

·         student engagement and understanding. I was finally able to explain to them clearly how learning these patterns could help them or how they could use this knowledge

·         organization, word study involving centers requires organization, especially when attempting to give students free choice of how they learn. We just needed time to build the routines, perseverance!

·               How did working on developing your ‘core practice’ influence the types of learning opportunities you were able to offer your students?

o   By focusing in on how to help my students use their vocabulary skills I was able to better guide them in the lessons. I was able to model ways in which they can directly and immediately use this knowledge. This in turn gave my students more purpose and drive to learn.

·               What dilemmas did you face and how did you manage them?

o        Organization was a big dilemma. When combining organization with free choice in 3^rd grade, there is room for a lot of chaos. I gave my students the choice, “show me that you can choose to work well and have a say in how you learn, otherwise I will have to make the choice for you.”

·               What enabled you to be successful?

·         My MT, she was very helpful in filling in any gaps of understanding I had (when I remembered to ask)

·         I was able to put in a ton of time to create and organize the structure of our word study program.

·         The more I worked with the material the more confident I became in what I was teaching.

·               Did the unit proceed as expected? Why or why not?

·         Somewhat. I set myself up to expect chaos. I have worked in a Montessori and seen organized chaos at its best and I know how powerful it can be. I also know that it takes a ton of organization, classroom management, and practice.

·         I had hoped to see results more quickly than I did but upon further reflection realized that it would take time. My students needed to learn the routines before they could focus all their cognitive energy on the skill to be learned. Just as in math where I had to teach them to use a ruler before I could expect them to measure with it.

·               What surprise or “aha moments” did you experience?

o   The most significant moment of my guided lead teaching occurred in week 2. I am a little embarrassed to admit it but I cannot deny how it changed my teaching and thinking about teaching. During week two as I was about to introduce our new vowel patterns for long o a student raised her hand to ask why we were learning these patterns (this student is constantly being disrespectful and I feel that her question was meant in that manner, but it turned into a useful one!). It was in this moment that I realized I still was unsure of how learning these patterns would help my students spell better. It was in this moment that I was able to put into words just exactly what wordy study would do for my students and how they would use it and I was able to explain it to them in a simple, clear, and concise way.

What do you still need to learn about teaching in this target area, about developing your ‘core practice’ and about teaching literacy in general?

·         I am still working on perfecting the assessment piece of my target area. I would like to spend more time on applying the skills learned in a way that allows me to see the difference between my students already knowing the word and actually using the patterns.