Ellen

Reflecting back on the year - It is hard to pinpoint one strategy that I commit to using in the future. There are so many that are important to implementation of effective reading and writing in the content areas. However the strategies on strategic learning critical. I have been exploring ways to make learning and thinking more visible for students. The different level of questioning will continue to be an essential part of my teaching. Students need many different types of opportunities to make meaning of the reading especially in content areas. This group has been great! I loved the professional sharing and look forward to more opportunities.

2/5/10 The nice thing about teaching is you change things up day to day and year to year. I would not have had much luck with the majority of the class I had last year. This year, I am fortunate to have kids who are roped in more easily and come happily with enthusiasm. I started the process with a review of content, thus being able to focus on the reciprocal reading strategies. While the new math content was tricky, it was more the backdrop learning for the day. I knew I would have to come back to it, but I would have anyway. It needed an extra day to marinate. And to Kristen, yes the outside the bowl kids are a bit off the hook, no pressure to hold them in.As the groups rotate, hopefully they feel the heat a bit to pay attention for fear of being selected in the next round. They were to have their math books open to read along with the "trout" so at least they were seeing the info; some paying closer attention than others of course. I think it is important to surprise the kids with different activities so they don't become too comfortable. Today we practiced applying the concept in a game show format. A louder class today, but fun for a friday. 2/5/10 Comments from Janine: What a creative way to show student work - a video! I really got the feel of the process you were implementing (the fish bowl and the reciprocal teaching). I think that the fish bowl would be a really neat way to teach a lab skill like using the microscope or solving an electrophroesis problem. It would allow students to observe the process, benefit from the comments of others and then try themselves. By sitting around and watching students would be taking notes on the skill and that is such a great way to activate cognitive learning centers that might not otherwise be engaged when we just discuss a certain skill or even do the skill. Thank-you also for the guide a rama - I can see doing this as as an assignment that the students write the questions and then let another student do the guide a rama the next day.

I do really want to see the student notebooks you have - hopefully we can start with that at the next session. I also hope both of you are thinking about applying to the HVWP summer institute - you have excellent examples to share and discuss with like minded teachers.

2.5.10-Comments from Eric: The reciprocal reading strategy seemed very powerful for a couple of reasons: First, many of hte studetns were commmenting on their process with the reading material- their process being a meta-cognitive approach with reading- which is exactly what we want our studetns to be doing-being aware of their learning and taking ownership!! Second, the students have a chance to share their thinking with other which scaffolds them and reassures them in their awareness of their process- as other studetns often sympathized or agreed with their experince of the text- building confidence. Combined with the Fishbowl: it becomes even more powerful, as their is an analysis of the discussion of the reading, making it even more meta-cognitive by focusing on process once again, and evaluating the process. One thought here would be the content vs. process challenge. In this case students were working with a new reading strategy and new content- chiallenging! I am thinking when I try this strategy out, I may use familiar content to make it easier for the students to focus on the strategy itself in terms of thinking and talking power. Thank You!!

I also loved the guid-o-rama and generating questions about the texts. Thank Yoyu 2/5/10 Reflections on Chapter Five Helping students become strategic readers is where I've been focusing my attention in ELA the last few years. I agree that helping students making the shift from reading with their mouths to reading with their brains is the key to developing more effective readers. I really believe to help kids make this shift reading instruction really must include lots of modeling (fishbowl and think alouds) and practice (chunking and questioning in particular). I've used reciprocal teaching with mixed success. I find some students can go through the motions without really thinking. Perhaps the way its deliver and completed needs to change.

Kristen's Comments on your video and RT/FB experience: Your video was fantastic! Your students did such a good job! Thank you for sharing.

Seeing your video made me wonder about a tough, dense, content driven subject like math. Although I agree with Ellen that kids sometimes "get it" a lot better from other kids than from us, I wonder how well the "outside of the bowl" kids got the material. If they are tasked with monitoring how the inside of the bowl goes, then are they paying attention to what I perceive to be heavy content? I might posit that the students in the bowl "get it" way better than the sit and get method found in too many classrooms, but the kids outside the bowl get it even less than they would have via other methods. I have only done and seen FBs with topics that I consider to be less content driven and more theoretical in nature, for example in a literature class, a methods class or a communications class.

I also wonder at what point saturation occurs. At what point does RT in a FB become redundant?

How is Fishbowl different from Socratic Circles?

January 8, 2010
 * Etch-a-sketch (Eric)** This was a great activity that clearly would engage students. Anything that makes them think about what they are reading (or listening to) hit many of these dimensions.

Social Dimension: Sharing the notes and illustrations helps students clear up anything confusing.

Persoanl Dimension: Students actively engaged with the text. Students need to think about what they are listening to in order to take notes.

Cognitive Dimension: Students need to monitor their comprehension to be sure notes match illustration. Students understanding of main ideas are clear.

Knowledge Based Dimension: .
 * Book Talks (Jack)** I really enjoyed learning about these book talks. Students must be extremely engaged with the variety of choices.

Social Dimension: Being able to collaborate on these projects is very powerful as well as having an audience other than the teacher. Persoanl Dimension: Students can really explore books in way that helps them develop their own identities as readers and communicators.

Cognitive Dimension: Students have the ability to to learn from other students presentations.

Sally: I really enjoy your fish bowl strategy the students watching actually seemed to be paying attention and I was wondering if they exercised the same discipline you did in keeping their comments to themselves or did they try to get involved. I am also curious to know what they feel they got out of it. Did they feel like it was helpful or was it just fun. I have to give you both two thumbs up for the work that you did and I really like the fish bowl idea. I am just trying to think of ideas that will allow it to be adapted to a higher level classroom. The layers of s meta-cognition seem extremely valuable and I would like to see the rotating seat model. In my head I thought of using it in Social Studies like a U. N. security council rotating seat members in an out.

The Guide-O-Rama concept seems like a very adaptable technique that can be used at every level.

Thank you, Neil