Sally

Writing advise here [|what is a press release] #|edit * Type a tag name. Press comma or enter to add another. |||| #|Cancel || 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!! ||
 * || 4/9/10 I think an aspect of this year would be in helping students become more strategic readers. Students need to approach reading like a favorite sport/activity. It takes patience to get the results we desire, but it is one worth working hard at. ||~ Details |||| last edit just now by [[image:http://www.wikispaces.com/i/user_none_sm.jpg width="16" height="16" caption="esavelson" link="http://www.wikispaces.com/user/view/esavelson"]] [|esavelson] - 13 revisions ||> [[image:http://www.wikispaces.com/i/w/W_close.gif caption="hide details"]] ||
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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.

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.

From Nicole: The students really showed improvement over time with the fishbowl. It was interesting to see how the students interpreted the text and how to guide the discussion. I think the most interesting part was the discussion that occurs after the fishbowl when the audience participates and describes what was happening and how they worked to unfold the text. Thank you for breaking the ice with this one. Now I have a better understanding for the use of this tool and can appreciate what comes from the practice.

I agree with Janine's idea about teaching a laboratory skill. It could also be a good way to model good scientific inquiry.

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?

2/5I really liked the Request activity p.81 as a way to practice students creating questions and assessing what they know by the questions they create. This is a great homework idea to give the kids a focus, instead of saying read this (which to some means I don't have any homework). The follow up/accountability will serve as a warm up to get the class thinking about what they were previously working on.

Of course the Reciprocal teaching in a fishbowl p.86 was something Ellen and I talked about and decided to present on today. We have done fishbowls before as an activity to practice listening skills and process through working as an effective group. While reading the book, I thought it to be redundant to keep doing the same activity over and over with different groups. What I discovered was that the kids really needed the practice. They were very awkward and artificial and reticient in the beginning, and that did improve somewhat.

Eric:I thought the etch a sketch idea was great to get all kids engaged (social) in the activity and to help them see the different perspectives of their peers in a safe, fun way. Changes things up a bit in the classroom and gives more people the opportunity to be involved. The atmosphere is safe as the activity quickly moves on; students uncomfortable putting themselves out there can take a risk with the sketching activity, but the timing is quick.

Jack:I am a big fan of Nancie Atwell and as teachers we must hold the kids responsible for sharing their reading. Otherwise, they try to sneak by. Kristen's idea about adding a metacognitive piece "meta" to the book report idea.

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. Thank you, Neil