1. Teaching as Reflective Practice September 12, 2013 Class 2

2. Housekeeping • Please sign in • ERC, if you missed it please go to the basement of Winters College and the IT people will sort out your York email accounts • Peel, sent all relevant documents to the 4 teachers who hadn’t given me their MT’s email • Practicum, go on blog, show folder, read out statement, review dates/timelines, share mid-point checklist, review what Site Co-ordinators and Principals have been sent • Next Thursday morning, Diane Vetter will come and speak to us at our Language class at 10:30 on this topic • Big Ideas, deadlines

3. More Housekeeping • Practicum, blog, show folder, read out statement, review dates/timelines, share mid-point checklist, review what Site Co-ordinators and Principals have been sent • Next Thursday morning, Diane Vetter will come and speak to us at our Language class at 10:30 on this topic • Big Ideas, deadlines

4. Minds on…A TC vignette • Alison, a TC, has been working in a Grade 6 class for 4 weeks. She has been having issues with six students who are dis-engaged, argumentative and disruptive. During daily independent reading time they do nothing or argue with one another, sometimes using rude language. Both Alison and the MT want to figure out a way of helping these students. Alison is stuck. Where to begin???

5. Teacher as Reflective Practitioner • Brainstorm ways in which Alison can begin to support these youngsters…

6. Possibilities • Rather than locate the problem entirely with the students, Alison begins to think more broadly… • Who are the students? • Where are they seated in the room?

7. More possibilities • Do the students have the skills to stay focussed for the length of time? • Would they be more successful with a shorter block? • Is the reading material available appropriate?

8. Reflective Teaching • John Dewey’s belief was that the process of reflection for teachers begins when they encounter a difficulty, troublesome event, or experience that cannot be immediately resolved. These puzzles prompt us to step back and analyze rather than react. It becomes a way of being, how we deal with the daily problems inherent in teaching.

9. Dewey’s Three Attitudes • Open-mindedness (a desire to listen to more sides than one) • Responsibility (teacher’s ask why they are doing what they are doing) • Wholeheartedness (always striving to better understand their students, their practice)

10. Think back… • Did you have teachers with these qualities? Can you see it in teachers you have worked with? • Do schools promote these qualities? • Are we asking too much? Is it too complex and demanding?

11. Our readings, Paley and Duckworth • Find a quote that resonated with you, hopefully, the numbers will work out evenly • Each of you needs to respond to excerpt that really struck you. Use markers to add it to the chart. You can make references to other parts of the text, include page number and your name beside it. Leave space around your thoughts. What it means to you? How you relate to it. Connection. Maybe you have a question. Discuss with your group the reading as a whole and this excerpt in particular.

12. Our readings- a task • Find other readings & respond to them; have a conversation in writing; find the person who wrote it to discuss it further.

13. Our readings- a task • In one to two sentences, complete, • The most important ideas from our readings are… • A common thread I take away with me today is… • A question that puzzles me is…

14. Paley and Duckworth • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWxYRkmHNXM • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWxYRkmHNXM

15. Final Comments • What are the qualities that Paley and Duckworth that are endorsing? • How can we hang on to these ways of thinking in the moment? • How will the ideas discussed today impact your practice?