Classroom Observation of ET

My observation of Mrs. B's 7th/8th Gr. ET - 10/10/2011

So much to talk about!  I had such a blast going observing with Rachel.  I felt like the response we got from Mrs. B was super positive and I hope that I get to do more of these observations.

We observed two classes and the differences between the two classes were absolutely striking!  Each class that she has was a small number of students compared to her regular class because 1/2 the students were out for a field trip.  The first class - Period 4 - was 16 students 10 boys, 6 girls and the second class - 5th period - was only 9 students 4 boys, 5 girls.  These students were asked to do ET for a bouncing tennis ball, from the point it just starts touching the ground, to the point it just leaves the ground.  I thought this was uber hard for the students to start with, but maybe it was just me!

The main difference between the classrooms was the students willingness to participate.  I feel like the group I watched in 4th period was paranoid about saying anything.  They were simply listening to the one student Jacob make his statement, and then followed along without considering it to be correct.  The "discussion" only lasted a little while and then they all stood around awkwardly for some time.  Finally, because I am not a good observer yet, I asked them to do it again so that I could see what was going on....then Mrs. B came over and asked them some questions that got them started again.  They couldn't move on without her really.
The 5th period class however, because it was smaller, had the full attention of Mrs. B because there was only one ET group.  I thought this class did an amazing job of working together at the time - but now I realize that although there were only 9 students, three of them were really the ones that were doing most of the talking.  Three others were called out to talk by Mrs. B, and four of them basically didn't say anything.  Were the numbers so skewed for the teachers?  It might be interesting to compare the participation of the members of the groups of adults to students.

When I came out of this class, I was so pumped up about trying to figure out ways to help out our teachers who were in the EP Workshop and wanted to use ET in the classroom.  I felt like the bridge between what happens during the summer and the classroom during the year was really not there.  Although Mrs. B did a great job on the first go-around, I felt like even between the 4th and 5th classes, things improved that could have been scaffolded a bit better for her coming out of the workshop.  A few changes/additions that I thought were really valuable that could happen were:
   1. Parent volunteers - In this case, Mrs. B was brilliant to introduce ET with the prior knowledge that her classes were going to be smaller.  However, in most classes, this opportunity is NOT possible, so how do you deal with 30ish students all learning ET at once and in different groups?   Perhaps you ask parent volunteers or other teachers to help out for this one day/training period.  That kind of support would have helped tremendously and could be something that we helped support by allowing teachers in the Seattle area a chance to help each other and providing money for a sub.  But I don't know if this is possible! :)
   2. Emphasis on conversation - I feel that although the teachers had great models for the style of open-ended classrooms during the summer, perhaps this could have been pointed out more explicitly for the teachers so that they could apply it.  I felt like Mrs. B was trying to let the students do their own thinking but that she didn't know how to "train" them to steer the conversation themselves.  I know it was only middle school, but I still feel like listening and critically thinking about what others are saying could be something that students do!  For the second class, Mrs. B emphasized that she wanted to hear everyone's conversation and ideas and that the important piece was the talking and discussing that the did.   This helped I think for 5th period.
   3. Suggestions for ET newbies in their classrooms - Now that we have some teachers who have tried ET in their classrooms, I think it would be awesome to have some of those veteran teachers of ET coming in to talk to the E1 teachers during the summer workshop, or at least if we asked them what they would say to teachers (as kind of a list of advice for them when they try it).
   4.  Allow total screw ups and start with an easy example - I think that the whole point of ET that is so awesome is that the finished product doesn't have to be wonderful (the first time) and that is is okay if they are not absolutely accurate.  I feel like the teachers in the EP workshop did excellent ET and I hope that they don't expect that of their kids the first time.  That said, Mrs. B said that just dropping a ball was too easy an example for her students to start with and I wonder if that is really true.  She started with an example that I thought was really hard.  It was tough to bring in Elastic energy, kinetic, and heat (as she called it) from friction.  Her introduction example the second class was much better. (4th period she talked about a roller coaster, and 5th period she referred to the first part of the ball's journey as it fell the second time.)
I am sure I will add more ....there is so much more!