Engaging Ms. Crawford's Students in Small Groups
Over the past month, I have had the opportunity to observe in every elementary classroom. I appreciate the willingness of all of our teachers to let me in to watch the great things that are happening in the elementary. My specific focus this month has been to look at the engagement of our students within the classroom. I will continue to look for engagement next month, but I will primarily focus on this during math.
Each month, I hope to be able to put the “spotlight” on a particular teacher who is implementing UDL practices within his or her classroom. This month, I would like to highlight Lela Crawford. When I walked into her second grade classroom, I was immediately struck by the level of choice her students are given when it comes to seating. If you’ve ever wondered about flexible seating--go talk to Lela! I sat down in a chair with some sort of contraption attached to all four legs that allowed my chair to wiggle just a bit. As I sat there, I observed students of every achievement level you could imagine engaging in math centers. One center was teacher led, one was independent, and the other was a review center led by an instructional assistant. I wondered how her students would do, particularly at the independent practice center. However, it was quickly evident that Lela has provided the appropriate supports for the students by including a number line and a hundreds chart that permanently stay in the back pocket of their folders, which they carry with them to every center. Using these two tools, ALL of the students were able to independently practice their addition skills at their desks. Lela was able to lead her math lesson with no interruptions from other students, and every student was engaged in some sort of math activity for the entire lesson.
Small group instruction is a great way to maintain engagement when the proper supports are given and when expectations for behavior are clear and routinely enforced. Classroom management is essential to great implementation of small group instruction. Students should know and understand what the teacher’s expectations are as well as understand the consequences of not following those expectations. Furthermore, teachers should think about the barriers that the students may encounter when tasked with an independent learning station. Many times, a simple tool or strategy can be given, prior to beginning, that will allow students to remain engaged in the activity. If you think you might want to try small groups out but feel you need some support with that, LET ME KNOW!! I am happy to help!
Mr. Bales Shining a Light on Engaging Lessons
TMS has been packed with activity these first weeks of school! I have truly enjoyed the opportunities I’ve had to visit classrooms and watch teachers and students working together to tackle the challenges of engaging in deep learning, handling the extra stressors of school during a pandemic, and just generally navigating the unique experiences of middle school life! If I haven’t stopped by your classroom yet, I’m doing my best to get there soon. Feel free to invite me if there is something in particular you’d like to share!
Recently I visited Jason Bales and his students in 7th grade social studies class. I’d like to highlight his lesson here as a great example of a lesson that set forth a clear objective for students and then truly engaged them in working toward that goal. Students’ goal for the day was to be able to demonstrate Earth’s rotation and revolution and how that impacts different geographical regions. In order to help students grasp this concept, Mr. Bales placed a globe in the center of the room, dimmed the classroom lights, and asked several students to shine the flashlight on the globe from various angles around the room. He led students through the process of critical thinking to determine how the placement of the sun and orientation of the earth would result in different degrees of daylight and the change of seasons.
This lesson was a great example of the simple strategy of involving physical movement around the room to increase student engagement. I recently read a great article on Edutopia called “How to Keep Kids Engaged in Class” that explained 10 simple ways to increase students’ engagement in learning activities. Check it out for some great ideas!
I’m also excited about the work our TMS staff did in our UDL session during our e-learning day. Teachers reviewed results from our UDL Student Feedback Survey, reflected on our own UDL practices, and made commitments to trying out at least one new strategy to move forward in our UDL work. I’m excited to work with teachers to implement these new strategies, including maintaining more up-to-date Google Classroom spaces, using students’ names more frequently and learning more about each of them individually, utilizing Word Walls and digital tools to engage students in learning vocabulary, and offering students’ choice and autonomy in how to show what they know in their assessments.
Finally, I’d like to give a huge shout out to the 11 teachers (so far) who have signed up to participate in our district wide book study of Unlearning: Changing Your Beliefs and Your Classroom with UDL by Allison Posey & Katie Novak. It’s not too late to join us! Participants will receive their books soon. Materials and resources for the book study will also be shared in Google Classroom, so don’t worry if you are unable to join the in-person sessions; you can still participate through GC. More info will be coming soon.
