Re: [Channel-talklearning] Spring session The Learning Classroom

Hi Kate. First I would like to say that I am glad to see someone
posting on channel-talk.

About taking the time to ask reflective questions, I believe that it is
time well spent. I find that when I just dive into an activity the
students start doing things right away but they don't always understand
what they are doing or why. By setting the stage I almost always get
better end results and I spend less time stopping in the middle of an
activity to correct misconceptions. It seems like you are using
valuable work time to just discuss things but I think it pays off.

Ed Bowden

On Mar 9, 2005, at 10:37 AM, Katherine Kraus wrote:

> Hello, my name is Kate. I'm an art teacher for students in grades 1-5.
> I teach about 700 kids in a 6 day rotation. I'm in a rural location
> where the students have a wide range of abilities so some of my
> classes are functioning on a high level and some on a low level.  I
> feel a lot of pressure to have as productive a class as possible
> because ; 1. I don't see the kids very often, and 2. Class time can be
> short, especially for 1st and 2nd grade because I have to walk the
> kids from one school to another. Over the summer the 2nd grade time
> slot was shortened to 45 minutes! Very well-behaved classes can make
> it up and down the hill in about 12 minutes, others can take up to 20.
>  I tend to present material quickly and dive into the activity.  After
> viewing the video for session 1 and reading the material, I am
> planning to slow myself down by introducing more reflective
> questioning.  For example, third graders are currently mak! ing a
> castle (2-dimensional) using architecture from Greece and Rome
> (columns and arches.)  For my reflective questions, I asked them why
> would someone want to build a castle, what purpose columns would have,
> and to encourage using texture such as stones and brick patterns, I
> asked which they might use and why.  Later I thought that I could have
> asked what other materials might one build a castle from and open the
> doors of imagination. I'm hoping using reflection in an opening
> discussion will improve my teaching and that I can do it in a timely
> manner.
>  
>  
> Katherine Kraus
> kate231@earthlink.net
> Why Wait? Move to EarthLink.
>  
>
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Received on Wed Mar 9 15:26:34 2005