Janet Walters
Post-Conference
Peter as Teacher, Janet as Coach
Janet E. Walters writes:
I have received your
tape and will watch it today or tomorrow.
I don't think you have told me what you want me to specifically observe,
so you might email me some suggestions.
On my tape
I would like you to comment on how frequently I let them get off task and for
how long. It just seemed that this group was ditzier
than most.
Peter,
Here are my observation
remarks:
It is clear that most of
the teachers are enjoying the training.
The pacing is good and none seem frustrated. I can't tell if the teachers have a
handout; did they?
The teacher in the blue
to the left seemed to be visiting a little too much or just not participating,
but it is hard to tell on video.
I can't tell who you are
mentoring.
Overall, I think 95% of
the teachers were on-task 95% of the time.
I'm genuinely surprised that they were comfortable with learning a
program as complex as Dreamweaver.
Have you looked at my
tape yet?
Janet E. Walters writes:
Have you looked at my
tape yet?
I am just
finishing up the notes now.
I was mentoring
Katie Favara. She was at the teacher's computer in
the front of the room.
The
teacher in blue on the left was there for refresher training.
Janet,
As I
consider the class I taught for the teachers I realize that it was a little too
optimistic of me to think I could get all that material through to that crowd.
They got the three hour class stripped down to two hours and it just wasn't
stripped enough. I have been checking their sites and most are okay. Some need
to be adapted to take out the templated filler pages
and replace them with the personalized pages of the individual teachers. Katie
and I are helping them update, and more fully explaining how they can update
the site without messing it up.
All in
all, I consider it a success. I learned a lot. Katie learned from my mistakes.
We'll both do better next time. We are teaching the six hour version five times
this summer.
Post-Conference
Peter as Coach, Janet as Teacher
I have received your tape and will watch it today or
tomorrow. I don't think you have told me
what you want me to specifically observe, so you might email me some
suggestions.
I will put my tape in the mail tomorrow.
Do you remember the comment that "Janet is so
together"? Well, you will have
plenty of fuel for criticism when you observe my taped lesson. First, let me say that I forgot to tape the
first class where I taught the fourth-graders how to import a graphic from the
web. Also, these students have very
little experience with Word; they had never used a floppy until this
experience. The lesson on graphics went
great, but the next time I went to the class, the lesson was on creating a
table. You will see some lack of
togetherness!
First, I created a video of my own pet to spark
interest in the project. The speakers on
the teacher's computer did not work.
Next, I suggested that we create a table with 14 columns and 19
rows. I soon discovered that the size of
the table was waaaaay too big for an introduction on
creating tables. In addition, the
fourth-grade teacher's computer gave me unexpected problems, using autosum.
Lessons learned:
test the mentee's computer before trying to
teach a lesson with it, troubleshoot all the problems that might occur with the
lesson goals, and start simple.
The kids and teacher did learn about columns and rows
and how to insert data. Some of their
tables are messed up with regard to format and I have their floppies and will
try to clean up problems before we have the last class session to finish typing
in the data.
The teacher is satisfied with the lesson and, I
think, was assured in a way when she saw technology throw me some stumbling
blocks. She sees the value of tables and
wants to continue to re-inforce the skills.
Look for the following when you observe the lesson.
Is the scope and sequence of the lesson appropriate
for the skill level of the students?
Was the lesson tested before presentation?
Do the students seem to understand the concepts and
skills? (after
they get to the lab)
How many students are
off-task in the lab?
Is the instruction that uses the white board an
effective strategy or not necessary?
Did the students need to practice the skills as each
step was given or was the amount of instruction given acceptable?
These students have 8
classroom computers in their classroom, but they must go to a lab for all of
them to have computer. In the computer
lab, there is no overhead computer for instruction, so teaching in the classroom
and then going to lab for practice is the only way it can be done now. Not a good situation for elementary students
and one that I have criticized for several years, but to no avail.
I have opened each of the
fourth-grader's files on their floppies and have been pleasantly surprised to
see that what I thought was utter confusion is actually evidence of skills
learned. Most of them have tables
completed with color and they only lack the data. A few already have the data posted. One has an Excel chart. I intend to go back to the class Monday and
review the skills and work with them one more time as all complete the tables
and make a simple chart.
The teacher has started a new project: a career survey, using the Internet and will require students to import a graphic from the Internet. She told me this with a smile. I guess the lesson was a success!
Janet E. Walters writes:
Look for the following
when you observe the lesson.
Is the scope and
sequence of the lesson appropriate for the skill level of the students?
Yes,
though I think the whole table concept could have been introduced with a
simpler problem, or with fewer pet options and student names.
Was the lesson tested
before presentation?
Too much
down time while you typed in pet categories and student names. That could have
been done ahead of time by the teacher you are mentoring so she could see the
problems developing, such as the table size and font size.
As you
noted in your comments to me, testing the progam on
your computer was not the same as doing it on the one in the teacher's
classroom.
Do the students seem to
understand the concepts and skills? (after they get to the lab)
I could
not determine if they comprehended what the end product would look like.
Manipulate
column widths.
How many students are off-task in the lab?
At any given time, one or a bunch. Without a
teaching computer and projector you are handicapped and have to go station to
station helping. The kids were not far enough along in the project to work on
their own.
Is the instruction that
uses the white board an effective strategy or not necessary?
Yes. I
think the white board is very necessary. It helps them to see what is coming.
The white board was a good time to give them the labels "row" and
"column" that you were going to use to describe the table.
Did the students need to
practice the skills as each step was given or was the amount of instruction
given acceptable?
The problem here is classroom versus lab. They could have
practiced with a smaller table, to draw it and label the rows and columns.