Analysis of Three Videos: Roller Coaster Physics, Chinese Math, Whole Brain Teaching
ANALYSIS
Roller Coaster Physics:
This video was really great to watch. The teacher had the students learning physics through fun by hands on learning. She implemented project based learning by having this project run over the course of a little over a week. The first week she had them test, the next week she had the students design their own coaster.
The strategies that she used worked well with her classroom. The first strategy she used was called chiming. This is where she would pick a chimer, that student would then tell about what trials and tribulations they had during the experiment from the week before, and other students would take notes while chiming into the chimer. The benefits of this was that it was a formative assessment tool for the teacher to understand where the students are at. It also promotes automus learning where students value other ideas and opinions. Another strategy that the teacher used was sketch designs. She separated the students into groups, and each group created a model sketch. The benefit of this strategy was that again the teacher could tell where the students were at, and it also created self assessment and peer assessment for the students. Sketches also created a team building environment, and allowed the students to come to a consensus on the project.
The teacher's strategies of more constraints eventually created better problem solvers in the classroom because the students were able to think more and problem solve because of the lack of materials.
As far as academic expectations there were high expectations from the beginning. The students were on task, and the teacher never had to remind anyone to be respectful and listen to peers during chiming. Each student was given a job to do and treated others with respect because that student had a job to complete. No student was wandering around the classroom bored because every student had a role and something to do. The behavior expectations were to be on task, safe with materials, and respectful when a student has the floor to talk. The norms and procedures were already in place because the student who was given the job of managing money knew about the budget that they had to stick to, ensuring no materials were stolen or out of place. The modeling of behavioral expectations were already high, so that was the norm in this classroom.
The teaching strategies used complimented positive aspects of project based learning. By providing each student with a role, each student always had something to do. It created cognitive flow because ideas from one student would roll onto another student during chiming, which really enhanced group collaboration. Student’s also used 21st century research skills by using technology to research ideas for their rollercoaster. The subject was engineering, but math was incorporated into this project with the idea of purchasing materials. That’s was super creative. A clear directive of how this activity would play out in my K5 Special Ed class has some pros and cons. For the chiming strategy, the con would be that my students would struggle as each student cannot stay quiet for long, and aren’t the best at taking turns. A pro for chiming in my class would be to pair them up rather than the whole class, and then do the chiming, as my students would greatly benefit from peer interaction. The other teaching strategy of sketching would greatly benefit my classroom. The pros of this include peer assessment as my students would be able to share their sketches after an activity we do such as reading or morning journal. By doing this I would also be able to see what they remembered from the story we read as I can look at the sketch that they drew. All in all, this was a great video to watch. I will be implementing some strategies in my own classroom to create a positive environment.
Chinese Math:
This video was interesting. The behavioral expectations were that the students be engaged in the lesson. They all had to chant in unison. It was a group lesson, which required the students to listen to the teacher.
The academic expectations included the memorization of times tables. The teacher lacked visuals in this lesson, as she would only use the whiteboard to write down math problems in which all answers had to come from each students memory. That is a lot of pressure when having to chant the correct answer as a class. It also makes it hard for the teacher to keep teach of which student got the answer incorrect.
The learning objective was that the students were expected to multiple three digit numbers at the end of the lesson. I believe the teaching strategies she used included a transitional approach. It seemed that to get the students attention she chanted something similar to “one, two, three eyes one me”, and the students chanted back before going onto the next problem. That seemed to work for her as the students were engaged, focused, and sat appropriately on the rug during the lesson.
Memorizing a math chant at an early age for 15 hours a week creates high standards and expectations in the Chinese society. Because math is one of the three core subjects in curricular exam, learning math and memorizing chants happens in the classroom as well as at home. It is great to have parents so involved in their children's education.
The Norms and procedures in this video stated clear rules. The teacher reviewed the rules before the lesson, which included how to sit on the carpet appropriately, raising hands before speaking, and listening to the full question before answering.
The teaching strategy of repetition and memorization of multiplication tables compliments positive aspects of approach. By memorization of multiplication tables students will always be thinking about math. Not only will students be always thinking about math, but it encourages parents to be more involved since math is a core subject that gets standardized testing. A clear directive of how repetition and memorization would work in my classroom would be during math. Having my students memorize math is a great idea and helps stimulate the mind. As a con to this strategy, as stated earlier the chanting in the video of the math answers would not work in my classroom due to behaviors.
Whole Brain Teaching:
In this video the academic expectations were high. Whole Brain Teaching was similar to the gradual release model, as it emphasized on how to teach a lesson. It used different methods and techniques that had attention grabbers, brain engagement, direct instruction, and collaborative learning. The students got to teach each other and learn from each other in finding locations.
Behavioral expectations included frequent collaboration. The students were engaged and expected to teach each other. It was expected for student to manage their own learning during collaboration.
The norms and procedures in this video were well established in a sense that the students knew what was expected of them. There was a brief review of the rules with the teacher and the students before the activity, and a list of rules that required students to raise hands before speaking, keep the teacher happy, make smart choices, and follow directions quickly. These rules seemed to work well in this classroom to create a positive climate.
The teaching strategy of collaborative learning compliments the positive aspect of the students teach students approach that was happening in the video. A pro to this approach is that when the students were having collaborative students discussions, it created peer and self assessment , which let the teacher keep track of where the students were at, and allowed social interaction for the students. A con of having the students teach each other is that if the student did not learn the lesson fully, they could be teaching the wrong idea to the other students. A clear directive of this would work in my classroom would be after a lesson having all four of my students get together in a group, group, and one sharing at a time ideas and thoughts, receiving feedback from the group.
Summary
Teaching K5 Special education in Fairfield, California means that I have to cater to different learning and behavioral levels. My class includes emotionally disturbed students, students with learning disabilities, students with behavioral disabilities, as well as autistic students. Watching these three videos have enlightened my teaching strategies, and opened up new learning possibilities for my classroom.
In comparing how I would create learning environments for my students that are similar to the three situations in the videos, I would keep all two scenarios similar except for one. For the first video Roller Coaster Physics, in contrast to having my students test the experiment at the same time across the classroom, I would have one group go at a time. I loved how each student had a job and role for the activity. The project based learning project would also be appropriate to use in my classroom. My students are antsy and almost anything can trigger a behavior it is best to have materials kept by the teacher and staff until the materials are ready to be used. I would also modify this activity in terms of materials that are physically hard so that they cannot be turned into weapons of destruction.
For the second video Chinese Math, this activity would work well for my classroom. I currently have four students total, so sitting on the rug together would not be a problem. As stated earlier, every student in my classroom is special and loves to be heard. Chanting out the answers does not work well in my classroom because some students like to be heard over other students, while other students don’t like to talk at all, with the end result resulting in behaviors. As a modification to this lesson food my classroom, instead of having the students chant together, I would call specifically on a quiet hand and ask for the answer. I do like the memorization of multiplication tables. In class currently, I have given each student a multiplication chart, and we will begin the memorization process shortly. I am thankful to have watched this video prior so that I can test out some strategies in my own classroom.
The last video Whole Brain Teaching was interesting to watch. Similarly in my classroom, I also have the students read out the rules as a class. This type of chanting works well with my students as they are all in agreement of the rules. Hopefully in the future rather than chanting the rules, my students will be able to implement the rules daily in the classroom. In conclusion, the videos watched all had the same thing of creating a positive classroom environment which in the end is essential for the motivation of students to learn.
References:
Wei, K. (n.d.). Explainer: what makes Chinese maths lessons so good? Retrieved March 25, 2014, from http://theconversation.com/explainer-what-makes-chinese-maths-lessons-so-good-24380
Whole Brain Teaching – The fastest growing education reform movement in the world! (n.d.). Retrieved November 30, 2017, from http://wholebrainteaching.com/
Roller Coaster Physics:
This video was really great to watch. The teacher had the students learning physics through fun by hands on learning. She implemented project based learning by having this project run over the course of a little over a week. The first week she had them test, the next week she had the students design their own coaster.
The strategies that she used worked well with her classroom. The first strategy she used was called chiming. This is where she would pick a chimer, that student would then tell about what trials and tribulations they had during the experiment from the week before, and other students would take notes while chiming into the chimer. The benefits of this was that it was a formative assessment tool for the teacher to understand where the students are at. It also promotes automus learning where students value other ideas and opinions. Another strategy that the teacher used was sketch designs. She separated the students into groups, and each group created a model sketch. The benefit of this strategy was that again the teacher could tell where the students were at, and it also created self assessment and peer assessment for the students. Sketches also created a team building environment, and allowed the students to come to a consensus on the project.
The teacher's strategies of more constraints eventually created better problem solvers in the classroom because the students were able to think more and problem solve because of the lack of materials.
As far as academic expectations there were high expectations from the beginning. The students were on task, and the teacher never had to remind anyone to be respectful and listen to peers during chiming. Each student was given a job to do and treated others with respect because that student had a job to complete. No student was wandering around the classroom bored because every student had a role and something to do. The behavior expectations were to be on task, safe with materials, and respectful when a student has the floor to talk. The norms and procedures were already in place because the student who was given the job of managing money knew about the budget that they had to stick to, ensuring no materials were stolen or out of place. The modeling of behavioral expectations were already high, so that was the norm in this classroom.
The teaching strategies used complimented positive aspects of project based learning. By providing each student with a role, each student always had something to do. It created cognitive flow because ideas from one student would roll onto another student during chiming, which really enhanced group collaboration. Student’s also used 21st century research skills by using technology to research ideas for their rollercoaster. The subject was engineering, but math was incorporated into this project with the idea of purchasing materials. That’s was super creative. A clear directive of how this activity would play out in my K5 Special Ed class has some pros and cons. For the chiming strategy, the con would be that my students would struggle as each student cannot stay quiet for long, and aren’t the best at taking turns. A pro for chiming in my class would be to pair them up rather than the whole class, and then do the chiming, as my students would greatly benefit from peer interaction. The other teaching strategy of sketching would greatly benefit my classroom. The pros of this include peer assessment as my students would be able to share their sketches after an activity we do such as reading or morning journal. By doing this I would also be able to see what they remembered from the story we read as I can look at the sketch that they drew. All in all, this was a great video to watch. I will be implementing some strategies in my own classroom to create a positive environment.
Chinese Math:
This video was interesting. The behavioral expectations were that the students be engaged in the lesson. They all had to chant in unison. It was a group lesson, which required the students to listen to the teacher.
The academic expectations included the memorization of times tables. The teacher lacked visuals in this lesson, as she would only use the whiteboard to write down math problems in which all answers had to come from each students memory. That is a lot of pressure when having to chant the correct answer as a class. It also makes it hard for the teacher to keep teach of which student got the answer incorrect.
The learning objective was that the students were expected to multiple three digit numbers at the end of the lesson. I believe the teaching strategies she used included a transitional approach. It seemed that to get the students attention she chanted something similar to “one, two, three eyes one me”, and the students chanted back before going onto the next problem. That seemed to work for her as the students were engaged, focused, and sat appropriately on the rug during the lesson.
Memorizing a math chant at an early age for 15 hours a week creates high standards and expectations in the Chinese society. Because math is one of the three core subjects in curricular exam, learning math and memorizing chants happens in the classroom as well as at home. It is great to have parents so involved in their children's education.
The Norms and procedures in this video stated clear rules. The teacher reviewed the rules before the lesson, which included how to sit on the carpet appropriately, raising hands before speaking, and listening to the full question before answering.
The teaching strategy of repetition and memorization of multiplication tables compliments positive aspects of approach. By memorization of multiplication tables students will always be thinking about math. Not only will students be always thinking about math, but it encourages parents to be more involved since math is a core subject that gets standardized testing. A clear directive of how repetition and memorization would work in my classroom would be during math. Having my students memorize math is a great idea and helps stimulate the mind. As a con to this strategy, as stated earlier the chanting in the video of the math answers would not work in my classroom due to behaviors.
Whole Brain Teaching:
In this video the academic expectations were high. Whole Brain Teaching was similar to the gradual release model, as it emphasized on how to teach a lesson. It used different methods and techniques that had attention grabbers, brain engagement, direct instruction, and collaborative learning. The students got to teach each other and learn from each other in finding locations.
Behavioral expectations included frequent collaboration. The students were engaged and expected to teach each other. It was expected for student to manage their own learning during collaboration.
The norms and procedures in this video were well established in a sense that the students knew what was expected of them. There was a brief review of the rules with the teacher and the students before the activity, and a list of rules that required students to raise hands before speaking, keep the teacher happy, make smart choices, and follow directions quickly. These rules seemed to work well in this classroom to create a positive climate.
The teaching strategy of collaborative learning compliments the positive aspect of the students teach students approach that was happening in the video. A pro to this approach is that when the students were having collaborative students discussions, it created peer and self assessment , which let the teacher keep track of where the students were at, and allowed social interaction for the students. A con of having the students teach each other is that if the student did not learn the lesson fully, they could be teaching the wrong idea to the other students. A clear directive of this would work in my classroom would be after a lesson having all four of my students get together in a group, group, and one sharing at a time ideas and thoughts, receiving feedback from the group.
Summary
Teaching K5 Special education in Fairfield, California means that I have to cater to different learning and behavioral levels. My class includes emotionally disturbed students, students with learning disabilities, students with behavioral disabilities, as well as autistic students. Watching these three videos have enlightened my teaching strategies, and opened up new learning possibilities for my classroom.
In comparing how I would create learning environments for my students that are similar to the three situations in the videos, I would keep all two scenarios similar except for one. For the first video Roller Coaster Physics, in contrast to having my students test the experiment at the same time across the classroom, I would have one group go at a time. I loved how each student had a job and role for the activity. The project based learning project would also be appropriate to use in my classroom. My students are antsy and almost anything can trigger a behavior it is best to have materials kept by the teacher and staff until the materials are ready to be used. I would also modify this activity in terms of materials that are physically hard so that they cannot be turned into weapons of destruction.
For the second video Chinese Math, this activity would work well for my classroom. I currently have four students total, so sitting on the rug together would not be a problem. As stated earlier, every student in my classroom is special and loves to be heard. Chanting out the answers does not work well in my classroom because some students like to be heard over other students, while other students don’t like to talk at all, with the end result resulting in behaviors. As a modification to this lesson food my classroom, instead of having the students chant together, I would call specifically on a quiet hand and ask for the answer. I do like the memorization of multiplication tables. In class currently, I have given each student a multiplication chart, and we will begin the memorization process shortly. I am thankful to have watched this video prior so that I can test out some strategies in my own classroom.
The last video Whole Brain Teaching was interesting to watch. Similarly in my classroom, I also have the students read out the rules as a class. This type of chanting works well with my students as they are all in agreement of the rules. Hopefully in the future rather than chanting the rules, my students will be able to implement the rules daily in the classroom. In conclusion, the videos watched all had the same thing of creating a positive classroom environment which in the end is essential for the motivation of students to learn.
References:
Wei, K. (n.d.). Explainer: what makes Chinese maths lessons so good? Retrieved March 25, 2014, from http://theconversation.com/explainer-what-makes-chinese-maths-lessons-so-good-24380
Whole Brain Teaching – The fastest growing education reform movement in the world! (n.d.). Retrieved November 30, 2017, from http://wholebrainteaching.com/
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