Students
looked at an image from the book “Flotsum,” by David Wiesner. Their engagement seemed very high to me, and
most hands wear raised enthusiastically throughout the discussion. Students found all kinds of interesting
things in the rich illustration. One of
my favorite responses was the student who offered that the details in the foreground were similar to the turtle’s back in the
middle ground; therefore, it must be a turtle in the foreground as well. This response in particular shows evidence of
Level II thinking. I feel like the
students learned to respect different viewpoints, by disagreeing respectfully
with each other over the alien-sea creatures.
The VTS discussion
felt very comfortable to me. I feel like
I was able to use my knowledge of this process to date with more certainty than
in prior weeks. I was surprised at
seeing myself in the video paraphrase more confidently than I have in the past. I am happy to see this growth in myself, and
I would like to continue to build off of this momentum. I see myself wanting to continue to get
better at linking the discussion, so that it moves along more fluidly and
organically. I think the phrase “What more can we find?” becomes more
powerful when the facilitator has a good grasp of what has been said, and
expresses that understanding in subtle yet effective ways. I feel like I will become more adept at this
with continued practice.
I agree that the students were very interested in and excited to talk about this image which is evidence that it was a good "fit." Their confidence in sharing diverse ideas and interpretations was encouraged by your neutrality which continues to be a strength. Your paraphrasing, also, is becoming much more accurate and fluid. Conditional language, vocabulary scaffolding, and linking are also entering your repertoire and will soon become solidly integrated into your practice. I know the children appreciate the seriousness and receptiveness with which you accept their responses and I'm also seeing increased comfort in managing students who speak out or engage in side conversations during the discussion. So much growth in a few short weeks! Nice job!
ReplyDeleteSorry, but I realized that I hadn't post my peer review yet. For the second time, I have to retype my post, I have found that if you have to log back into blogger if it's been awhile while your typing, that your text will disappear. So beware, copy your text before you post.
ReplyDeleteMike, your demeanor showed that you are interested in hearing their thoughts and I think you do a good job of being neutral. You are getting consistent withe questions two and three. If evidence is offered you will move on to paraphrasing which is good too. Conditional language was used consistently too. I liked how your starting to scaffold language, and asked the student to define plankton, which seemed to emphasize to the class that we are learning language here and that it is a good idea to listen. I was very impressed by the student that demonstrated stage II thinking when she pointed out the the shells/houses in the front of the picture were like the ones on the back of the turtle in the middle ground and that the one on in front must be a partial view of a similar turtle. You also did some linking of ideas. Pointing out areas of agreement and disagreement too. Keep up the good work, it is showing.