Exit Slip (Sept 28)

Multidimensional teaching and classrooms are fascinating to me. Seeing the level of engagement from the students and witnessing them working together in order to solve the problem was simply inspiring. I thought back to my own traditional math classes in high school and my consequent struggles with higher level math in university and wonder how well I could have done in a multidimensional math class, given the opportunity. Having never personally had any classes that strayed away from that traditional structure in high school, it is a bit daunting to be able to lead such classes but I am highly motivated to be able to do so as I see so much value for the students in it. They also seem to create space for teachers to be able to acknowledge students individually and as a group(s) with a much higher level of nuance. With recent readings, I have been starting to form negative associations with the difficulty of giving praise in a classroom but after discussing with my peers the more tactful and productive ways to acknowledge a student, I am less adverse to the idea of praising students in class. I also really enjoyed the exercise of splitting into groups based on extro or introverted - ness. I feel these exercises can build empathy and understanding between people. Having a loud, outspoken group to find commonalities with and hearing the thoughts of those who were the complete opposite was very valuable and I know I will be meditating on this going forward to hopefully be able to improve myself personally as well as improve my relationships with others.

Max Van Manen on 'Tact in Teaching': Entrance Slip

When one generally thinks of the the term pedagogy, it is defined in a technical sense, of how to effectively deliver content. This delivery seems hardly ever considered in the light of really HOW to do so while maintaining emotional boundaries with yourself and your clients, the students and parents. This article was very interesting in highlighting the difficulties with being universally tactful. "But a problem with giving recognition is that it may lead to feelings of inequality." As an encouraging, positive person in general, I do find myself giving compliments, easily and without reservation generally. The examples and especially story from one complimented student did give me pause however - it honestly had never occurred to me that praise can be so personal when in a public forum. Being singled out, despite all good intentions, especially being a young adult who is still developing their self confidence and identity, could be rather detrimental for the student, therefore being considered untactful. It could be perceived as favoritism by other students, teachers, and parents as well. Furthermore, other high achieving students that are not publicly praised could take offense or be demoralized by the lack of compliments on their achievements. A teacher's practical wisdom may be influenced by good or bad situations resulting from giving compliments. The tact of being an universally encouraging teacher for myself seems to potentially lie in reining public compliments back or reserving them for very extremely positive occasions while maintaining a positive demeanor towards all students in each class. "The perceptiveness needed, the understanding or insight required, the feeling for the right action are not necessarily separate stages in a sequential process." Being able to think on one's feet and maintain healthy boundaries with so many people simultaneously is a daunting task. Unfortunately, I personally do not see any way around it as a teacher aside from what the article alludes to of being conscious of the potential consequences of your actions or inaction in the social situation of a classroom. I believe self reflection and thoughtfulness go a long way in this. Being practiced outside of the classroom in sensing personal space boundaries and the moods of people you are interacting with seems a huge benefit to this point. Being socially awkward in having ambiguity about your own boundaries and mood would be quite detrimental in any interaction and especially detrimental in perceiving another's in order to chose a 'right action' on the fly. Practicing socializing with people and asking for feedback in interactions with friends and mentors could be useful in defining your own boundaries etc. in order to be able to perceive those of other people and be able to react appropriately. "If teachers were to try to be constantly critically aware of what they were doing and why they were doing those things, they would inevitably become artificial and flounder." It is easy to make tact as a teacher about self-reflection and moderating your actions as a teacher but this quote brings up a good point. At some point, it will become too much to break it down into steps or justify your reasoning for your executed actions. Good or bad, your own personal values and natural personality will play a large role in your interactions with people and at some point, you are going to unconsciously slide back into your natural state of perceptiveness because one simply cannot, be on, all of the time. I think it is to the benefit of a teacher to play on their natural strengths while consciously reinforcing their own desired insight and reaction skills. It occurs to me that children and their parents alike will be able to sense if you are being artificial. This might be worse than a tactfulness transgression. Overall, this article has made me reflect on my own approaches in communicating with people. Developing tact seems such an elusive vague task but I believe this reflection and conscious incorporation of tactful methods will result in an overall improvement in my own tact as a teacher which ideally will one day become my standard. My students will benefit and perhaps even learn tact themselves from my example. Dealing with parents just seems straightforward in that you would always want to be tactful when discussing their child in any situation. A lack of tact in that case could create tension and conflict that may influence the student negatively. Tactfulness is an extremely valuable skill, especially in conflict resolution, and I believe with a bit of practice and awareness tact as a teacher can be an on going learning process.

FLIP classrooms - exit slip

Coming from a math and science background, I absolutely love the concept of FLIP classrooms. The ability of students to have to pause and review within videos can help learn concepts and then they have time to think about the topic and develop questions to discuss in class. This also gives students the ability to clarify anything they were not able to grasp beforehand. As the classroom portion is not simply a lecture and note taking, they can be more engaging when using demonstrations and interactive activities. In my personal experience, retention of information is much higher in more engaging and interactive settings. Specific to Khan Academy type programs, the ability to track students' progress etc is extremely useful in the assessment of students. Having practice questions to complete before class enforces retention while highlighting weak and strong areas to focus on in the classroom. This gives a teacher the opportunity to really address concepts giving students difficulty. One could also develop demonstrations etc. specific to rounding out the knowledge of the class before moving on and to build on those concepts. FLIP does not have to be videos - can be anything where the student is familiarizing themselves with the main concepts and then exploring further in class. While there is a level of discipline required, a conscious assessment system could mitigate any difficulties (i.e. Khan Academy tracking) In general, FLIP classrooms, especially in math and science, seem effective and a more efficient use of time within the traditional schooling structure.

Entrance Slip: On Becoming a Reflective Teacher

Despite the differences in the frame of reference from when this was written, this article speaks very strongly to me. All of the questioned posed and the methods suggested seem very intuitive to me but it affected me deeply because while because of my personal background, this reflection practice is intuitive to me, not everyone would agree based on their own backgrounds as a teacher candidate. The issues such as time constraints and having diverse classrooms and teachers has remained the same. In my previous profession in oil and gas operations and production, the continuity of projects requires constant reflection on what has been done in order to evaluate the effectiveness of previous actions and decide how to move forward. This iterative process is simply ingrained into every aspect of my life, and I can confidently relate to the wholeheartedness portion of this piece. Certain points seem extremely dated to me, within my own privileged and diverse frame of reference in 2017, such as considering the cultures of others, especially around holidays, referring to and using multiple sources, the concept of inclusiveness, and the entire section regarding the worthiness of reflective teaching, especially in the context of whether it is a realist/desirable goal. As a staunch advocate of iterative reflection in order to improve future practices, this section, while having extremely good points, did seem pedantic to me. While I feel I already espouse the ideals of the authors of this piece, it is a good reference to the practice of reflective teaching. It poses many excellent questions which I could personally use to critically think and use to guide my reflective teaching practice, especially in staying aware of my own biases and any "hidden curriculum" I could be pushing in my own classrooms.

Sept 14 - exit slip (Frank McCourt)

Frank's story is very inspiring to myself as a new teacher with only a small amount of teaching experience. His easily identified traits that identified him as different from the norm seemed be his greatest strength in building rapport with his students. I feel this was the case because his teenage students also would likely be able to easily relate to the feeling of standing out. That commonality would bridge the gap between the students and their teacher which exists especially in the case of authority figures like teachers. His comments regarding not forcing students to learn made me think that in teaching to students, one should aspire to adapt and fit into the gaps students have to support and strengthen them, as opposed to forcing a rigidly structured program upon them. This seems to mean that being an effective teacher highly depends on how flexible your lesson plans can be while remaining relevant. Improvising combined with this preparation can also mean there are opportunities to relate the topic at hand to the world outside of the classroom and facilitate the students' engagement.

Entrance Slip - Inquiry Topic Possibilities

1) The connection of geoscience to other subject areas and everyday life of a student - teaching techniques and how to relate geoscience principles and knowledge to other disciplines. Strategies to support the implementation of this knowledge outside of the classroom into the future. 2) The effectiveness of field trips and the power of abstraction. Especially in the field of geoscience, the concepts can be demonstrated but for true understanding, should experience real examples 3) Critical thinking and critical evaluation of available information in forming opinions and decisions making. The value of including current events into lesson plans and the development of information evaluation in decision making. Teaching how to find, understand, and disseminate unbiased information Also: Teaching soft skills versus teaching concepts and bridging the gap from school into 'the real world'

Exit Slip - Sept 7

The statements regarding mathematics education struck me as I had personally encountered them many times not only in my academic past, but also in my professional, technical roles. All 6 statements are seemingly easily argued by those who do not exist in a realm where math is readily used or apparent in their passions everyday life. Even those who apply mathematics everyday, such as my technical colleagues, were often not aware of these fallacies based on their assumptions. These fallacies seem to stem from an education system based heavily on exams and testing as an educational ends. The frequency that these common statements occur demonstrates to me a general lack of engagement in the subject of mathematics. This lack inspires a somewhat non-intuitive wave of creativity to relate math, generally perceived as a strict and non-creative area, to all people and their individual, familiar perspectives. The integration of mathematics into other subjects and vice versa seems an effective way of turning the abstract tool of mathematics into tangibly useful and relatable tools.