Trigger Questions for Arts Action Research
R. Veon
NOTE: See the Action Research Guide for Alberta Teachers for a VERY clear, short, easy to understand guide to doing action research. It is excellent—quick and to the point!!
Categories:
There are different categories of action research you may wish to consider. The questions below are “trigger questions” because they will need to be adapted to your circumstances, philosophy, or interests; you will need to refine them into something that can be observed/measured in your situation. In some cases, you may already believe that you “know” the answer to a research question; if so, your research project should be conceived in such a way as to test your assumptions by providing clear data/evidence showing that your assumptions are or are not well-founded.
• Motivation, Interest, and Attitudes: "How is ensemble or group practice affecting students' attitudes toward music?"; “How do museum field trip affect students’ attitudes towards art? What kinds of museum or symphony experiences leave a lasting impression on students?”; "What types of lessons are the most motivating and why?”; "How can I use popular culture to develop a window to music or art content?"; “How can I increase student interest in Jazz, Classical music or Cubist, Abstract, or Conceptual Art?”; “To what extent do my students associate me with arts subject, and does this association lead them to be more or less interested in it?”
• Home-School-Community Links: "How do we get parents interested in promoting their kids' arts learning/talent?"; "How can we promote arts engagement in homes, for example, with teenage mothers?"; "What if there is no one at home that values my arts subject? What can we do?"; “What is the most effective method of getting parents to a performance or exhibition?”; “How do I increase parent volunteerism in my arts program?”; “ What is the most effective way of working with parents to ensure students practice consistently at home?”
• Content Reading/Learning From Text/Functional Literacy: "I'd like to know more about teaching reading and writing through my arts subjects"; “Is there a correlation between improved site reading and reading scores?”
• Assessment: "Self evaluation-how can kids evaluate themselves?"; "How can I assess risk-taking?" “What does developing an unusual, unique, or innovative viewpoint mean in the context of my art class? What do these words mean to my kids and what do I need to do to help them develop such a viewpoint? What constitutes basic, proficient, and advanced creative thinking in the context of my school and my particular group of students?”
• Technology: "How can I use technology as an expressive medium? How does using technology in this way impact student motivation and learning?”; “How much do my students really know about technology? What are their real technology skills?”; "My students love I-phones and other gadgets. How can I use personal technology and social media to better teach my arts subject?”
• Diversity: Linguistic, Racial, Cultural: "Communication levels among students with different backgrounds and races-how can we promote broader tolerance and understanding? How do the arts interact with this process?"; "How do we deal with an ESL child who is neither fluent in English nor his first language?"; “How can art help an ESL student learn?”; “I have a partially blind/deaf child in my arts class; what accommodations can I make to help them learn my subject and how do I assess the effects these have?” "What effects will corresponding with a pen pal about music representing various cultures have upon students' racial attitudes, cultural awareness, and ethnic identity?"
• Instructional Strategies and Interventions: “What happens when I ask open-ended questions (such as: “What strategies can you use to match your pitch to that of others in your class?” “How might you describe music sung or played without changes in dynamics?” “What happens when we perform some pitches without taking the key signature into consideration?”) Does it improve learning, engagement, or inquiry? What strategies can I use to coach students in answering open-ended questions without “feeding” them the answer?"; “What is the impact on student learning if I emphasize postmodern principles of art-making? Will their use of the elements and principles be more meaningful to them and, if so, how do I know?”; “What effect on learning does using a choice-based art class model have?”; “Does regular use of a sketchbook (and teaching students how to use them) result in students being more articulate about their art? Does it result in more original or personally meaningful imagery?”; "Can peer tutoring impact skill acquisition and arts learning?"; "How will students who are given an opportunity to participate in generating their own curriculum respond? How will involvement in this activity affect their motivation to learn?"; "How does analyzing transcripts of videotaped critiques of art, music, dance, or drama result in informed reflection on second-grade students' thinking, listening, and reading and on eighth-grade students' metacognitive thinking?"; "What can I do to prompt genuine conversation about the arts, and does that conversation change if the partner is a peer rather than an adult? Does it change if it is a parent rather than a teacher? What if it is an online discussion (blog or video) with a peer from another school?"; "How will in-class discussions and activities designed to focus on key thinking skills influence aptitude scores, learning attitudes, and the ability to engage in general academic tasks demonstrating problem solving skills and strategies?"; "Will at-risk ninth graders practice more and improve their attitudes toward the disciplined study of music if they can choose the music that interests them?"
• Disciplinary Master/Thinking Like an Musician or Artist/Arts-Centered Learning: “How well do I communicate the creative process to my students? Apart from principles of design and procedures for using media, what do my students know about the creative process? What do they need to know? What part of the process do they need to practice?” “Have I taught my subject so well that they can apply their arts learning successfully to an age-appropriate problem or challenge that they have never seen before, but which can be answered using the skills I’ve taught? If not, what do I need to change about my instruction so that they can generalize and apply their learning to new situations?” "Does developing confidence as an musician or artist encourage confidence as an arts, and how does being an musician/artist affect student learning? Will becoming part of an adult community of musicians/artists enable us to help children when they encounter problems with their arts endeavors?"
• Pink: You can focus action research around Pink’s Six Senses. The action research can be about using the 6 Senses to change how you teach or about developing the 6 Senses in your students. Examples: “Can I use stories as an instructional strategy for demonstrating creative thinking, and, if so, what kind of stories result in more unique, innovative artwork?”; “What kinds of stories can I use when interacting with students that result in them practicing more at home?” (Story); “If I use more emotionally evocative words, stories, or metaphors, do my students play better—and, if so, in what ways?”; “Does dramatic role-play increase the emotional expressiveness of student art?” (Empathy); “I give my students the following assignment: create a rondo [ABACADA form] using a familiar song as the repeating A section, and compose short rhythmic or melodic materials for the B, C, and D sections using pitched or non-pitched percussion instruments, found sounds, recorders, or body percussion. What strategies and skills do students actually (as opposed to those skills the “theoretically” use, such as higher-order thinking) use to complete it? Do they collaborate, ask the class expert or other authority (such as the teacher), look for information in books or the web, use trial and error? What kinds of standards do they apply as they work on their own?”; “How can I design my room and instructional strategy to take advantage of my students’ interests, sense of fashion, or sense of humor in ways that result in increased student engagement?”; “What unusual experiences can I design that will result in my students seeing my subject in a new light?”; “How can I ensure that my students apply previous design knowledge and skills to new design-challenges in art?”; “Using game-making software, can I design a video-game that results in students’ learning better?” (Design); “Which games can I use or make-up that result in retaining what they learn?”; “How does using humor in the classroom contribute to students’ willingness to take risks?” (Play); “In what ways does the pressure of public performances/exhibitions contribute to students actively making connections between concepts and skills that they have learned?”; “Apart from my insistence that they use the principles of design, what are the standards that students really use to determine when an artwork is done? On their own, what things do the feel satisfaction in when they decide that an artwork is done?”; “Does letting middle school students take turns conducting help them see the interconnectedness of the different parts in a musical composition?” (Symphony); “How do students’ interpretations of a song change from reading the lyrics without music to reading and hearing the lyrics with music? Does this exercise affect they way the understand or value the music?”; “Does the Feldman model of art criticism or the Visual Thinking Strategies method make artworks more meaningful to students? Which helps them tell more about an artwork?”; “Will emphasizing contemporary art practices/projects motivate my students and lead to greater engagement and learning?” (Meaning).
References:
Research Questions Teachers Ask: A Report from the National Reading Research Center School Research Consortium. Co-Authors: James F. Baumann, JoBeth Allen, and Betty Shockley. University of Georgia. Retrieved from: http://curry.edschool.virginia.edu/go/clic/nrrc/ques_r30.html
Developing a Research Question
Where do research questions come from? Simply put, action research questions originate in a teacher’s reflections. Everyday there are situations that cause you to reflect later. You might ask yourself...
Sentence Stems
Focus on your classroom or role in the school and complete the
following sentence stems.
One thing I would like to change is...
Why did it happen?
What was different?
How can it be changed?
What should I do next?
My practice could be improved by...
The students I work with need...
I would like to know...
I wonder why...
The most important thing about teaching is...
The best learning environment for students is...
I need to learn how to...
My students would do better if...
Strategies you can use to develop a research question
Keep a journal for at least one week, preferably two
✐ Set aside 10 minutes to write at the end of each day.
✐ At the end of two weeks, read your journal, looking for significant ideas and themes.
✐ Brainstorm a list of things that you would like to investigate.
✐ Review the list and write a first draft of your question.
✐ Write a paragraph of supporting rationale for your question.
✐ Reflect on your question.
(Patterson et al 1993, 23–25)
Affinity charting (for collaborative action research)
➜ Brainstorm issues of concern or interests relating to your educational context. Record each item on a separate note.
➜ Group your items using affinity charting. Place the most diverse statements on the table in a row. Place items that have a common theme or focus in each column.
➜ Review and reflect on the placement. Do some items fit better in a different column?
➜ Develop a draft research question that reflects the key issue in each column.
➜ Choose the question that most interests you and is possible to study.
Points to consider in developing a good question
Studying this question will enhance my professional practice.
This question will be of value to my classroom, school and/or
colleagues.
The climate of my classroom and school will be supportive of this
question.
The question focuses on an important issue.
The question can be studied in the time available.
I can access literature or other resources that will provide
background information.
The data needed to answer this question is accessible.
The question is of personal interest to me.
11-step process
David Townsend, a professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Lethbridge, has made extensive use of an 11-step process with teachers in Alberta.
1 ➢ Define the Focus or Problem
• Ask the right questions.
• Reflection begins.
2 ➢ Collect Information
• Read the literature, consult colleagues, talk to experts.
• Reflection continues.
3 ➢ Make Sense of the Information
• What is relevant?
• What is doable?
• What can be modified and adapted to suit the circumstances?
4 ➢ Share the Information
• Share your preliminary conclusions with your team.
• Be prepared to deal with conflicting information.
5 ➢ Plan Action
• Share individual intentions with members of the team.
• Build personal commitment and group support.
• Develop a plan of action.
6 ➢ Take Action
• Start putting your plan into effect.
• Begin to think otherwise about what is happening and why.
• Reflection in action and on action will make your efforts more purposeful.
7 ➢ Collect Information
• Let your students see you as a learner.
• Gather data to answer your research question and document carefully.
• Meet regularly to share your experiences and re-focus as necessary.
8 ➢ Analyze
• Use the collective knowledge of your group to make sense of what’s happening and why.
• Compare the pre- and post-intervention data.
9 ➢ Assess Your Achievements
• Think about evidence-based practice.
• Your conclusions are supported by the data collected.
10 ➢ Publish
• Commit yourself to making conclusions about the impact of your efforts.
• Share these conclusions with the group.
• Be prepared to disseminate your report beyond your group and beyond the school.
11 ➢ Future Action
• Celebrate. Relax. Reflect. Take time to consolidate your learning and before you start something new.
Sources of Data:
You may need more than one source to adequately test your research hypothesis/question.
Document analysis
❏ student achievement data ❏ diagnostic assessment ❏ self-evaluation
❏ samples of student work ❏ attendance records ❏ anecdotal records
❏ files ❏ standardized test scores ❏ behavior records
❏ literature review ❏ web research ❏ journal
❏ lesson plans ❏ portfolio ❏ activity reports
❏ pre-test and post-test ❏ Other??
Observations
❏ checklists ❏ anecdotal records ❏ video tapes
❏ sociograms ❏ rubrics ❏ Other
Interviews
❏ students ❏ teachers
❏ administrators ❏ parents
❏ experts ❏ focus groups
❏ surveys ❏ questionnaires
❏ Other
References:
Research Questions Teachers Ask: A Report from the National Reading Research Center School Research Consortium. Co-Authors: James F. Baumann, JoBeth Allen, and Betty Shockley. University of Georgia. Retrieved from: http://curry.edschool.virginia.edu/go/clic/nrrc/ques_r30.html
Action Research Guide for Alberta Teachers. Copyright © 2000 by the Alberta Teachers’ Association (ATA). Retrieve from the web at:
http://www.teachers.ab.ca/SiteCollectionDocuments/ATA/Quick%20Links/Publications/Other%20Publications/ActionResearch.pdf
Patterson, L., C. Minnick Santa, K. G. Short and K. Smith (eds). 1993. Teachers Are Researchers: Reflection and Action. Newark, Del: International Reading Association.
On Sociograms: http://www.behavioradvisor.com/Sociogram.html
The Ontarion Action Researcher:
http://www.unipissing.ca/oar/index.htm
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Action Research for Teachers
Check out this SlideShare Presentation:
Action Research for Teachers
View more presentations from Suzie Vesper.
What is Action Research?
Check out this SlideShare Presentation:
What is Action Research?
View more documents from Greg Waddell.
Action Research 2009
Check out this SlideShare Presentation:
Action Research 2009
View more presentations from adrianajvr.
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Outlines and lead ideas for video reflection
Teaching Video Reflection
1. Instructional Context
The context for this instructional sequence consists of…. (cite number of students, grade level, age, subject being taught, length of class and frequency that it meets)
Relevant characteristics of this class that influenced the selection of this instructional sequence include….
I chose this lesson because….
Relevant background information is…. (cite only DIRECTLY RELEVANT information; this should not take much space in your reflection)
Another feature of my teaching context is my room…. (describe RELEVANT physical aspects of room)
I am provided with an annual budget that…
In this lesson, I demonstrate technology use by…
Cite any other RELEVANT information needed to understand the video and cite EVIDENCE
2. Planning and Teaching Analysis
My instructional objectives for this lesson are…
These goals are appropriate for this class because… (cite specific evidence why these objectives are appropriate for this specific group of students; demonstrate detailed knowledge of your students and provide evidence)
One way I demonstrate knowledge of my students in the video is by …. This helped my students by….
I demonstrate outstanding knowledge of my arts discipline in this lesson by… I further use my knowledge of arts history, aesthetics, and creativity by…
Student learning in this video segment is demonstrated by…
I established and maintained a healthy and safe environment by...
I fostered an equitable learning environment by…
I ensured that students received adequate individual attention while encouraging them to be independent thinkers by…
Particular interactions that I had with groups or individual students that resulted in the acquisition or reinforcement of arts learning include:
The assessment strategy that I use in this lesson to help students reflect on their progress and move forward with new understandings is….
My reason for using this assessment strategy is…
This assessment strategy benefitted students by… This assessment strategy is useful for me as an instructor because… Using this strategy, I learned the following about my students...and I will use this information by….
3. Reflection
My students met/did not meet the goals of this lesson as evidenced by….
Add further reflections; use the following list of prompts as a guide.
Reflective Writing Prompts
1. Personal reaction to experience
2. Reflection occurs after an experience or teaching situation
3. Is based on analysis
4. Reflection is a tool for assessing your own level of competence
5. What is important about what I have learned?
6. What did I learn about myself?
7. What did I learn about my students?
8. How will this action affect future instruction
9. How will you use what you have learned from experience to improve your instruction in the future?
10. How did the evidence make you more aware of the Best Practice?
11. What did you learn about yourself professionally regarding this practice?
12. What did you learn about yourself in terms of developing cognitively-based creative skills in your students?
13. What did you learn about yourself in terms of developing aesthetic comprehension in your students?
I would/would not change this lesson because… This is significant because…. I will use this experience in the future by…
1. Instructional Context
The context for this instructional sequence consists of…. (cite number of students, grade level, age, subject being taught, length of class and frequency that it meets)
Relevant characteristics of this class that influenced the selection of this instructional sequence include….
I chose this lesson because….
Relevant background information is…. (cite only DIRECTLY RELEVANT information; this should not take much space in your reflection)
Another feature of my teaching context is my room…. (describe RELEVANT physical aspects of room)
I am provided with an annual budget that…
In this lesson, I demonstrate technology use by…
Cite any other RELEVANT information needed to understand the video and cite EVIDENCE
2. Planning and Teaching Analysis
My instructional objectives for this lesson are…
These goals are appropriate for this class because… (cite specific evidence why these objectives are appropriate for this specific group of students; demonstrate detailed knowledge of your students and provide evidence)
One way I demonstrate knowledge of my students in the video is by …. This helped my students by….
I demonstrate outstanding knowledge of my arts discipline in this lesson by… I further use my knowledge of arts history, aesthetics, and creativity by…
Student learning in this video segment is demonstrated by…
I established and maintained a healthy and safe environment by...
I fostered an equitable learning environment by…
I ensured that students received adequate individual attention while encouraging them to be independent thinkers by…
Particular interactions that I had with groups or individual students that resulted in the acquisition or reinforcement of arts learning include:
The assessment strategy that I use in this lesson to help students reflect on their progress and move forward with new understandings is….
My reason for using this assessment strategy is…
This assessment strategy benefitted students by… This assessment strategy is useful for me as an instructor because… Using this strategy, I learned the following about my students...and I will use this information by….
3. Reflection
My students met/did not meet the goals of this lesson as evidenced by….
Add further reflections; use the following list of prompts as a guide.
Reflective Writing Prompts
1. Personal reaction to experience
2. Reflection occurs after an experience or teaching situation
3. Is based on analysis
4. Reflection is a tool for assessing your own level of competence
5. What is important about what I have learned?
6. What did I learn about myself?
7. What did I learn about my students?
8. How will this action affect future instruction
9. How will you use what you have learned from experience to improve your instruction in the future?
10. How did the evidence make you more aware of the Best Practice?
11. What did you learn about yourself professionally regarding this practice?
12. What did you learn about yourself in terms of developing cognitively-based creative skills in your students?
13. What did you learn about yourself in terms of developing aesthetic comprehension in your students?
I would/would not change this lesson because… This is significant because…. I will use this experience in the future by…
Monday, October 26, 2009
Syllabus
a.r.t.s.APS
2009/10
Critical Aesthetic Response class
(Instrumental )
Dr. Adriana Janse van Rensburg
Mr. William Earvin
Texts:
1. Pink, D.H. (2005). A whole new mind.
2. Gardner, H. (2008). 5 Minds for the Future.
3. Levitin, D.J. (2006). This is your Brain on Music.
DATE CLASS AGENDA ASSIGNMENTS
October 17, 2009 9-9.45 a.m. General Session
10-1p.m. Teachers rotate through six introductory half-hour sessions.
• Build your blog: Lisa Whittington
• VTS: Raymond Veon
• Reflective writing: Adriana van Rensburg
• TAA: John Badenhorst, Garnetta Penn, Natalie Colbert
• CAR: Marcy Simmons, William Earvin
• Pink: Barry Stewart Mann 1. Read Pink.
2. Post a weekly journal entry to your blog reflecting on your readings of that week. Include a reflective writing paragraph that relates how you applied some of the Pink concepts in your class(es), the student responses and your evaluation and recommendations.
3. Be prepared to discuss Pink in the November class.
November 14, 2009 9-10 a.m. Pre Test
30 min. Class discussion: Pink
30 min. Class discussion: what is aesthetics? How do we develop aesthetic understanding in our students – why is it important? Creativity.
20 min. Introduce the project: Applications of the readings in my teaching.
12.45 – 1 p.m. Reflective writing 1. Complete the four structured response questions on your blog by Nov. 21, 2009
2. Start reading Gardner (required for the January class) and post a weekly journal entry to your blog reflecting on your reading. Include a reflective writing paragraph that relates how you applied some of the Gardner concepts in your class(es), the student responses and your evaluation and recommendations.
3. Identify an area of interest based on the Pink and Gardner readings and design applications of these concepts to your teaching situation. Start building a “project area” in your blog. The final project on your blog will be due on May 8, 2010. A possible format for your project could be:
• Introduction
• Conceptual and theoretical base
• Domain of the project
• Design of the project
• Description of the project
• Methodology and process
• Results
• Analysis
• Conclusion
This project would include writings, pictures, and
video .
December 12, 2009 9-9.45 a.m. General Session
20 min. VTS practice
20 min. Sound Reasoning: Introduce, discuss parallel with VTS, working towards MTS
20 min. Gardener discussion points
20 min APS 26 best practices, correlations to the readings and your classroom practice
12.45 – 1 p.m. Reflective writing 1. Continue reading Gardner, posting a weekly journal entry to your blog. Include a reflective writing paragraph that relates how you applied some of the Gardner concepts in your class(es), the student responses and your evaluation and recommendations thereof.
2. Sound Reasoning http://cnx.org/content/col10214/1.16
Please start working through the course, and listen to the clips. Be ready for classroom discussion.
3. Be prepared to respond to Gardner discussion in the January class.
January 9, 2010 9-945 a.m. General Session
30 min. Class discussion: Gardner
20 min. Applications of Gardner, Pink, Levitin, APS 26 best practices and the National Standards in your teaching.
30 min. Becoming a reflective practitioner: developing an independent aesthetics philosophy
12.45 – 1 p.m. Reflective writing 1. Start reading Levitin (required for the March class) and post a weekly journal entry to your blog reflecting on your reading. Include a reflective writing paragraph that relates how you applied some of the Levitin concepts in your class(es), the student responses and your evaluation and recommendations thereof.
2. Add work to your project.
February 13, 2010 9-9.45 a.m. General Session
30 min. APAL
30 min. VTS and MTS
20 min. Reflect on a class you taught this week: tie in to readings
12.45 – 1 p.m. Reflective writing 1. Continue reading Levitin, posting a weekly journal entry to your blog. Include a reflective writing paragraph that relates how you applied some of the Levitin concepts in your class(es), the student responses and your evaluation and recommendations thereof.
2. Continue adding to your project.
3. Be prepared to respond to discussion points in the March class.
March 13, 2010 9-9.45 a.m. General Session
30 min. Round table discussion on the three completed readings.
20 min. Small group Sound Reasoning discussion
30 min. Class discussion: Levitin
12.45 – 1 p.m. Reflective writing 1. Continue weekly journal entries on your blog.
2. Continue adding to your project.
April 17, 2010 9-9.45 a.m. General Session
30 min. independent contributions on journal writing, reading reflections and blog sharing.
30 min. Overview of the course.
20 min. Bringing it all together: Where do we go from here?
12.45 – 1 p.m. Reflective writing 1. Projects must be completed this month. Be ready to share a synopsis of your project in the next class including pictures and video on your blog.
2. Review final details in your readings to be ready for the post test.
May 8, 2010 9-10 Post Test
70 min. Project presentations.
15 min. Wrapping up
12.45 – 1 p.m. Reflective writing 1. Final weekly journal entries on your blog this month.
2. Include one area of reflective writing on what your have gained from this course.
June 5, 2010 Field Experience (details to follow) 1. Enter a concert review on your blog. Include:
• The event, place, nature of the fieldtrip
• Describe the artistic event
• Analyze the event
• Reflect on the event
• Draw on your readings, project, national standards, APS 26 best practices, and your personal aesthetic philosophy as you reflect on the event.
2009/10
Critical Aesthetic Response class
(Instrumental )
Dr. Adriana Janse van Rensburg
Mr. William Earvin
Texts:
1. Pink, D.H. (2005). A whole new mind.
2. Gardner, H. (2008). 5 Minds for the Future.
3. Levitin, D.J. (2006). This is your Brain on Music.
DATE CLASS AGENDA ASSIGNMENTS
October 17, 2009 9-9.45 a.m. General Session
10-1p.m. Teachers rotate through six introductory half-hour sessions.
• Build your blog: Lisa Whittington
• VTS: Raymond Veon
• Reflective writing: Adriana van Rensburg
• TAA: John Badenhorst, Garnetta Penn, Natalie Colbert
• CAR: Marcy Simmons, William Earvin
• Pink: Barry Stewart Mann 1. Read Pink.
2. Post a weekly journal entry to your blog reflecting on your readings of that week. Include a reflective writing paragraph that relates how you applied some of the Pink concepts in your class(es), the student responses and your evaluation and recommendations.
3. Be prepared to discuss Pink in the November class.
November 14, 2009 9-10 a.m. Pre Test
30 min. Class discussion: Pink
30 min. Class discussion: what is aesthetics? How do we develop aesthetic understanding in our students – why is it important? Creativity.
20 min. Introduce the project: Applications of the readings in my teaching.
12.45 – 1 p.m. Reflective writing 1. Complete the four structured response questions on your blog by Nov. 21, 2009
2. Start reading Gardner (required for the January class) and post a weekly journal entry to your blog reflecting on your reading. Include a reflective writing paragraph that relates how you applied some of the Gardner concepts in your class(es), the student responses and your evaluation and recommendations.
3. Identify an area of interest based on the Pink and Gardner readings and design applications of these concepts to your teaching situation. Start building a “project area” in your blog. The final project on your blog will be due on May 8, 2010. A possible format for your project could be:
• Introduction
• Conceptual and theoretical base
• Domain of the project
• Design of the project
• Description of the project
• Methodology and process
• Results
• Analysis
• Conclusion
This project would include writings, pictures, and
video .
December 12, 2009 9-9.45 a.m. General Session
20 min. VTS practice
20 min. Sound Reasoning: Introduce, discuss parallel with VTS, working towards MTS
20 min. Gardener discussion points
20 min APS 26 best practices, correlations to the readings and your classroom practice
12.45 – 1 p.m. Reflective writing 1. Continue reading Gardner, posting a weekly journal entry to your blog. Include a reflective writing paragraph that relates how you applied some of the Gardner concepts in your class(es), the student responses and your evaluation and recommendations thereof.
2. Sound Reasoning http://cnx.org/content/col10214/1.16
Please start working through the course, and listen to the clips. Be ready for classroom discussion.
3. Be prepared to respond to Gardner discussion in the January class.
January 9, 2010 9-945 a.m. General Session
30 min. Class discussion: Gardner
20 min. Applications of Gardner, Pink, Levitin, APS 26 best practices and the National Standards in your teaching.
30 min. Becoming a reflective practitioner: developing an independent aesthetics philosophy
12.45 – 1 p.m. Reflective writing 1. Start reading Levitin (required for the March class) and post a weekly journal entry to your blog reflecting on your reading. Include a reflective writing paragraph that relates how you applied some of the Levitin concepts in your class(es), the student responses and your evaluation and recommendations thereof.
2. Add work to your project.
February 13, 2010 9-9.45 a.m. General Session
30 min. APAL
30 min. VTS and MTS
20 min. Reflect on a class you taught this week: tie in to readings
12.45 – 1 p.m. Reflective writing 1. Continue reading Levitin, posting a weekly journal entry to your blog. Include a reflective writing paragraph that relates how you applied some of the Levitin concepts in your class(es), the student responses and your evaluation and recommendations thereof.
2. Continue adding to your project.
3. Be prepared to respond to discussion points in the March class.
March 13, 2010 9-9.45 a.m. General Session
30 min. Round table discussion on the three completed readings.
20 min. Small group Sound Reasoning discussion
30 min. Class discussion: Levitin
12.45 – 1 p.m. Reflective writing 1. Continue weekly journal entries on your blog.
2. Continue adding to your project.
April 17, 2010 9-9.45 a.m. General Session
30 min. independent contributions on journal writing, reading reflections and blog sharing.
30 min. Overview of the course.
20 min. Bringing it all together: Where do we go from here?
12.45 – 1 p.m. Reflective writing 1. Projects must be completed this month. Be ready to share a synopsis of your project in the next class including pictures and video on your blog.
2. Review final details in your readings to be ready for the post test.
May 8, 2010 9-10 Post Test
70 min. Project presentations.
15 min. Wrapping up
12.45 – 1 p.m. Reflective writing 1. Final weekly journal entries on your blog this month.
2. Include one area of reflective writing on what your have gained from this course.
June 5, 2010 Field Experience (details to follow) 1. Enter a concert review on your blog. Include:
• The event, place, nature of the fieldtrip
• Describe the artistic event
• Analyze the event
• Reflect on the event
• Draw on your readings, project, national standards, APS 26 best practices, and your personal aesthetic philosophy as you reflect on the event.
DESCRIPTIVE, ANALYTICAL AND REFLECTIVE WRITING
Descriptive writing: WHAT? What is the setting? What is going on? What is the background? What is happening?
• Give details and explanations of what you are describing
• Relate what you observed
• Order and sequence events
• Concrete
• Paint a picture for the reader
Analytical writing: SO WHAT? So there’s a class full of students working on a story/design/etc. Why are they doing this? Why is it important? What is significant?
• Deals with reasons
• Why did it happen?
• How do the events illustrate the practice?
• How did the teaching practice impact student learning?
• Justify your rationale for selecting competencies and skills.
Reflective writing: NOW WHAT? Now that you have described and analyzed your teaching, what are you going to do next? What worked well and will be continued as the class progresses? What did not work, and looking back on it, could have been different? There is always room for improvement (a sign of a reflective practitioner). What worked well?
• Reflection suggests self-analysis, or consideration of practice.
• What will you do next time based on your analysis of what happened in today’s lesson?
• Reflection addresses future instruction.
• Reflection pulls together your analysis and own rich connections about outcomes.
• The purpose of reflective writing is to LEARN by doing, constructing, building, talking and writing and to think about events, activities, experiences.
• Experiences (action) + Thought (reflection) = Construction of Knowledge
• Reflection is a vehicle for critical analysis, problem-solving, synthesis of opposing ideas, evaluation, identifying patterns, creating meaning.
• Reflective practitioners are people who think about their actions and ask why they take those actions. They take control over their own practices. They feel confidence based on experience and insight. They continue to grow and learn. They have classrooms that are enriched because reflective teachers are innovative.
See:
http://portalsso.vansd.org/pls/portal/url/ITEM/373387235A5F2AD3E0404A0AB2000F80.
Descriptive writing: WHAT? What is the setting? What is going on? What is the background? What is happening?
• Give details and explanations of what you are describing
• Relate what you observed
• Order and sequence events
• Concrete
• Paint a picture for the reader
Analytical writing: SO WHAT? So there’s a class full of students working on a story/design/etc. Why are they doing this? Why is it important? What is significant?
• Deals with reasons
• Why did it happen?
• How do the events illustrate the practice?
• How did the teaching practice impact student learning?
• Justify your rationale for selecting competencies and skills.
Reflective writing: NOW WHAT? Now that you have described and analyzed your teaching, what are you going to do next? What worked well and will be continued as the class progresses? What did not work, and looking back on it, could have been different? There is always room for improvement (a sign of a reflective practitioner). What worked well?
• Reflection suggests self-analysis, or consideration of practice.
• What will you do next time based on your analysis of what happened in today’s lesson?
• Reflection addresses future instruction.
• Reflection pulls together your analysis and own rich connections about outcomes.
• The purpose of reflective writing is to LEARN by doing, constructing, building, talking and writing and to think about events, activities, experiences.
• Experiences (action) + Thought (reflection) = Construction of Knowledge
• Reflection is a vehicle for critical analysis, problem-solving, synthesis of opposing ideas, evaluation, identifying patterns, creating meaning.
• Reflective practitioners are people who think about their actions and ask why they take those actions. They take control over their own practices. They feel confidence based on experience and insight. They continue to grow and learn. They have classrooms that are enriched because reflective teachers are innovative.
See:
http://portalsso.vansd.org/pls/portal/url/ITEM/373387235A5F2AD3E0404A0AB2000F80.
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)