2. Instruction – The teacher uses research-based instructional practices to meet the needs of all students.
- 2.1 Using Questioning and Discussion Techniques
Most of the teacher’s questions are of high quality. Adequate time is provided for students to respond.
- 2.2 Engaging Students in Learning
Most activities and assignments are appropriate to students, and almost all students are cognitively engaged in exploring content.
- 2.3 Reflecting on Teaching
Teacher makes an accurate assessment of a lesson’s effectiveness and the extent to which it achieved its instructional outcomes and can cite general references to support the judgment.
I have mentioned previously about the socratic seminars I have been doing in my Latin 2 classes on history and mythology. A few weeks ago we did a short discussion on Augustus and his policies that were enacted during his reign. To prepare for this brief discussion I had students write one evaluative questions as well finish the comprehension questions from the reading they were assigned on Augustus. I warned students that if they did not write a question to be discussed then they would not get full credit and would have to take minutes/notes on the discussion. I had my students at the end of the period turn their questions into me for me to look over and grade. I only had about 3-4 students who did not do the questions in both of my Latin 2 periods.
The discussions overall were great and students were even more comfortable voicing their opinions since this was nothing new for them. With two other seminars behind them my students were capable of formulating great evaluative questions and were making modern day connections without prompting. I did not need to prompt discussion much which was great to see my students take that step towards self prompting.
When I was going through the questions, the evaluative questions I was looking for a few things, a true evaluative question, whether it was original and whether it would encourage discussion. A number of questions were similar but some students came up with some really good questions, making observations and connections I had not thought about. I was careful about the feedback I gave, focusing on 1 or 2 good points but then in turn asking a question of my own that would encourage my student to delve deeper into the question they had originally asked. Some students who were not present for the seminar or who did not write their questions could make up the assignment for full points as long as they did three things:
- Finished answering the comprehension questions on Augustus
- Wrote one evaluative question about Augustus
- Answered their own question fully
This seemed the best solution to help those students who were not present for the seminar but could still participate in way. It also encouraged those students who didn’t do the assignment originally to get it done. After receiving this flood of questions and responses I got to see even more from my students and their thought processes. I had more material from these to give more in depth feedback and ask more pointed questions.
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Now looking at standard 2 and the sub-standards of it I would say that this activity definitely fit all three sub-categories, I asked questions, helping direct discussion but maintain a facilitator type position. I made sure to encourage all students to do the assignment and move towards higher thinking questions. I also returned these assignments with not only a grade but also some feedback/question that would encourage even more thought process on the students end. I look forward to using these seminar style discussions even more in the future. I wanted to incorporate more feedback in my grading, especially with the seminar questions and after reading more about how to use feedback from my EDU class this quarter I was able to glean some very helpful tips. Such as asking the student a question and pointing out some good things as well as ask for more development.
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Ms. Smith 