My CASW

My CASW

Last weekend’s CASW, my first, proved to be rather interesting and inspiring. It was interesting to note whether or not people perceived what you did, your notions behind a certain plan, a certain scheme of thought for a lesson, and it was inspiring to hear their views, encouraging thoughts about what you were doing.

The Collaborative analysis took part rather systematically. It helped that I kept the question aiding discussion ready and printed so that the CASW panel had a copy to refer too. Though I am a Drama teacher mainly, my CASW presentation and question concerned a process that I explored in a particular class. The main question was “Whether bringing children into a circle time process aided the development of a feeling of community among them.” I had a small note printed just below in a few bullet points stating the present context in which a process to aid community spirit was being pursued.

My theorist of choice and the process that I was presenting were connected in their intent of study. Do processes of circle time enable a sense of belonging in a classroom of children from various backgrounds? I approached the following question from the Abraham Maslow slant of the hierarchy of needs. The process I was perusing in the classroom was if addressing issues of wellness and well-being in fact helped children become self directed in their learning process. The present problem question addressed two processes in particular.

My presentation with pictures and a small talk running along helped present the concept of guided visualization and the process around a mandala in the classroom. I was able to talk about the guided visualization and what the process entailed while my computer sideshow displayed the images taken during the classroom session. I was able to talk a little more in detail about the mandala making process that brought together smaller groups of children. The time – 15 minutes not only provided me the space to talk about the process but also briefly the role of silence and the continued sharing process after the mandala making.

The clarification process that ensued basically brought in questions of the context in which the process was installed. Why was it important for me and the class to work on circle time activities ? What were the kind of situations in the classroom that I was trying to address? Other questions were of the guided visualization and the kinds of visualizations that we had been using in class. What also were the processes that were done post the guided visualization? What were the children’s reaction to the process. This discussion led to sharing of facts of some children in the class choosing to work in isolation or with smaller group of friends. My thoughts loomed around those children who left comments on the chat in our online community asking for, calling for someone to speak to because they did not have anyone to speak to. I shared that sometimes children did not have a space to just vent out, speak out without the fear of being judged about things that happened to them beyond the classroom, and also shared that sometimes what happened beyond there also affected the classroom processes. Just knowing that they could talk about it, after creting something in silence sometimes helps them feel belonged. While the process was not a way of penetrating into their family space, it allowed for some skills to deal with things that happened around them.

Post writing down their views about my presentation, the sharing process ensued and the later discussion which I was able to listen to. Most of the teachers on the panel felt that the processes of guided visualization and mandala which were followed by small group discussions were actually helping the process of building a feeling of community. They shared that the process of education can also help in creating the feeling of belonging ness – and that it was very heartening that the initiative was also taken. They agreed that the school system could not really penetrate into the house system of the children but skills of dealing with situations were crucial, Most of the teachers were able to see that the process I had presented was essentially still in its nascent stages and that it was a long term process that one was dealing with. Some even shared the desire to come and view these sessions.

They shared this information formally with me, with one teacher adding that such sessions could also be video documented.

The first CASW session was held on 22, August’09.Apart from me it consisted of 5 other participants who were Mrs. Sumi Waran, Mrs. Raji Nair, Mr. Shibnath Chakraborty, Ms. Archana Joseph, and Ms. Bhagyalakshmi. We started the session at 8:45am.

We took a few minutes less than one hour to complete my session. It was definitely an enriching experience to be a part of the sessions and receive feedback on my work. Ms. Sumi Waran was the facilitator for my session. Before I started the presentation she pointed out in detail the manner in which the session would proceed and the purpose of the session. I had chosen a standard eleven student’s piece of work. The topic of the student’s assignment was an essay on the” Nature Verses Nurture Study”. It was the first assignment of the student in standard eleven. The objective of the assignment was to assess the students comprehending and writing skills to enable me to understand the ability of each student. I was also concerned to know what method I should adopt thereafter to help the students learn better. The assignment was given to the students’ right after completing the introductory unit in psychology. The aim was to see whether they are able to follow the discussions in the class and write an essay using the books available to them. Clear guidelines to write the answer had been provided to the students and the books they could refer to. All the participants were provided with a copy of the student’s work. The piece of work I had used reflected the hard work the student had put in. She not only understood my expectations well but had also extended herself through further reading and reference work. The work was randomly chosen.

My key questions for the session were as follows:

1. Was it too early for me to assess the students comprehending and writing skills to decide eventually how to work with the students and what teaching method would suit their need?
2. How far did the guidelines or the framework for the essay provided to the students help them?

I was looking for both warm and cool feedback from the participants to identify what strategies to hold on to and what to discard in future that would enhance the teaching and learning process. I took 12 minutes to present the student’s work during which time I explained to the group the topic and nature of the assignment, my objectives of setting the assignment, the outline I had provided to write the essay and the books they could use to work on the assignment. I also informed the participants that I had not requested the students to do any extra reference work as it was their first assignment and I didn’t want it to become too demanding for them.

Right after my presentation a few clarifying questions were asked like how much time did the students get to complete the assignment and why had I not graded the student’s work but gave a qualitative feedback to the child. I answered their queries by saying that the students got 3 days to finish their work. My intention was to gauge the ability of the child first before starting with any testing. At the end of the clarifying session I heard them discuss the issues raised during the presentation. I used this time to note down their comments and reflected up on them.

My reflection included the following thoughts:

The participants thought it was certainly the ideal time to assess the student’s comprehending and writing skills. They thought it’s an effective method to know the potential of the child right at the beginning rather than delaying it as it could impede the teaching and learning process. I too shared the same feeling. Besides they also pointed out that the answer key was a great idea since the students were just introduced to the subject and were oblivious to the writing style required to perform well. One participant brought to my notice that it was fair enough to just give a qualitative feedback since a grade or quantitative analysis could be discouraging in the beginning of the year. I too realized from the comment that in case of a bad piece of work a poor grade would de-motivate the child from putting in any effort in future. The fact that no boundaries were set on the students in terms of extra reading seemed to be a good idea for the first assignment. Though the participants felt that the guidelines were extremely useful to the student, I personally felt that more samples of students work would have helped the participants to tell me if the outline of the assignment worked well for the class in general. The participants felt that the specific piece of work indicated well that my guidelines to the students were clear and helpful and that prior reading of the students work was not required as the guidelines gave enough idea about the nature of the assignment.

As far as constructing a strategy collaboratively was concerned it was unanimously agreed upon that there seemed to be no significant problem as such requiring a solution. However what I gathered from the discussion also was that students should be gradually taught to work independently and they should not become dependent on guidelines always which I too agree as it could be detrimental to their higher order thinking skills.

The session enabled me to objectively assess my teaching style. It made me mindful of the strategies that are helping me and what modifications I have to bring from time to time to crater to the student’s needs and to enable them to improve their performance. I think the CASW session is a useful platform for a teacher to discuss his or her concerns. The feedbacks are reinforcing and insightful. What’s most benefiting is that one gets to enhance his/her skills as a teacher and work towards professional growth. Also the sharing of the kind of work one is doing with students creates a feeling of responsibility which for me is an essential factor to put in more effort. The participants enjoyed getting educated on the topic of my student’s assignment. They found it intriguing and wanted to know more about it. The discussions brought to light many ideas that we all felt would be useful to us as teachers.

The first CASW session was held on 22, August’09.Apart from me it consisted of 5 other participants who were Mrs. Sumi Waran, Mrs. Raji Nair, Mr. Shibnath Chakraborty, Ms. Archana Joseph, and Ms. Bhagyalakshmi. We started the session at 8:45am.

We took a few minutes less than one hour to complete my session. It was definitely an enriching experience to be a part of the sessions and receive feedback on my work. Ms. Sumi Waran was the facilitator for my session. Before I started the presentation she pointed out in detail the manner in which the session would proceed and the purpose of the session. I had chosen a standard eleven student’s piece of work. The topic of the student’s assignment was an essay on the” Nature Verses Nurture Study”. It was the first assignment of the student in standard eleven. The objective of the assignment was to assess the students comprehending and writing skills to enable me to understand the ability of each student. I was also concerned to know what method I should adopt thereafter to help the students learn better. The assignment was given to the students’ right after completing the introductory unit in psychology. The aim was to see whether they are able to follow the discussions in the class and write an essay using the books available to them. Clear guidelines to write the answer had been provided to the students and the books they could refer to. All the participants were provided with a copy of the student’s work. The piece of work I had used reflected the hard work the student had put in. She not only understood my expectations well but had also extended herself through further reading and reference work. The work was randomly chosen.

My key questions for the session were as follows:

1. Was it too early for me to assess the students comprehending and writing skills to decide eventually how to work with the students and what teaching method would suit their need?
2. How far did the guidelines or the framework for the essay provided to the students help them?

I was looking for both warm and cool feedback from the participants to identify what strategies to hold on to and what to discard in future that would enhance the teaching and learning process. I took 12 minutes to present the student’s work during which time I explained to the group the topic and nature of the assignment, my objectives of setting the assignment, the outline I had provided to write the essay and the books they could use to work on the assignment. I also informed the participants that I had not requested the students to do any extra reference work as it was their first assignment and I didn’t want it to become too demanding for them.

Right after my presentation a few clarifying questions were asked like how much time did the students get to complete the assignment and why had I not graded the student’s work but gave a qualitative feedback to the child. I answered their queries by saying that the students got 3 days to finish their work. My intention was to gauge the ability of the child first before starting with any testing. At the end of the clarifying session I heard them discuss the issues raised during the presentation. I used this time to note down their comments and reflected up on them.

My reflection included the following thoughts:

The participants thought it was certainly the ideal time to assess the student’s comprehending and writing skills. They thought it’s an effective method to know the potential of the child right at the beginning rather than delaying it as it could impede the teaching and learning process. I too shared the same feeling. Besides they also pointed out that the answer key was a great idea since the students were just introduced to the subject and were oblivious to the writing style required to perform well. One participant brought to my notice that it was fair enough to just give a qualitative feedback since a grade or quantitative analysis could be discouraging in the beginning of the year. I too realized from the comment that in case of a bad piece of work a poor grade would de-motivate the child from putting in any effort in future. The fact that no boundaries were set on the students in terms of extra reading seemed to be a good idea for the first assignment. Though the participants felt that the guidelines were extremely useful to the student, I personally felt that more samples of students work would have helped the participants to tell me if the outline of the assignment worked well for the class in general. The participants felt that the specific piece of work indicated well that my guidelines to the students were clear and helpful and that prior reading of the students work was not required as the guidelines gave enough idea about the nature of the assignment.

As far as constructing a strategy collaboratively was concerned it was unanimously agreed upon that there seemed to be no significant problem as such requiring a solution. However what I gathered from the discussion also was that students should be gradually taught to work independently and they should not become dependent on guidelines always which I too agree as it could be detrimental to their higher order thinking skills.

The session enabled me to objectively assess my teaching style. It made me mindful of the strategies that are helping me and what modifications I have to bring from time to time to crater to the student’s needs and to enable them to improve their performance. I think the CASW session is a useful platform for a teacher to discuss his or her concerns. The feedbacks are reinforcing and insightful. What’s most benefiting is that one gets to enhance his/her skills as a teacher and work towards professional growth. Also the sharing of the kind of work one is doing with students creates a feeling of responsibility which for me is an essential factor to put in more effort. The participants enjoyed getting educated on the topic of my student’s assignment. They found it intriguing and wanted to know more about it. The discussions brought to light many ideas that we all felt would be useful to us as teachers.

Our first CASW session

Well, the first CASW session was certainly a learning experience. One thing that I realized was how important it was for the key question to be framed carefully. Only then would the discussion go in the direction planned and answer the question one has.

Giving the samples of student work to the participants beforehand would also have been much better than handing them out in the session itself. I found that it wasn't very practical for the participants to read the student work (especially as it happened to be a fairly long one) and address questions on it as well during the session.

The student work I'd chosen was one of the best pieces of work in class. Though this was a suggestion given in the tuning protocol handout, one of the participants felt that there could have been a sample of work from the bottom end of the class too. I agree, as only if you have a sample from a weaker student as well, would it give a clear picture of student performance. This would also have given greater scope for discussion to the participants when answering my key questions.

I really liked Mr. Shibu's question - 'Did the poet mean all this?' I think it's going to come in handy in all my literature classes because sometimes, you do not know what exactly the poet means and at other times, you see more meaning in the poem than even the poet had intended. Recently, I've been consciously pointing it out to the students that any interpretation of a piece of literature would be acceptable as long as it was supported by the text and the argument was logical. A good piece of analytical writing, I guess, is a combination of free thinking and clear, precise expression.