Blog Post #4 - 10/9

I hope that I can answer the questions sufficiently with the time that I've shared with Miss Gledhill's class.

I think an example of engaged learning that I've seen was how she hosts her reading groups. She invites students to her table where 5 or 6 of them are all reading the same book. She instructs them to read aloud in a quiet whisper and to keep reading until they hear a tap of her finger in front of them. Then, they must read louder for Miss Gledhill to hear. I feel that this is a good example of engaged learning because it is sort of hands-on in the sense that they are reading as a team together. Miss Gledhill provides immediate feedback on their reading if necessary. Together the group works to answer questions on their worksheet. This initiates discussion and participation.

Another example of engaged learning could be how Miss Gledhill taught how to write paragraphs. She used the idea of making a sandwich and related it to writing a strong paragraph. Together the class discussed how to make a sandwich and used cut outs to put a sandwich together on the board. This required movement and discussion. She explained how the bread or our topic and closing sentences and everything in between is what adds flavor and variety to both our sandwiches and our paragraphs. Then, the class wrote their own paragraphs on sandwich cut outs for the whole school to see.  

An example of when learning wasn't so engaging could be whenever they do math interventions. The class is given 4 different worksheets to pick from and they just have to complete as many as they can in the given time without any instruction. Although the kids can work in partners, they often times don't get much done because the problems are hard, they don't know where to start without help, so they just goof off and mess around the entire time. I think that this can be engaging if the kids could work better independently, but students aren't very motivated to get much done because if I'm not there, I don't think that there is anyone to help.