Dear Nikki,
I really value this opportunity of exploring an excellent school in such depth, and at the same time, felt welcomed there. Thank you for planning this trip.
New City School is like a melting pot of all the things we read and learned in the past seven weeks. One of my favorite classrooms was the 5th grade reading class. I can see a few of Doug Lemov’s techniques used in the classroom. One is “cold calling.” I noticed she called on someone who did not hold hands. Another one she used frequently is “stretch it.” She kept asking questions to make students think more critically and deeply. She shared the connection she made from her own experience to scaffold students sharing their own in their reflection paper. On the other hand, she doesn’t speak for students. I noticed every opinion was heard and valued in the class. Even though the learning feels very vigorous, students were eating snacks and asking questions freely. The whole classroom feels very open and safe. They talked about how abolition affects their own life today. The classroom reminds me of Rafe’s room 56. “Young people who read for pleasure are able to make connections with the world around them and eventually grow to understand themselves on levels they never thought possible.”
I really value this opportunity of exploring an excellent school in such depth, and at the same time, felt welcomed there. Thank you for planning this trip.
New City School is like a melting pot of all the things we read and learned in the past seven weeks. One of my favorite classrooms was the 5th grade reading class. I can see a few of Doug Lemov’s techniques used in the classroom. One is “cold calling.” I noticed she called on someone who did not hold hands. Another one she used frequently is “stretch it.” She kept asking questions to make students think more critically and deeply. She shared the connection she made from her own experience to scaffold students sharing their own in their reflection paper. On the other hand, she doesn’t speak for students. I noticed every opinion was heard and valued in the class. Even though the learning feels very vigorous, students were eating snacks and asking questions freely. The whole classroom feels very open and safe. They talked about how abolition affects their own life today. The classroom reminds me of Rafe’s room 56. “Young people who read for pleasure are able to make connections with the world around them and eventually grow to understand themselves on levels they never thought possible.”
When I saw all the happy faces coming in, I knew the library was like an amazing playground to them. If we want to develop a child’s love for books, a full time storyteller is such an awesome idea. Every child loves stories. It’s also a good time for them to take a break.
Another thing that I noticed in a few classrooms were morning meeting/greeting. Each classroom does it differently. Students sat together as a circle and talked about how they feel today and why. One class started with sharing how they feel on the scale of 5 right now. One boy said,“I am having a 5. Because it is Friday and my cousins are coming to visit.” It’s a great opportunity for them to express their feelings in words and develop interpersonal skills and also for the teacher to know where they are emotionally to be able to meet their needs. In another classroom, they stood up in a circle and threw a soft ball to each other, while greeting and having eye contact at the same time.
From visiting New City School, I realized that MI approach is not about putting students into different boxes. It’s a way for teachers to recognize each student’s need, appreciate the diversity and “understanding, accepting, and valuing others.” It’s a natural step to start differentiated instruction. I have one student who was way behind in my Chinese class. He didn’t remember anything. We met at dinner and started to have an extra lesson. I notice that he is very good at imitating me. He didn’t need to look at the words to be able to memorize them. We talked through and helped him realize that he is an audio leaner. He is capable of learning the same pace with us, but he just needed to learn differently. So I specially recorded audios for him to listen to. It didn’t take long for him to catch up.
As a teacher, we all know students are different. But how different are they? What are their strength or weakness? How do we help them to realize that no one is less intelligent, but everyone has different intelligence? I don’t know if I am totally convinced that there are only eight or nine intelligences. But I have to admit it is a great place to start for both educators and learners.
Gratefully,
Jamie
New City School
http://www.newcityschool.org/
Another thing that I noticed in a few classrooms were morning meeting/greeting. Each classroom does it differently. Students sat together as a circle and talked about how they feel today and why. One class started with sharing how they feel on the scale of 5 right now. One boy said,“I am having a 5. Because it is Friday and my cousins are coming to visit.” It’s a great opportunity for them to express their feelings in words and develop interpersonal skills and also for the teacher to know where they are emotionally to be able to meet their needs. In another classroom, they stood up in a circle and threw a soft ball to each other, while greeting and having eye contact at the same time.
From visiting New City School, I realized that MI approach is not about putting students into different boxes. It’s a way for teachers to recognize each student’s need, appreciate the diversity and “understanding, accepting, and valuing others.” It’s a natural step to start differentiated instruction. I have one student who was way behind in my Chinese class. He didn’t remember anything. We met at dinner and started to have an extra lesson. I notice that he is very good at imitating me. He didn’t need to look at the words to be able to memorize them. We talked through and helped him realize that he is an audio leaner. He is capable of learning the same pace with us, but he just needed to learn differently. So I specially recorded audios for him to listen to. It didn’t take long for him to catch up.
As a teacher, we all know students are different. But how different are they? What are their strength or weakness? How do we help them to realize that no one is less intelligent, but everyone has different intelligence? I don’t know if I am totally convinced that there are only eight or nine intelligences. But I have to admit it is a great place to start for both educators and learners.
Gratefully,
Jamie
New City School
http://www.newcityschool.org/