Although our lessons differed from one another, we all shared common queries and issues about group teaching. Most notable to me were how to improvise when sharing the limelight (because nothing ever goes according to plan); how to incorporate our individual perspectives without dominating others; and how to ignite authentic and meaningful conversation, which includes how far we let our students stray from the topic at hand, and how to pass the torch onto our students to discuss with one another instead of just with us. Each of the groups had an "alpha" member who dominated the majority of the lesson. Even though this is a problem, it seems natural for one person to take charge of things in these types of situations. I'm not sure if it can be avoided unless the lesson is completely scripted, so much so that when we can breathe is written into our plan. This, however, isn't a burning issue, because I don't foresee ever having to share the stage with four other teachers during a lesson (or so I hope). While I didn't see too many instances of an individual completely obliterating a fellow group member's said piece, contrasting view points did surface from time to time. In particular, in each group's lesson there was an individual who was very descriptive and a contrasting person who was less explicit. Any other differences in opinion, I believe we all held back due to the nature of the lesson - we have to know when to step up and make our presence known, as well as when to step back and let someone else have the spotlight. I think we all know this, which illustrates our respect for our colleagues and our ability to slip in and out of leadership roles - both crucial within a professional sphere. I think that all of the groups raised interesting points for discussion that involved everyone in the "class". I believe that the issues that were raised were both meaningful to the students and relevant to the lesson, but I'm not sure if they were all authentic. Though, in our defense, I'm not sure if I understand the whole issue of authentic discussion yet. Each time I think I get it, I start to doubt whether or not I really have it down. There were specific instances of a ping-pong back and forth between teacher and student, but there were also periods of students going off of points fellow students had made - either elaborating on them or countering them (especially in group three's lesson). Something that I notice consistently in our class is our straying from a prompted point of discussion - we're all pretty opinionated! This doesn't seem to concern me, however, for I feel that we always stick to the backbone of the discussion, only deviating slightly. I think this is good preparation for all of us because I'm sure our classrooms won't run smoothly all that time (or ever...). We're getting ample practice on how to guide discussions back to the topic, how to relate individual experiences to our lesson, and how to connect disparate points to convey a unified meaning, or how to let these points feed a structured debate. We're learning to ease up on the scripted and how to improvise without losing focus.
I think we're starting to get the hang of this.
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wow, you hit the nail on the head, sort to speak. you say, "We're learning to ease up on the scripted and how to improvise without losing focus". this is SOOOOOOOOOOOO different than micro-managing everything that happens and is stated in a discussion. many of us, given the high stakes of school (and proving that we can teach) and feeling that we are supposed to determine every ounce of what happens in our classes, end up leaving out the most important things, including student learning!
you resonate with many of your classmates when you say that you didn't like having to negotiate so many teachers in the group plan/teach. what if we let our students participate as teachers or leaders within our class discussions? would this be like having 4 or 15 teachers in the room at a time? your point is well taken, and it makes me wonder whether the skills required to do a group lesson plan are more like the skills required to share the learning and teaching space with students in our classrooms.
what do you think about this? how would this impact discussion? i'd like to know what you think!
k
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