Session 5: Model Lesson Reflection
30 minutes
Purpose
This session is designed to highlight choices and teaching strategies used in the model lesson. The goal is for participants to reflect on how they might implement similar strategies and techniques in their own classrooms. An emphasis is placed on teaching strategies related to supporting students working in groups and helping students develop the skills necessary to solve large problems.
Objectives
- Participants begin thinking about how to develop a plan for supporting students during group projects
- Participants engage in the “think, pair, share” and “journaling” teaching and learning strategies
- Participants understand how iteration and decomposition can be used to help students work through the problem solving process for large problems
Supplies & Prep
Room Setup:
- Participants are seated in pods
- Each small group has a poster
Supplies and Prep:
- CSD Workshop 2 Slides Template 2021
- Posters
- Markers
Teacher Materials
- Journal
- Writing Utensil
- Markers
Agenda
Iteration and Decomposition (7 minutes)
Teacher Choices (2 minutes)
Planning Ahead (14 minutes)
Role of the (7 minutes)
Facilitation Guide
Iteration and Decomposition (7 minutes)
(1 minute) Context Setting
Remarks
In Unit 4, there is a strong emphasis placed on the problem solving process. We saw this in the model lesson from Chapter 1. In Chapter 2, students will engage in an iterative team project. Throughout the unit, students will need to decompose larger problems into smaller components.
[Project the definitions of iteration and decomposition while explaining their meaning.]
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Iteration - Students engage in the process of continuous improvement in order to modify and enhance creative projects
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Decomposition - Students break large problems into smaller components in order to begin taking small steps towards the larger goal
(6 minutes) Think - Pair - Share
Discussion Goal
Unit 4 places a strong emphasis on the problem solving process. Students will engage in this process multiple times within the unit to solve large problems. This will require students to decompose large problems into smaller problems and iterate through multiple versions of a product. This is the first introduction to decomposition and iteration, but participants will return to this idea later in the workshop during the curriculum investigation. The goal here is for participants to understand what these words mean and how these processes can help students as they engage in the problem solving process.
Prompt: Where did you see both iteration and decomposition embedded into lesson 3?
- (1 minute) Think: individual reflection
- (2 minutes) Pair: discuss with a partner
- (3 minutes) Share: share and discuss with the whole group
Teacher Choices (2 minutes)
(2 minutes) Highlight and Discuss Choices
The facilitator explains the choices that were made along with the reason for the choice.
Facilitator Tip
The goal is to highlight the importance of pre-planning grouping for a lesson. There are many ways to form groups and due to time constraints, details of the “how and why” of using specific group types is not discussed during this workshop.
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Grouping: Learners were separated into groups prior to this lesson.
- There are many ways to divide students into groups as a way to establish inclusion during the lesson - homogeneous, heterogenous, random, or student selected.
- Grouping choice depends on the activity and the students in the room.
- Plan before the lesson, how students will be grouped and how this grouping set up will be communicated to students.
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Individual Brainstorming: Learners were asked to brainstorm individually before brainstorming with their group.
- This sets the foundation for inclusion within the group. This choice was written into the lesson plan and not a specific choice made by the facilitator.
- Teachers can support inclusion with other group work activities by adding individual brainstorming, even if it is not written into the lesson.
Planning Ahead (14 minutes)
Remarks
Oftentimes in teaching, there are many things going on in the background that are not always obvious to an outside observer. In the model lesson, the teacher needed to plan and consider supporting effective group dynamics to help create an inclusive classroom environment.
Just like in any classroom, it is not possible to predict how groups will interact with each other. The key is to not solve the problem for the group, but instead guide them towards effective teamwork. Let’s brainstorm ways we might support effective group work.
(9 minutes) Brainstorming Strategies
Participants work in small groups of 3-4 to discuss and write their responses to the following prompts on a poster. If participants request examples for any of the approaches, refer to the examples provided in the “Before the Model Lesson” section, in addition to the examples provided in the model lesson.
Prompt:
- What is one strategy per approach that supports students working effectively during group work?
Approaches for Effective Group Work:
- Solution Oriented: Group members developing solutions that incorporate ideas from multiple perspectives.
- Resolve Conflict: Group members mediating their own group conflict.
- Contribution: Group members, whatever their prior knowledge, have opportunities to contribute to the success of the group
- Strengths: Group members identifying and utilizing other group members’ strengths.
(3 minutes) Gallery Walk
Facilitator Tip
As participants are completing the gallery walk, the facilitator should take pictures of the posters and add them to the session’s corresponding slides. While doing this, the facilitator should skim the posters to see if anything should be brought up to the whole group for discussion. This might be a tip that should be highlighted for the whole group or a misconception that needs to be addressed at some point throughout the workshop.
Participants walk around the room and explore the posters.
Prompt:
- What two strategies from the posters would you like to implement in your classroom?
(2 minutes) Journal
Prompt:
- How will you adapt the two strategies you would like to implement to meet the needs of your students and help them feel included in your CS classroom?
Role of the (7 minutes)
Remarks
Students don’t always walk into our classrooms with the skills they need in order to be an active learner. This can be especially true during team projects and can vary from class to class. As we move through the day we will continue to reflect on the role we would like students to play in our classrooms. As we do this, we need to also think about what we, as educators, need to do in order to establish an inclusive learning environment that support students developing into their active learner role.
(1 minute) Journal
Discussion Goal
The goal is for participants to recognize that inclusion and active learning goes beyond simply participating in an activity. Some signs of active learning in an inclusive learning environment for students may include:
- Knowing the learning goals and actively working to achieve those goals
- Comfortably making mistakes and knowing how to use those mistakes and failures to improve their work
- Practicing meta-cognitive skills - students are able to think about their thinking
- Knowing how to find and use resources to support their learning goals
- Collaborating and communicating effectively with their peers
- Acknowledging multiple perspectives when giving and receiving feedback
- What skills does a student need in order to be an effective and successful active learner?
- What does it look like for a student to develop these skills?
- What skills does a teacher need to support effective group work?
(6 minutes) Share Out
Invite a couple of participants per journal prompt to share their responses with the whole group.