Promising Practices 2014 with Keynote Speaker Dr. Christopher Emdin

Promising Practices has been a conference I’ve attended annually, ever since I first entered Rhode Island College in 2010.  What I have learned as varied immensely, but what I always end up taking away is “Choose your workshop carefully.”

Observation #4 The 12th Grade ELA and Theater Class

Name: __________

Date:   __________

Class:  __________

Sect.:   __________

Shakespeare and Persona

Short Essay (Pick 2)

Observation #3 What is Classroom Management like?

When I first met Mr. Kinslow, I felt intimated by his balance of authority, professionalism, public display of personality, and overall likeableness.  Before entering his 11^th grade English Language classroom I had heard of his teachings from other educators as well as Central Fall’s High School students.

“Mr. Kinslow understands the kids.” “You’re working with Mr. K? He’s real.” “Make sure to pay attention not only to how he teaches, but also to how his students treat the class.”

Microteaching II - Indirect Methods

Alright, this is the space where I would like my fellow student-teacher candidates to comment on my Microteaching II lesson.  As all of you know, both of our camera's decided to die half way through my lesson. And for the folks that were able to stay through the night as I went downstairs into the lobby to charge them, we decided to continue recording Nathan's lesson because his schedule was strained.

Here, I would appreciate there being two sets of commentary.

The first can be about my attempt at Microteaching in the SU room.  Although the lesson wasn't finished, we nearly reached all the areas that I wanted to cover without reaching the Main Idea segment.  Please do critique how my performance was in this lesson.

And once I have finished editing my recording, I would like my group members to watch this video and comment in the same way as well.  I first and foremost apologize for the lack of communication (with Final Exams taking place and everyone rushing to finish their own Microteaching II lessons), but I would much appreciate the 5 to 10 minutes it will take you to help me improve my lessons for the future!

Observation #2 - The Lesson Plan

In this observation assignment, your goal is to reverse-engineer a lesson plan. Watch the class, and write the lesson plan that teacher is using.

Do this by OBSERVATION, even if the teacher is willing to share their lesson plan with you. This is about improving your observation skills, not getting ‘the answer’.

Observation #1 - The Story

            I arrived at Central Fall’s High School earlier last week, on Thursday.  That day I had decided that I would stay for the entirety of the school day and make my keen observation within the livelihood of the educators and students of this public educational institution.  I met with Dr. Buddy Comet who courteously toured me through the English department of Central Fall’s High School.  For that day, I would only need to memorize three routes—I was assigned four classrooms, with two of them being adjacent to one other.  As I met with each instructor, I was greeted with a warm but authoritative presence, wished good luck on my journey, and explicitly told that I was lucky to have a diverse array of classes to observe.

            The first