Observation #2 Introduction to Classlink

This morning began at 8am where the library is being prepared for the elementary mini-lessons. the COW, computers on wheels, is being used for this lesson. Laptops were dispersed and started, they include a mouse for each laptop.

Tran was contacted this morning from the secondary campus regarding an IT request. Apparently, late the Friday before Spring Break, the teacher sent in a request for assistance with adding student names into a program. Tran assumed since it was a secondary campus request that the secondary campus IT would address the issue. She states that the secondary campus IT should get to it and that she will help if they appear overburdened.

The first class of the day was a second-grade class. The challenge with this class was the different literacy skills of the group. Some students were up and running rather quickly and others were having difficulty just in typing. One student was extremely slow at typing. Once students were in they could see the benefit of classlink. Apparently, the class was larger than anticipated and there were not enough of the computer mouse’s to go around.

Also during the morning, Tran leaves to pull a Reading group where she will focus on writing skills to prepare them for the writing portion of the STAAR test. While she is working with the group a library assistant is leading the computer lessons. Tran has supplied her with a powerpoint to guide the students and she is very familiar with the lesson..

The second group was supposed to come in at 9:40. Apparently, the teacher was out and the students were split between other teachers. I’ve been in this situation before and it is a strain on the teachers and students. If lessons do not match up perfectly then things are off. This brings a question to mind. Shouldn’t all teachers be teaching the same thing? Not necessarily. If a class as a whole is behind or needs more time with an objective, shouldn’t they ensure that the objective retaught before moving on? Constructivism states that students construct their knowledge by building on. Students can’t be expected to build onto their knowledge base if they are pushed on before they are ready. This is not to say that whole classes are held back for success in objectives. When the majority of the students are ready to move on to the next objective then those who still need help can be addressed via tutorials. This also means that a class that has mastered the objective needs to move on. Classes are not machines that need to be kept in time, but rather living organisms that have individual needs and though they may be on the same objective. Classrooms cannot all stay on the same activities each day because of this.