Day 4

Austin Baker

1.  How does using protocols like “critical friends” help teachers become more reflective of their teaching practices?

I believe one of the cools things about a critical friends session is that I found myself re-energized about my project. Having all these new perspectives on something I’ve been working hard on made me want to work even more. There were so many things I wanted to add, address, reorganize, and improve upon.

2. What conditions are required for teachers to make use of this protocol?

I think that the atmosphere of the school has to be one of constant improvement and lifelong improvement. I think it takes being open to the idea that whatever you’re doing, it can be improved. And, I think it requires an environment that is focused on putting kids first, and to do that in education, you have to be willing to adapt, grow, and learn as a leaner yourself, then implement changes from that growth in order to become a better teacher.

3. How could this protocol be used with students?

I realized after working with this protocol that although much of my class revolved around feedback, it focused too much on feedback from me as the instructor and not enough on students providing each other with feedback. I think the expectation has to be established early on that all work is a work in progress and that critique and revision are good things, things to be constantly engaged in in the pursuit of excellence.

4. Identify two specific protocols you will embed in your PBL unit.  Consider protocols for teacher-student or student-teacher feedback as well as student-student feedback.

We’re definitely going to be doing critical friends, both on a student-to-student level as well as on a class-wide level. “Feedback Nightmares” is also something we will be working with in my classes to establish good feedback expectations early on.