Jessica Barwick Day 4

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

Sometimes when you are working on lesson plans, a project, or anything that takes up a good bit of your time and brain energy, you become so entrenched in the details of your ideas that you might miss something that could be valuable to add or possibly even take away.  It's helpful to have a viewpoint from outside of your own bubble to validate that what you're doing is worthwhile but also provide non-judgmental feedback to help the project along.   Individuals benefit from the brain of the collective whole because we all have different personal experiences, teaching styles, and strengths.  Today's "critical friends" certainly gave me some ideas that I had not thought of to enhance the project experience for my students.  At the same time, it was fun to listen to others present and practice some creativity when coming up "I wonders" for my colleagues!


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

Certainly rules must be put in place so that everyone receives fair time and feedback.  If we were given the option of giving an "I like" OR an "I wonder," the teacher presenting may only have received "I wonder" feedback (since our brains are always turning and that's the first place we go!).  This is definitely the most helpful part of the protocol, but it's also nice to hear the "I likes" as well to validate our thinking.  If timers were not used, then one person's presentation could dominate class time.  I think it is also important to feel like you are presenting within a safe environment with a community that respects and supports you, but I don't think it's necessarily vital to have that to start with.  I think participating in the protocol today helped to open up conversations and build that community more quickly.


3.) How could this protocol be used with students?

I honestly think it could be used with students at any point during the PBL unit.  If it were used in the beginning, students could do a short pitch of what they're thinking and then get ideas on how to move forward, in the middle for clarity, or at the end for fine-tuning.  We will also be implementing school-wide morning meetings this year at Bobo, so I was thinking about how I could include a version of it during our morning meeting time to help build community and respect.  Students could read something they've written, talk about an idea they have, or show something they've created during share time.


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.

I am planning on using the Gallery Walk after students have completed the sketch of their artwork so they have some feedback from other students and me before working on the final product.  I also want to use the Building Consensus protocol for students to record their individual and group thinking when researching on motivations of and opportunities for immigrants.  I am going to use a modified version of a Four Corners protocol I saw to give students a chance to practice forming opinions.  I will certainly use Think, Pair, Share and Turn and Talk throughout the unit.  Sometimes I put these explicitly in my lesson plans, but I always find myself spontaneously using them as well if they are needed in the moment.