Lindsey Harris-Day 4

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

By using “critical friends” you are forced to think about your project in a different way.  You have all of these new ideas, questions, and wonders that make you stop in your tracks and say, “wow, I never thought of it that way”.  This gives you a whole new momentum and sometimes may send you down a new path.  This way of thinking can carry over into other aspects of teaching making you a true reflective practitioner.   

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

There are several conditions that I feel are needed to make this protocol a success.  First, you would need to have rules in place.  This will set expectations and keep everyone on the “same playing field”.  Next, you need to have a positive environment and sense of trust among the participating teacher.  Lastly, I think you need to provide some sort of positive feedback before a critique.

3. How could this protocol be used with students?

I thinks this would be a wonderful tool used with students after A LOT of modeling.  My second graders are always eager to tell others what they think, so why not use this for a positive, reflective component to a project?

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 plan on using Building Consensus Protocol as well as Critical Friends.  I think for this unit I will need to modify and simplify critical friends since this unit will be taught early in the fall semester.  By the end of the year I hope for the students to participate in critical friends as we did today.