Cycle II Evaluation

Summary of classroom visitations:

Kris Schwengel and Danette Kobayashi

One of the richest practices in the teaching profession is the reflective observation
of our peers. When I served as a Curriculum Facilitator in Okinawa, I understood
that my position was designed to help teachers refine their teaching practices; what
I didn't anticipate was the reciprocal benefit for my own teaching. Working with
other teachers from both curricular and instructional perspectives afforded me a
birds-eye view into what worked well for children.

When I was hired as an Assistant Teacher at Punahou, I was excited to serve in
another position to observe great teaching. To my benefit, this happened almost
immediately. I learned a tremendous amount about Punahou, second graders and
second grade curriculum that year. Though I haven't observed any instruction in
2
nd
-5
th
grade classrooms until Cycle II, I am thankful that the evaluation process
reinstated these opportunities to learn from my colleagues. It reminded me of the
value in learning what's happening vertically and laterally, especially as we look to
redesign grades 2-5.

OBSERVATION #1: Kris Schwengel, Grade 4
After consulting with Julie
about my desire to look outside
Everyday Math, she suggested I
visit Kris' classroom to see his
children's project-based math
activities. To say I was
impressed would be an
understatement. I've observed a
lot of classroomsmaybe a
hundred or moreand his was
by far the most integrated,
technology-centered, creative
classroom in my experience.
Kris started the lesson with the
instructions on an Inspire
Flipchart.

After this
overview and
explanation, Kris
sent the children
to work on their
airplane designs.
Using Google
Sketch, the
students were
drawing their
airplane designs
with exact angle
measurements on
their laptops.
The students'
graphic designs
were phenomenal!
From these digital
plans, they were
required to write
specific instructions
to another student
explaining how to
make the airplane
based solely on their
written directions.
Because of the
intricacy of the
designs, I found this
link to writing
especially challenging yet incredibly effective.

I love how Kris integrated technology, math, writing, reading and engineering in
this high-interest project. The students were completely engaged on their work.
The project was also naturally differentiated because the children could design
their planes to an individualized complexity. There was a great deal of choice and
limited boundaries for the children. Kris provided a basic framework of the
expectations, coupled with clear guidelines on how students would be assessed. I
left the observation with tons of ideas, as well as inspiration to replace Everyday
Math with more meaningful work.




OBSERVATION #2: Danette Kobayashi, Grade 4

My second observation was in Danette Kobayashi's room to see how her class
integrated language arts and science for their overnight camping trip. Students
researched different ecosystems within Camp Mokule`ia via an inquiry-based
learning experience. Her project was an amazing way to incorporate classroom
content, outdoor education, and reflective learning.

Danette began the unit with an introduction of the ecosystems they would see at
Camp Mokule'ia: ironwood forest, ocean, shoreline, and stream. From this
overview, they selected the ecosystem they were interested in designing. Danette
provided the children with guidelines to move their research forward, but they
generated their own guiding questions. Then they planned, designed, built and
enhanced their own ecosystems.

Danette led some lessons to introduce the
"big idea": all ecosystems have an energy
source, a food chain and some kind of
interaction between the living things, the
environment and the energy source. The
children's task was to uncover the energy
sources, food chain and interactions for
their own ecosystems.

Before building the structures, the students
researched their ecosystem, discussed their
plans, drew sketches and printed digital
photos to share. Then they created the
animals and plants for their environments.
They wrote mini-descriptions about
everything they built, labeling with signs
to identify the food chains in their systems.

After the overnight adventure at Camp
Mokule'ia, students made adjustments to
their design. Their projects were no longer
just intellectual visions; they were reproductions of the actual places that the
children experienced. In the end, the projects let students literally construct their
own learning. It was a powerful way to make the learning real, engaging, creative,
open-ended, cooperative and yet individualized.

























I'm so thankful I was able to observe the depth of thinking and learning of these 4
th

grade classes. My hope is that we can begin to foster more peer observation so we
can better understand the current 2-5 experience as we're redesigning for the future.