Teaching at MetWest (Part 2)
A 27 year veteran of teaching in the Oakland Unified District (OUSD), Shannon Carey greets me at the door when I arrive at 8:30 on Friday, February 1st. She is wearing a UC Berkeley shirt (teachers that day wore clothes that advertised where they attended college) over jeans and dark ankle boots. The classroom furniture is arranged in a horseshoe with tables seating two tenth graders each facing one another across the open space in the middle of the horseshoe. There are two large couches in rear of room. The walls of the large classroom hold whiteboards in the front of the room with nearby easels showing assignments and homework. Posters adorn other walls.
The schedule for this period is listed on the front white board:
Friday, February 1, 2019
I can reflect deeply on my strengths and weaknesses [Shannon mentions later in the lesson that this is the objective of the lesson]
8:30 Independent Reading
8:50-9:40 Non-Cognitive Variables: Self-Assessment and Interviews
Circles Today
HW [homework]
Gateway Project
–self assessment
–interview w/adult
–interview w/peer
Due Friday
As I scan the room at 8:45, everyone is reading a book or article—no devices or online reading that I see. Three students are sitting on the well-cushioned couches in the rear of the room. A sampling of what students are reading around CONTINUE READING: Teaching at MetWest (Part 2) | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice