We all know that athletes and performers get better through deliberate practice, and I think a lot about what that would look like for me as a teacher. Your idea is a useful contribution to that inquiry! It's hard to figure out what what deliberate practice looks like for professional jobs generally and teaching specifically.
I would say instructional coaching/peer observation/co-teaching/lesson study is the closest. That reflective conversation is so powerful and job embedded. Sadly most systems don't have coaching available and teachers often don't engage with coaching due to time. Maybe to make it more easy access have a "Instructional Coach in Your Pocket" at a set time you get a text from your coach, engage in some reflective conversation, maybe get sent a quick resource from the coach, and then off you go. Like online therapy but for teaching.
I think running into another teacher in the hall, finding something cool in the copy machine, kinda counts as snack-sized things that affect my practice? But they’re school-bound. I loooove the idea of a short video of a launch, or a preview of other students work. I learn a lot from participating when you or other Desmos professionals lead a lesson. I get simple tricks like a feel for the pacing of a few screens, or how you might count down to a pause, or how you hype an idea we’re gonna explore or what we’re about to see from other peoples work. It makes the first time through for myself feel good.
Also sometimes I like to go work in the back of another teachers classroom, especially if they’re a few lessons ahead so I can see the forest not just my current tree.
But also also I don’t want to be thinking about teaching in ALL of my free time. 😛
Here are a few to consider: Euclidea (fun geometry puzzles, web or app), Pythagorea (fun geometry puzzles, must download app) and Grasshopper (quick simply lessons and exercises in Python programming, app)
The idea of mini lesson study is fascinating. I've never considered a just-in-time model of lesson demonstration, primarily because I don't think the technology has ever existed to do it.
I wonder about the gap between what I typically think of as lesson study (people co-prepare for a lesson, implement it, reflect and revise, and implement it again) versus a heads up about what's coming up. Like how do we get people to reflect on a lesson they may be unfamiliar with?
What if instead of previewing the next lesson, you show clips of the lesson they just taught to get them to reflect? Maybe that would feel bad like "Why the heck didn't you show this to me *before* I taught the lesson.
Very cool and it'll get me thinking. Also, if you're going to record classroom footage, you should record it in 360 degrees. I bought one of those cameras and mics and have been in classrooms using it. The results are amazing.
We all know that athletes and performers get better through deliberate practice, and I think a lot about what that would look like for me as a teacher. Your idea is a useful contribution to that inquiry! It's hard to figure out what what deliberate practice looks like for professional jobs generally and teaching specifically.
Other ideas for deliberate practice:
>> public speaking exercises (e.g. https://www.toastmasters.org/Magazine/Articles/Table-Topics-Workout)
>> content exercises (memorize the standards for your grade level? learn new math? learn new pedagogy?)
>> relationship building (gather and memorize information about your students; connect with parents systematically)
>> expand your equity world (https://arbitrarilyclose.com/mathematician-project/)
>> observe other teachers (ideally with an observation rubric to focus your attention and gather data)
>> technical practice (digital boards, scientific calculators, desmos and geogebra, scripting languages)
see: https://perell.com/essay/learn-like-an-athlete/ and Tyler Cowen's reflections on the same: https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2019/07/how-i-practice-at-what-i-do.html
I would say instructional coaching/peer observation/co-teaching/lesson study is the closest. That reflective conversation is so powerful and job embedded. Sadly most systems don't have coaching available and teachers often don't engage with coaching due to time. Maybe to make it more easy access have a "Instructional Coach in Your Pocket" at a set time you get a text from your coach, engage in some reflective conversation, maybe get sent a quick resource from the coach, and then off you go. Like online therapy but for teaching.
I think running into another teacher in the hall, finding something cool in the copy machine, kinda counts as snack-sized things that affect my practice? But they’re school-bound. I loooove the idea of a short video of a launch, or a preview of other students work. I learn a lot from participating when you or other Desmos professionals lead a lesson. I get simple tricks like a feel for the pacing of a few screens, or how you might count down to a pause, or how you hype an idea we’re gonna explore or what we’re about to see from other peoples work. It makes the first time through for myself feel good.
Also sometimes I like to go work in the back of another teachers classroom, especially if they’re a few lessons ahead so I can see the forest not just my current tree.
But also also I don’t want to be thinking about teaching in ALL of my free time. 😛
I think Dragonbox might also qualify.
Here are a few to consider: Euclidea (fun geometry puzzles, web or app), Pythagorea (fun geometry puzzles, must download app) and Grasshopper (quick simply lessons and exercises in Python programming, app)
The idea of mini lesson study is fascinating. I've never considered a just-in-time model of lesson demonstration, primarily because I don't think the technology has ever existed to do it.
I wonder about the gap between what I typically think of as lesson study (people co-prepare for a lesson, implement it, reflect and revise, and implement it again) versus a heads up about what's coming up. Like how do we get people to reflect on a lesson they may be unfamiliar with?
What if instead of previewing the next lesson, you show clips of the lesson they just taught to get them to reflect? Maybe that would feel bad like "Why the heck didn't you show this to me *before* I taught the lesson.
Very cool and it'll get me thinking. Also, if you're going to record classroom footage, you should record it in 360 degrees. I bought one of those cameras and mics and have been in classrooms using it. The results are amazing.