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Observing Classroom Practice.

2012; Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development; Volume: 70; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

0013-1784

Charlotte Danielson,

Education and Technology Integration

Jennifer Lopez looks up quickly as Ms. Anderson, the principal, steps into her 5th grade classroom. She glances around nervously. What might this look like to Ms. Anderson? At the beginning of the lesson—an introduction to the topics of buoyancy and density—the students pushed their desks together to make tables. On each table is a dishpan full of water. (Jennifer always hopes for the best on days like this; she's notorious with members of the custodial staff for various adventures in her classroom. But today all is well.) The students each have a lump of clay, and they've weighed their lumps on a pan balance to satisfy themselves that they all have roughly the same amount, or mass, of clay. The students put their clay in the water and watch it sink. They're challenged to make it float, which they discover they can do if they fashion their clay into the shape of a boat. They find this exciting, and they immediately tackle the next challenge: Can they make a good boat—good meaning one that will hold a lot of cargo in the form of paper clips? They explore various questions: Should the boat have thin or thick sides? (Thin sides; it's possible to enclose more volume with the same amount of material.) Should they shape it like a bowl or like a canoe? (Like a bowl, for the same reason; canoes are for rapids.) The students have become quite proficient. They're constructing boats with paper-thin walls and even tops so the water won't rush in, and they're sketching their designs on the board, showing the number of paper clips each one will hold. Jennifer is impressed and expresses her admiration. The boats hold 14, then 27, then 36, and finally more than 50 paper clips! But here is Ms. Anderson in the room to do an (unannounced) observation. What must she be thinking? Now she comes over to Jennifer, motioning her aside and saying in a whisper, I'll come back when you're teaching. Instant Replay: The Principal's Point of View