Josh Schulhoff

02/29/16 Observation of Whitfield- Objective: Calling the Shots

Collaborative Classroom
Enter 9:50
9:50 PBS video Calling the shots polio .playing upon entry.

NOTATIONS AND
RECOMMENDATIONS

During the course of the documentary, you did an excellent job of stopping and
elaborating (weakened versus live viruses- mist versus shots), engaging
students in dialogue by asking who had flu shots, and acknowledging differing
opinions on immunization.

1. To ensure students are truly

Students were instructed to take notes during the course of the documentary
either on their lap top or hand written. I saw a few students notate a few lines.
I enjoyed the personal touch you added with a little humor about portions of the
population that may be more at risk and why some immunizations take
different forms for different individuals. You asked questions like, what about
the advantage of drinking something versus a shot and We are relying on
everyone else not to get sick.what does that mean? These open ended
questions served to start a short dialogue and gauge student understanding of
the topic. There was not much wait time after a question was asked, partly due
to verbal calling out by an individual to your left and a separate individual to
your right. Your best questions lent themselves to differing opinions. Calling on
individuals to respond in addition to the call out answers and increasing wait
time after those initial responses may make the other students get more
involved. You acknowledged that a students answer as correct but skillfully
reworded to something more along the lines of what you were looking for.
I observed a healthy rapport between Mrs. Whitfield and Mrs. Moore. One
acknowledged the others involvement in the lesson and did a good job of
providing further insight into the lesson. When a student asked a question about
the boy in the documentary both Mrs. Whitfield and Mrs. Moore provided
aspects of the response. Mrs. Moore also was observed circulating around the
room at length when students were instructed to complete a vocabulary
assignment.
You also did a commendable job explaining why some people dont believe in
vaccination and explaining why references to Dr Wakefields research is
sometimes still referenced online. You also talked about famous people that the
students may know which makes the topic seem more real to the students.
You encouraged students to talk to their doctors about vaccinations.
Given the breadth of the topic, I thought you covered it very well and did not
depend on the video to teach the lesson.
10:22 Began vocabulary assignment- students were given the opportunity to
complete this assignment on the computer or on paper. A drop box was to be
set up in school space for students to submit their work or, in the case of those
choosing to go the paper route, students needed to have their paper checked
over. The assignment consisted of 9 words with an expectation that the
assignment should be completed within the 15 minutes of class which
remained. The class was very quiet and on task.

focused, I may suggest playing

a game with a word within the
documentary that is of high
frequency- for exampleimmunization or shot- Each
time the student hears the
word, they make a tick mark
and notate the context. At the
end you see who notated the
most instances of the word and
can tell you the context within
which it was used.
2. Pros and Cons to
immunizations were
highlighted in this documentary
and this is a hot topic of debate
for future persuasive essays.
Given time, a Google doc Venn
diagram that the students
could fill out in small groups
over the course of the block in
order to visualize pros and cons
may have been a good wrap up
when shared at the end of the
block.
3. I looked through some state
immunization websites and
thought a web quest of sorts
may be easy to put together if
there isnt one already
developed. It may be
interesting to compare which
countries and states require
which immunizations and at
what age, statistical data on
outbreaks to expand on the
reliance of others getting
vaccinated etc. etc.