each program, we observed teachers design lessons to make Soe i i in a joint productive activity with instructional conversations as the a . iti rt pe strategy. They structured both small- and large-group Se oe we i ion i i bined and constructed their know : interaction in which students com . Teachers scaffolded students with questions and supports that a their current level of competence to demonstrate mete advanced s it and Fach of the programs supports its teacher candidates to ee build on the social nature of learning in their courses, In their ame os i the programs themselves. i the structure and cultures of ane i k make clear, learning i i i hapters of this book ma , As the vignettes in the previous c ee in productive communities intersects with the other dimensions of “ a learning. It is linked to how learning becomes developmentally ee and contextualized and how students apply and transfer what t y mew to a variety of situations in and outside of school. And as we wi S a chapter 9, it is very much a part of how learning becomes equitable , oriented toward social justice. . ; In the remainder of this chapter we provide examples of reac “2% dates facilitating learning as a social process in their clinical wor se ° school sites and then describe the strategies the teacher preparation p grams use to help the candidates learn to teach that way. DEEPER LEARNING THROUGH JOINT PRODUCTIVE ACTIVITY Sara, a teacher candidate at CU Denver and her mentor Kim, a ae eee at Laredo Elementary in Aurora, Colorado, use these standards as t a : e lessons for the classroom of fifth graders they teach together. an ° ee Denver professional development school, enrolls a diverse sore ° a students, 61 percent of whom are Hispanic, 19 percent lac ; “ an white, 4 percent Asian, and roughly 1 percent Hawaiian/Pacific Islan Sea Native American; 4 percent of students identify as two or mist aces. ane half are English language learners; 11 percent nw special learning i lify for free or reduced-price meals. . ™ ora the eon highlighted here, Sara and _ engage stadents in a textualized learning through social interaction—in this case a on personal experiences with one another to generate and use sensory to enrich their writing. Learning in Communities of Practice A crisp wind and intense sun beat down on the carefully manicured lawn that lines the walkway up to Laredo Elementary. Below undulating American and Colorado flags, bold blue letters above the entrance exclaim: “Laredo Lions.” At 9:15 a.m. on a Wednesday morning, in a portable classroom at the edge of a grassy courtyard, Kim’s class is in full swing. Nineteen fifth-grade students—all of them Hispanic or African American—are sitting on a carpet at the front of the classroom with an easy view of the screen that displays student work projected from a nearby document camera. Kim is standing and enthusiastically walking students through samples of student work that was turned in the day before. Sara, sitting nearby, is very much a part of the conversation. The lessoh is focused on how to infuse writing with sensory details so that readers can see/hear/feel/taste/smell the events that the student-authors are de- scribing. The assignment asks students to pick any memorable moment in their fives that evoked strong emotion from them. One girl writes about breaking her feg during a soccer match; another writes about her first day in an American school after immigrating from Ethiopia; a third writes about being with her sister during her miscarriage. Kim: Luis has come so far in his writing—everyone give him a hand [Students enthusiastically clap.] Yesterday Luis shared with us about going to the Lan- tern Festival but, Luis, instead of just telling us you went, | want you to be able to show everyone. What were the lanterns doing? [Students start to chime in.] Hold on, give him a second. [pause] Luis: Moving, crackling, flickering. Kim: Which one do you like best? [pause] Luis: [shrugs shoulders] Kim: Okay, try this—close your eyes. Can you imagine it? Luis: Yes! The lanterns were flickering! Kim: Great—that word is more specific and now we can see it like you saw it! This process continues for two more student-authors whose writing needs a bit more specificity. Kim ends her mini-lesson with: “We're going to continue to get better, and when | read what you work on today I'll expect to see this level of sen- sory detail in all of your stories. | want to be able to really visualize what you're de- scribing—| want this from you today, tomorrow, and in ten years!” At this point Sara launches into the next portion of the lesson wherein small groups of students work together to describe different sensory objects without looking at them first. Sara: You may notice that there are brown bags on each of your tables. Inside of these bags is a mystery surprise. You know how | love my mysteries! [Students laugh, and some say “yes” and “she does like mysteries!”] The (continues) ===
Planning with others and using instructional conversations as the guiding strategy multiplies impact.