Saturday, February 19, 2011

An Exercise in Perception

What's your first impression about what's most likely going on here?

A) Learning
B) Cheating
C) Wasting Time

10 comments:

said...

I would say learning, even though we can't see what the boy is doing. Some might argue that if he's doodling, he and the girl aren't learning, but an art teacher might think differently.

Most education researchers would say that anytime there's collaboration, there's learning.

said...

I would also say learning! I have seen this with my students and it is great to see them communicating and collaborating.

said...

I am going to say learning.. look at their expressions?

said...

Learning - to me it looks like the students are in groups in a cooperative learning environment and that one student is either showing a peer how to complete a task or has just learned how to do it and modeling it while a peer observes. The last option is that the students are discussing something and tbd student writing I'd the scribe, creating notes for everyone.

All guesses aside it looks like the students are engaged and having fun learning.

said...

My first impression was also learning. But then I looked at the boy on the right-hand side of the picture. He seems bored while all about him learning is going on. Is it still learning, then, if all students are not engaged? Am I truly responsible for the learning of all thirty-four of my students? If I don't reach all of them, have I failed as their teacher?

said...

I would say Learning too. Hard to see what they are engaged in unless you actually ask them. That's why I love "walk throughs" in which you can actually ask kids what they are doing. You find out soooo much about learning that way. But these children look very engaged.

said...

"You can't judge a book by its cover"... and you can't evaluate what's going on here without context. Certainly it appears that students are engaged- and at a variety of tasks. The boy who McTeach commented looks bored looks to me to be reading, with book in his lap. But... what are the learning goals? What are the parameters for student actions? I've taught a handful of students who read through every subject, to the detriment of their own learning (never thought I'd ever say there could be too much reading!)

But being engaged in an activity and engaged in quality learning can be two very different things. If you don't know any better, students playing Poptropica look as "engaged" as students creating glogs to represent new learning.

I wish the typical teaching evaluation/supervision process considered meaningful learning and recurring practice and not simply student management observed in 1 or 2 visits a year. How can an administrator make sense from a snapshot view of the classroom- analogous to what you've offered here?

said...

All of the students in this picture look like they are engaged in something. I would presume that the boy and girl are working together and learning. Cheating and wasting time are possible answers but which such little context I would have to say learning.

said...

I'd have to say learning. The boy on the right appears to be deep in thought about whatever is taking place on his lap. Perhaps his book, perhaps a photograph he's studying. It looks like each kid is on task, in a matter that reflects their learning strengths. The boy on the left appears to be figuring out some sort of writing/math problem, and the girl looks to be assisting him. The children in the back look engaged in some sort of group project, perhaps a reading/writing group.

Heather said...

Like the other comments, I would also say learning, but at just a glance, I thought cheating, only because the girl is looking at the boy's desk, paper, etc. However, the more I studied the picture, I noticed their expressions and the kids in the background as well. The expressions from the boy and the girl do not show cheating. I think they would look like they're trying to hide something, but they look more like they're collaborating or helping each other to make sure they did it right. The photograph taught me to look a little closer at the situation, rather than assuming what my first glance told me. Thanks for posting.