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Similar to what is described in Lampert et al (2013), our rehearsals are usually done together as a whole group, with a lead novice teacher engaging the rest of the class as students and the TE supporting in-the-moment feedback and reflection. As our course progressed, we received feedback and requests from NT's across both the reading and math methods courses to run the rehearsals in small group settings (with small group rehearsals running simultaneously) instead of in the whole group.
As we discussed how to be responsive to NT requests while still staying true to the guiding principles of our work, we raised the following concerns:
- Not providing in-the-moment coaching for every rehearsal (only one TE and multiple small groups) - How do we make sure we are maintaining the space of "rehearsal" instead of something different, like "role-playing"?
- Not knowing what ideas and teaching dilemmas are surfacing in each of the small groups - Rehearsals are a rich space that allows a variety of problems of practice to emerge that are connected to context and content; groups of NTs will miss out on these experiences if rehearsals are not in the whole group setting.
- Not being able to have a cohesive focus for that day's rehearsals - Particular ideas were often highlighted for each rehearsal, driven by the content, children's thinking, and what had been happening in previous rehearsals and enactments.
Through our conversations, different TEs decided to take up this idea in different ways in their course, with most sections choosing to try small group rehearsals at least once. See below for our reflections about how that went.
TE Reflections - Reflecting upon our uptake of small group rehearsals (Week 9 debrief)
TE 1: The novices' feedback in our midpoint check-in was that they wanted to maximize rehearsal time by doing small group rehearsals, instead of whole group ones.
TE 2: A few people had also brought that up and requested that of us. I have mixed feelings about it. [After trying small group rehearsals], I saw some things I liked; e.g., some people who don't talk much in whole group were able to talk more in small group. Their peers pushed them a bit in a way I would have been reluctant to do in whole group. But for the small group space to be productive, you need to know some things about the IA itself. It's interesting to think about under what conditions the small group rehearsal will be effective versus a whole group.
TE 3: It's now later in the quarter so they know some things about the activities, and they've experienced rehearsals numerous times. My sense is if we tried small groups 3-4 weeks ago, we would not have seen the same type of productive interactions happening. It's something they've potentially been asking for for multiple weeks, but we didn't want to give it to them too early. The timing seemed good this late in the quarter.
TE 2: I'm wondering about the people who requested it, what are their reasons for wanting small group rehearsals.
TE 1: It was several people asking for it. I brought it up in class. My sense is that more people wanted the opportunity to practice. I don't usually get to more than 1-3 rehearsals in the whole group.
Return to The Cycle: Preparation & Rehearsal.
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