The document summarizes reflections from an experience shadowing students for a day. It discusses the purposes of shadowing, which include gaining insight into the formal and informal curriculum, informing instructional practices, and fostering empathy. During discussion, participants considered how their shadowing experience aligns with theories of learning and educational philosophy. They also discussed how observation of other teachers could help identify examples of good teaching and provide opportunities to overcome barriers to improving one's own instructional practices.

1. Reflections on Shadowing
KSI 2015
Steve Chan chanese@gmail.com
Kelly Tracy ktracy@riverdale.edu
The Teachers
are Watching

2. Think about what
you did
 Followed a student for a single day
 Experienced classes without the “behind the curtain”
knowledge of the teachers’ designs
 Observed social interactions outside of the classrooms
that you might not have seen otherwise
 Experienced your student’s co-curricular life
 Take a minute to think about that day, from
start to finish

3. Purpose of shadowing
 To consider the learned versus the taught
curriculum
 Inform instructional practice
 What is contributing to a student's academic
performance?
 What conditions most enhance a student's focus and
motivation?
 Foster empathy
 Gain understanding of interactions between
students and teachers (or among students),
including how race, class, and culture affect a
student's experiences

5. Purpose of today’s session
 To interpret your experience
 To incorporate your experiences here at
KSI into your interpretation/analysis
 To consider ways in which this analysis can
be applied to planning and teaching
 To envision ways to apply what we’ve
learned to a broader group of students

6. Turn and share
Journal
PollEverywhere
Thinking

8. Things you have
pondered
 Your educational philosophy
 Theories of learning (think KNF!)
 Grappling
 Issues of diversity
 Misconceptions and understandings
 Technology, teaching, and learning
Now, re-read your shadowing paper with
these ideas in mind. (2 min)

9. 0:00
1:30
2:00
0:10
0:20
0:30
1:00

10. What do you
notice?
 What was one thing that you experienced here at
KSI that causes you to consider your shadowing
experience in a different way?
 If you were to shadow a student again in the Fall,
what changes would you make in where you focus
your attention?
(4 min – 2 min/person)

11. Time is Currency
 In-class
 Lecture
 Teacher-led discussion
 Student-directed work
 Formative assessment
 Summative assessment
 Overall
 Academic
 Social
 Physical/kinesthetic
 Co-curricular
 Reflection
How does this distribution of time align with the values of your
school? (2 min)
How much time was spent on the following activities?

12. Teachers Watching Teachers
 From the student side of the classroom, did you
observe examples of good teaching?
 What made them good examples?

13. Theories of
Learning
 Think about a particular moment where you
observed positive examples of the cognitive or
behaviorist approaches?
 What was the impact on the students?
 How do you know?
 How might you utilize similar approaches in your
own classes?
 Turn to your neighbor and share your observations.

14. Growth mindset
 During your shadowing experience,
how did you observe teachers
encouraging growth and/or fixed
mindsets?
 How might you encourage a growth
mindset in your own classes in the
future?

15. Your experience with
observation

17.  What are some barriers to observing other
classes?
 How might you overcome those barriers?
Observation

18. Diversity
Did you see evidence that your
school is “grappling” with issues of
diversity?

21. Empathy
Consider your experiences here at KSI.
In what ways have you further cultivated
empathy in a way that might allow you to
engage in those moments differently?
How did this experience help you to build
empathy for what your students bring into
the classroom?

22. Humanity and Morality
“Moral education for youth starts with us adults: the lives we
lead and thus project; the routines by which we keep our
classrooms, school, and school systems; the policies we have
come to treasure and the times when we have summoned up
the imagination and the courage – and the time and the
money – to devise even better ones.
The students watch us, all the time. We must honestly ponder
what they see, and what we want them to learn from it.”
The Students are Watching, Theodore and Nancy Sizer

23. Bringing it All Together
Consider the shadow experience and the debrief,
what are three points you want to take away?
what is still circling in your mind? and
what squares with your practice?

24. Moving Forward
 What are three things you want to
remember?
 Choose ONE and write it on the inside
of your name card – and then fold it
backwards so it faces out.