Learning from Ms. Nourski

Learning from Ms. Nourski:

On Thursday, I had the opportunity to visit Ms. Nourski’s classroom in action. It was a treat! I saw about 25 minutes of her lesson which was jam packed with a number of different activities. The learning and engagement was incredible. Four things really stood out in Ms. Nourski’s classroom: Atmosphere, Pacing, Transitions, and Engagement.

Atmosphere: The physical space was cozy and comfortable with many different types of seating options. There was a student at a standing desk, a handful of students in rows, a number of groups in desks, a group at a large table and a few students in the back in lounge chairs. In addition to the physical environment, Ms. Nourski’s warm, happy and spry demeanor fills the classroom.  

Pacing: In every part of Ms. Nourski’s lesson she successfully hit the “sweet spot.” Not too quick that students were left behind, but not so long that students were left to waste time. The lesson flowed beautifully meshing individual and small and large group work so students who may not work as fast had an opportunity to stay on pace by listening to other classmates as they shared their learning. The students knew exactly how long they would have to finish a task so they immediately got to business.  

Transitions: Ms. Nourski’s transitions were unbelievably smooth. What really stood out to me was how simple and clear her transitions were. One strategy I liked in particular was announcing that it was transition time. Who’d of thought that telling the students they are transitioning would help the transition!?!?!? I realized that sometimes I make transitions way too hard. Here’s a paraphrased dialogue of her transition: “Okay! It’s time for a transition. You have 1 minute to be ready for the next activity. I need you to put away your DOL. You need to keep out your composition notebook. I need two passer outers and one collector….....5-4-3-2-1.” On to the next activity. Simple but incredibly effective.

Engagement: I was so impressed with how engaged and on task Ms. Nourski’s students were. I think this was partly due to the fact that they were engaging in so many different types of learning. One example of this was an activity working on parts of speech. First students had to think about and identify various parts of speech. Next they reflected on their own writing and recorded observations about parts of speech. Finally, students shared out in large group and were able to “steal” observations from their classmates.  In 25 minutes, students had multiple opportunities to think, reflect, observe, write, listen and speak. Unbelievable!