Observation #3

I came to observe during the first class of the day. I was one of the first people in the room, and so I saw that as most of the students trickled in they went to a bin and took out a red folder and brought it to their seat. On the board there was a “Do Now” task for the students to put into their red folder. As the bell rang, the teacher came in from the hallway and shut the door, indicating she was ready to start the class. The teacher encouraged every student to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance, but she did not make anyone participate. After the pledge, a student came on the intercom to do announcements. There were a few reminders during the announcements, such as that teachers should limit the number of bathroom passes. During and after the announcements the students were writing in their folders to finish the “Do Now”. The teacher took attendance during the announcements, which I think was the best way to create more time for instruction. After she was through, she walked around to see each students’ “Do Now”. During her walk around the room, one corner was getting particularly rowdy and they were speaking loudly in Spanish. The teacher excused herself from the student she was working with and walked over to ask the corner students to please take out their books and read quietly while she finished up.

            One student walked in about ten minutes later, and she asked a peer to catch him up on what was going on. She gave that student a few minutes to catch up and then she asked the students to put their eyes to the front and put away their books. The teacher encouraged her students to share their “Do Now” with one another, and they had a small discussion about it. It was interesting that the students did not raise their hands but called out the answer. Although it seems like it could be a disaster, the students were respectful of one another. After the discussion, the teacher collected their homework. From there, she turned on her PowerPoint and asked the students to turn their desks towards the screen that displayed the information. During the PowerPoint, the teacher engaged the students with questions during the presentation and praised them for speaking up – whether they were right or wrong. I think that this helped the students feel safe to speak, without getting yelled at if they were wrong. A gentle “not exactly, but good educated guess” was enough to encourage them to think and try again. One student made an appropriate joke, and got the whole class laughing. The teacher, knowing it was coming from a good place, laughed for a moment and then asked them to get back on task. Overall, the class went really well. I am not sure if I just came on a good day, or if the class is always so well behaved. However, I do believe that the classroom was set up in a way that was conducive to learning.