Observation #3

The classroom that I was in for observations was a class of about thirty students in a large, urban high school. About half the students were female, the other half male. Only about six or seven students were Caucasian, with the rest being either African-American or Hispanic. All of these students were in a smallish room together for about an hour and a half when I observed their class. I feel it is important to know this information before I discuss classroom management in this particular classroom.

I was not there for the very beginning of the class, so I was unable to see how the teacher got students seated and beginning to do their work. When I walked into the classroom, the teacher already had that day’s PowerPoint presentation up on the screen and was lecturing to the class. She broke off briefly from lecturing to come speak with me and take attendance.

Over the course of the class period, students were paying attention to the lecture and taking notes. They did, however, talk a lot about topics not relevant to the lesson and were often loud and disruptive. This general misbehavior and off topic discussion was dealt with in a number of ways. Especially if she kept trying to start speaking and was being interrupted, the teacher would give the offender(s) a stern look without saying anything before resuming her lecture. She would also sometimes ask for quiet and if the students did not listen the first time, she would ask again more forcefully until the students actually quieted down and she could resume teaching. The teacher would, at times, also shush the class or try to talk over them if they got too loud. The last technique she used to try and control the volume and off topic discussion in her class was telling the class that they would not be able to move on to something new until they quieted down.

Student success and participation (though limited) was acknowledged through a number of short phrases, such as “nice”, “good job”, or “thank you”. While these small verbal acknowledgements are nice little recognitions of student success, I think that perhaps something a little more meaningful or with more substance would help students’ sense of self-efficacy and may reduce behavioral problems in the classroom.

The distribution of papers to students was another task that was handled in a very relaxed and informal manner. The teacher merely walked around the room, handing out the worksheets to the students while she continued to talk and joke with them and while they carried on with their loud and off topic conversations.

At one point, a couple of students asked the teacher for help with their assignments, and the teacher was quick to help the students with whatever clarification they needed. After any student in the room completed their first assignment, the teacher directed them into the next assignment in order to keep them occupied and productive.

Overall, I think that classroom management in this classroom was less than stellar. The teacher and the students got along well, but this made me wonder whether or not the students actually have respect for the teacher as a teacher. I think it also negatively impacts student learning because they are not focused on the material because the teacher allows them to conduct loud, frequent, and off topic conversations. This must be particularly difficult for students who actually want to learn because they cannot escape these distractions and are forced to suffer through them if they wish to take in the material that is being taught. I think that the teacher could exercise better classroom management, which would in turn improve student success and learning.

Observation #2

Lesson Plan Template for SED 406 and 407 part 1 = planning
Teacher Candidate: Kevin Cournoyer	Subject: History	Grade(s): 9-12
Name of Lesson: The Rise of Islam
Learning Objective(s), including Bloom's taxonomic level: (label A, B, C, *D) *optional Students will understand the factors, events, and people that contributed to the rise of Islam. Bloom’s: 1 (Knowledge)
Student Standards (GSE or/GLE or Common Core-in draft for math/science- list which): GSE HP 2: History is a chronicle of human activities, diverse people, and the societies they form. Students connect the past with the present by explaining origins of major historical events.
Teacher Standards (professional society and/or NETS  and RIPTS-list which): NCHS Historical Thinking Standard 3: The student engages in historical analysis and interpretation. Therefore, the student is able to analyze cause-and-effect relationships bearing in mind multiple causationincluding (a) the importance of the individual in history; (b) the influence of ideas, human interests, and beliefs; and (c) the role of chance, the accidental and the irrational.
Rationale: Why this lesson? How does it fit into the curriculum and context? Is this the introduction, conclusion, or somewhere in the middle of the unit of instruction? This lesson identifies important factors in the rise of a major world religion. Since this is a world history class, it is an important lesson in establishing how religion spreads and affects history. This lesson seems to be the introduction to a unit on Islam, though it could also be the middle of a unit on religion.
Materials/Resources needed, including technology: Overhead projector, laptop, handout(s) (excerpt from Quran and map on spread of Islam)
Accommodations and Modifications (special needs and learning styles) For example:  Dr. Kraus has poor vision and needs written material to be at least 12 pt. font.  He also reads two grade levels higher and needs appropriate reading material.  There did not appear to be any accommodations or modifications present in this lesson. The only thing that may qualify is the teacher’s periodic stopping to explain a word or idea or ask the students what they think it means in order to facilitate better understanding.
What content resources support this knowledge base? (list at least 2) -Primary source(s) (excerpt from Quran) -Map (the spread of Islam)
How confident are you in this topic as you start this lesson? T The teacher seemed confident in the topic and was able to present and explain the material in an effective and efficient manner.

(Boxes expand as you type)   Lesson Plan Template part 2 = action
Bell-ringer: How will you get students seated, and ready for academic work? (without your voice) N/A (I was not there for the beginning of the lesson)
Anticipatory Set: How will you introduce the material, interest the students, show relevance of topic? N/A
Phase (change as needed)/Time	Teacher action	Student action	Questions/Assessments
e.g. Intro/5 min.	N/A	N/A	N/A
Presentation or Open-ended/	Lecture from PowerPoint presentation about the rise of Islam	Listen to lecture and take notes from presentation	Who was Muhammad? What is a Muslim?
Guided Practice or Convergent/	Pass out handouts about Islam and its spread	Complete four questions about Islamic beliefs according to the Quran and analyze a map dealing with the spread of Islam.	None
Closing/	Assign unfinished work for homework	Write down homework, ask last minute clarification questions	Does anybody have any questions about what we did today?
HW/Application/	Same as above	Same as above	Same as above
Review and Reflection: How will you review for students who are still having trouble? No students appeared to be having any trouble, no review was forthcoming.
Extension: What will you offer to students who have mastered this? It did not seem like the teacher had anything extra to offer students who either finished the work or had a good working knowledge of the material.
*Closing: How will you review the material, and draw conclusions? (may be listed above) Again, there seemed to be no students that were in need of review. The teacher merely restated some of the main ideas about the Rise of Islam in order to review/draw conclusions.

	Lesson Plan Template pt. 3 = reflection
WHAT?	What went well?   The presentation of the information was concise and effective, if bland. Assignment of the worksheets and review of key concepts also went well.
	What area of weakness needs addressing? Something to really pull the students in and fully engage their interest would have made the lesson considerably more effective in my opinion.  Classroom management also could have been better. Had it been more effective, the lesson probably would have gone more smoothly.
	Which objectives were met? What is the evidence? The one objective of the lesson was met, as is evidenced by the students’ completion of the tasks assigned to them.
	Which students did not meet objectives? It appeared to me that all students met the objectives.
	Was time managed appropriately? Yes, the presentation lasted for as long as it needed to and left the students with ample time to complete their assigned tasks.
	Did any teacher mannerisms or actions detract from the lesson? I did not see any mannerisms or actions that detracted from the lesson.
	*What were the strengths and weaknesses of classroom management? The students were chatty and loud and frequently got off topic over the course of the lesson. This likely affected their learning the information and may have affected other students trying to learn. The teacher was able to get the class under control rather quickly when it did get out of hand, though.
SO WHAT?	Was the lesson engaging? The students were taking part in the lesson, but frequently went off topic or were distracted.
	*What did I learn from my peer observation (address at least one aspect)   N/A
NOW WHAT?	How will this experience influence your professional identity?  In the future, I will likely avoid lecturing off of a PowerPoint presentation and then giving out worksheets to reinforce what was taught. This seems ineffective and not engaging, therefore, not a good method of teaching.
	How will it influence how you plan/teach/assess in the future? This experience will make me wary of traditional methods of teaching and assessing in the future. Just because they are traditional does not mean they are the most effective or engaging ways of teaching.

Observation #1

I pulled up to the large, imposing brick building made all the more ominous by the dark and stormy weather with a sense of hesitance and nervousness. I didn’t know what to expect when I got inside. Would the students be in class, or did I come between periods, when the halls would be crowded with hundreds of boisterous, excitable teenagers? Would the staff at the front desk be welcoming? Would I be mistaken for a student? I took a deep breath and got out of my car, bag slung over my shoulder. Only one way to find out…

            My fears were immediately quelled as the woman at the monitor’s desk greeted me warmly and asked where I was headed. I told her and she gave me a visitor’s pass and sent me on my way. I thanked her and headed off to my assigned classroom.

            As I stepped into the classroom, I noticed it was like the rest of the school: old, sparsely decorated, and overall rather drab. Some posters and student work decorated the walls, but for the most part, it was a smallish room with beige walls and little decoration. The student desks were arranged in concentric horseshoes, with one teacher desk located at the front of the room and off to the side. A second teacher desk was located along the center of the back wall. This is where I sat. As in most classrooms, the teacher was at the front of the room, lecturing off of a PowerPoint presentation.

            The classroom seemed to be a microcosm of the school itself. It was bland, boring, and a little intimidating. The atmosphere within the room was certainly more casual than the one that permeated the hallways of the school, but as far as aesthetics were concerned, they were almost identical in they image they portrayed.

            Doing a quick count, I noticed that there were fifteen students in the room, but also that there were a lot of empty desks. The teacher later informed me that there are usually about thirty students in the class, and that so many were missing probably due to the weather. I noticed there were eight girls and seven boys. Only about four or five of the students were Caucasian, with the remainder being either black or Hispanic. In terms of ethnic background, therefore, it appeared to be a rather diverse classroom, though this was not too surprising given the community in which the school is located.

            The students themselves participated in a lot of idle chitchat and were not focused very closely on their work at all. They all appeared to be actually doing the work, but some were more invested in it than others. It is difficult to say whether or not these students were meeting the expectations and standards of the school, though it is likely that their lack of ability or willingness to stay on task would not be considered up to standards.

            It was unclear as to where power was vested in the classroom. Of course the teacher was recognizable as a teacher, but her frequent joking with the class made it questionable as to whether or not the students respected her as a teacher or if she had real control over the class. When things did get out of hand, however, the teacher was able to get the class back under control, though perhaps not as quickly or effectively as one would hope. 

            It seems like students that really want to learn and are hard working might find it difficult to be in this class because of the almost constant and inescapable distractions. Students who learn in nontraditional ways may also find this class difficult to be in because the teacher seems to use very traditional methods of teaching that may not reach or hold the interest of students with learning needs that cannot be met in traditional ways.

            I left the classroom with my curiosity piqued. The teacher was nice and seemed to get along well with the students. But I was left wondering if they respect her or if they see her as more of a friend than a teacher. If so, how does this affect the dynamics of the classroom and how or even if the students are learning? I hoped to get some answers to these questions in my future visits.

MicroTeaching I

Hey everybody. Here's the brief little post that you can comment on for your evaluation of my micro teaching one. Thanks in advance!