Formal Classroom Observation #2

 

 

QUESTIONS AND PROMPTS:

 

Describe the students in the class. Think broadly about their differences going beyond race and ethnicity. What appears to be the range of ability levels, socioeconomic differences, languages spoken, personalities, etc. that are present among the students?

 

Each and every child is different in this classroom. There are students who have exceeded my expectations of what is required of a 1st grader, and after meeting with those individuals, I then meet with students who are not as advanced in the material that others were. There is quite a range of abilities in this room. The classroom is divided into groups based on ability. There are the “tigers”, “lions”, “zebras”, “giraffes”, and “gorillas”. The students are placed in these groups based on their reading ability and their curriculum is modified depending on their level. Two of these groups go to the reading room during station time in the morning, while those who are left in the classroom are given extra and more advanced work. There is one student who comes to class with dirt all over him because his mother never bathes him, so we wipe him down with face wipes in the morning to get him clean. I was informed just today that a child with some behavior issues has two parents who are both incarcerated. There are students in the classroom from all over the world. One child is from Japan, while another is from Sri Lanka. There are white, black, Hispanic, Asian and Middle Eastern students in the classroom, all trying to adapt to American curriculum standards.

 

There are students whose home lives break my heart. There are students who live far below the poverty line, and I’m just so happy when I see them warm, smiling, and eating a meal with friends. I’ve seen students read all 300 site words that they are tested on throughout the semester and it comes so easy to them. Some students can’t get passed the first column of words. Some students are engaged a majority of the time and shoot their hands up to answer questions. Other students work quietly and rarely talk unless called upon. There are about five children with behavior cards, which is a new idea my partner teacher is experimenting with. She writes down, every hour and a half, when the student is being respectful, responsible, and safe along with some explanation. If they fail at these, the incident is documented. There are also students who see clinicians throughout the week. One child has a man that sits with him for about an hour and observes him. I was first assigned by the teacher to work with a few particular students who were having some trouble in class. One of these students, I was informed, had a hard time making connections with people. And I think it’s safe to say that he and I have become buddies.

 

How does the teacher engage all students in the lesson? Does instruction involve students in a variety of learning styles? Which mode of learning seemed to be most effective? Were different learning styles being addressed? If yes, give specific examples. If you were a student in the class you observed, would your learning style have been addressed?

 

I believe the teacher has done an incredible job with her students so far this year. I have been informed by a few faculty members that her class in particular was far below where they were expected to be at the start of the year, and her class has flourished with her as their teacher. They listen quietly while she goes over some problems on their worksheet. She has their worksheet on the projector and she’ll explain her thinking process as she works them out. She also asks for volunteers to come up and solve a problem, or she’ll call on students. What I find to be very helpful is she asks students if they have any other ways to solve the problems. This can be helpful to students who have different thinking processes. She calls on students who aren’t raising their hand, and if they’re struggling to find the answer, she talks them through it.

 

Mrs. A also uses a bunch of visuals. They’re learning about coins and their value and she had me make a little booklet for each student that showed the front and the back of a penny, a nickel, a dime, a quarter and a half dollar, along with their value. This is to use as a reference when they’re working on their seatwork. I also try to go around to students who are having problems with addition or subtraction, so I draw out little pieces of pizza on their paper so add or subtract. (The kids seem to have more fun with it when they’re relating the numbers to food!) They also go to the library and have books read to them and use the computers. All the students seem to do well with the various technologies available. They use the classroom IPads sometimes during station time and use the app “Lexia”.  

 

Some students really have a hard time doing independent work and require a teacher or aid over their shoulder talking them through it. So once Mrs. A is finished explaining everything on the overhead projector, she and I walk around and assist those students who need a push. If they do not finish their seatwork, it gets sent home as homework.

 

I think that all the students’ individual learning styles are being addressed. There’s visuals aids, technology, different ways of writing out a math problem (vertical and horizontal) coloring activities, mazes, word searches, and, their assignments are listed on the board so they know what needs to be completed before recess. If the student finishes their work, they get to read a book of their choice at their desk.

 

How involved were students in learning activities? What indicators or examples did you notice?

 

Students are involved always. The teacher is consistently asking questions, coming around to help when needed, asking students to come up and show the class how they solved a problem, and they’re always informed of what tasks they need to be doing and what comes next. They get to share stories, do show and tell, read aloud and elaborate on their thinking process. Especially during stations the students are all involved. It’s much easier in stations because each teacher, aid or myself only has about five to six students at a time, so it’s easier to make sure all students are actively participating and getting their voice heard.

 

How did the teacher work with a variety of students, such as the reluctant learner? The shy student? The English learner? The physically/emotionally/academically challenged student?

 

The shy student: Mrs. A makes it a point to call on kids who aren’t usually the first to raise their hand when she’s explaining an assignment. She makes it a point to see where they’re at in the lesson and how well they understand the material. If she notices some students who are quiet and don’t feel talking to the whole class, she’ll come around during independent work time to make sure they understand the worksheet.

 

The English Learner: To be honest, I’m sure there are a few students in the class who are ESL, but I haven’t been able to determine who they are. Mrs. A hasn’t spoken to me about any student in particular who is struggling with their English, but then again, we don’t get much time to discuss these sorts of things, as we are busy and on our toes the entire time!

 

The physically/emotionally/academically challenged students: It’s obvious to see who is struggling academically in the class, as they are getting their work back most days with a lot of corrections to do. This is when she has me sit down with them and find different ways to work with each individual student to see what methods work best for them. So for example, I use the pizza drawings to help making the numbers somewhat relevant to something they’re familiar with, rather than just numbers on a page. But those students also go to the reading room for additional assistance for reading and vocabulary.

 

The students who are emotionally challenged get my assistance most days. One child in particular, the one who always has dirt on him, gets really frustrated when something isn’t going his way. He doesn’t know how to understand his emotions at this time in his life, and he often gets really loud or starts to cry, and you can see the anger and frustration in his face, so I jump in immediately to settle him down, ask him what is bothering him, and I assist him through his emotions. He also works with a clinician on some days, and I’ve seen improvement with him during my time in the classroom. He’s a sweet boy and very smart, he just needs some further assistance understanding and controlling his emotions.

 

As for physically challenged students, there are none in the classroom. All the students are physically fully “normal”. I did today, however, see a little girl in a walking aid working with an adult who was assisting her in the walking devise as she walked up and down the halls. But none of the students in my class have any physical handicaps.

 

Did it appear that the teacher had modified instruction to better serve the needs of culturally diverse students? What evidence, if any, can you report?

 

I have not exactly witnessed any cultural diverse activities or lessons during my time in the classroom. Most days the students are working on math, reading and writing, all of which is pretty standard. I don’t know what books she reads with them during stations, as I am usually going over vocabulary with them or helping students with seat work. I’m not with them in the afternoon to see what types of activities they do after lunch so I can’t answer that she does not have any modification, but if she has, I haven’t seen any during my time.

 

Did you observe any instances of students being excluded from learning because their needs were not being met? How was this displayed? How did it seem to impact the student and his or her behavior during instruction?

 

After recess, the students who have not completed their seatwork have to stay at their desks and complete it while the teacher does circle time. I find this unfortunate because most of the time the students aren’t even doing their work. The teacher isn’t really paying attention to them at this time so the students at their desks often space out or listen to the activity the teacher is doing on the rug. She also does something she calls “On the spot PE”, and she surprises them with this in the afternoon because the students really love it, so it’s a bit of a reward. If a child has been behaving poorly or hasn’t done their work, they’re excluded from the activity. I really like Mrs. A, but I do disagree with her action on this. It’s like giving them a time out, and all the students can see that those students are being punished, and I think it’s counterproductive. If anything I think they get even more off task because they’re sad that they’re being publicly shamed. So I wouldn’t do this in my classroom, but I can see why she thinks this would try to motivate students to get their work done, but I almost never see it actually work.

 

 

REFLECTION QUESTIONS:

 

What personal challenges do you think you’ll face when teaching a diverse group of students?

 

I think just getting everybody engaged and interested in the lesson will be difficult with a diverse group. It’s hard to include each and every individual in an activity and get them all interested with the same lesson. I would want to ask my peers at the school how they successfully do this and get their ideas and opinions on my lesson plans. Maybe with a bunch of different ideas, I can come up with a lesson using all their ideas to create a super lesson involving all different aspects from different cultures and backgrounds.

 

What did you learn about diversity in the classroom?

 

I learned that no matter what classroom you walk into in California, you will have a group of diverse children, so it’s important to have lessons that can involve all students and make them feel like you were thinking of them when you can up with the lesson. Make them feel special, included, and like the lesson is relevant to each student. It’s difficult to reach each and every child, so this will be a struggle. But I will do my best to include everyone and make sure the activities are meaningful and inclusive.

 

Consider strategies used to engage diverse learners. Based on your prior field experiences and your current placement compare and contrast the strategies observed in these settings.

I think it’s important to use many different aspects from each learning style into an activity. The teacher purchased headphones from the Dollar Store for students to wear if they need it to be quiet while they’re doing their work. I thought this was a great idea. Some students need some noise around them to complete work. I know I like to have the TV on in the background while I work, so maybe I could have some quiet music playing in the class. I would also want to do a lot of group activities, which my partner teacher does not do. I think it’s important for students to collaborate and bounce their ideas off of each other and learn new strategies from their peers. I would also want to use visual aids, video clips and other sorts of graphics to help with students who are more visual. For kids who need to move or spread out when they work, I would like an area for kids to spread out on the floor to do their work. I used to always do my homework this way as a kid, I hated sitting at the kitchen table. So instead, I would bring my work to the living room and lay out to do my work.

What ideas will you take with you?

 

I would take with me Mrs. A’s behavior card idea; it’s a good tool to have when meeting with parents. You can show the parents how their child is acting in the class and at what times of the day they’re behaving, especially for the difficult parents who deny their child has any behavior issues. I will take away her activities she uses during stations. The students are basically reading at every station, but it’s a new activity and they get to get up and move around for a few minutes and start something new, which keeps them engaged. I like her idea of appointing two students each day as the “weather wizards” and they get to go outside and inform the class of the weather that day, then they sing a weather song, which is just too cute. I want to steal that idea! She also appoints two leaders for the week who help out with different responsibilities in the classroom, like collecting papers, handing them back out, or walking the lunch box bucket out to recess. I would like to use that too.

 

What would you do differently in your own classroom?

She has the students aligned in rows, and I would like to experiment with desks in groups so that the students can work together more. And as I mentioned before, I wouldn’t like to exclude students from learning activities is they’re not finished with work or misbehaving. It’s like public shaming, and I don’t agree with that, especially when they’re so young. I would also want to make the activities a little more engaging. They’re given a daily worksheet everyday that they have to complete, and I think that gets a little boring after a while, so I want to find new ways for students to accomplish the same goals as a worksheet, but make it a little more exciting.