After finding some
parking in the back of Mt Pleasant High school I hustled around to the front in
order to make it to my observation on time. Walking through the front door I
remembered that the main office was actually located on the second floor. This
caught me off guard and it did not take me long to lose my bearings. Quickly, I
approached the closest student and asked for directions. He spoke broken
English. He gave me directions to which I responded with, “gracias, tener un
buen dia.” Not having expected this, the student beamed said the same to me and
was on his way. The main office was unlike any office I have seen. It took a
while for the office attendants to acknowledge my existence in the unwelcoming void
of a space that was the main office. I was checked in and given vague
directions on where to go. As I made my way to the classroom there was an
abundance of students in the halls, well after the bell had rung. There were a
few “authority figures” ushering kids through the halls shouting the
occasional, “move it slow pokes” “get where you’re supposed to be” and “you’re
late!” Just as I was thinking to myself how crazy it was that so many kids were
still moseying in the hallway, I realized that I was late myself. Feeling as if
I had already blown it, I jogged to my respective classroom. Much to my
surprise it did not seem that I was late for anything. There was a thick
blanket of commotion laid over the classroom. I waived my hellos to the teacher
and teacher assistant and quickly took my seat in the rear of the room, waiting
for the teacher to wrangle her students into silence. As the teacher was
coaxing the students to settle in I was allotted a few minutes to observe the
room. The desks were configured in small groups of three to four students –
while this allowed the teacher to navigate easily around the classroom it was
difficult for her to keep an eye on everyone at once and to maintain order. The
high ceilings, the teacher’s difficult to hear speaking voice, and the wide
spread room were all components to why the class was so rowdy. The class is
rather small with 16 students, split down the middle between Hispanic and Black
with the exception of one Caucasian student. Based off of body language and the
unwillingness to settle down, no one seems overly excited to learn.
Once the lesson
finally begins, more and more students begin to pay attention. There are two
groups of two that seem to be the most unfocussed. They exhibit constant
chatter and total disinterest is the lesson. When they are noticed by the
teacher and asked to pay attention, the students take immediate offense – this
will continues throughout the remainder of the class.
Two thirds of the
students offer their hand when asked to participate during the course of the
class. When it comes to sharing ideas and answers students are reluctant at
first. The teacher does a good job at encouraging the students to share. She
does not accept plain “yes” or “no” or “I don’t know.” She says that those or
any answer is acceptable as long as you provide evidence to back it.
I think the
biggest deterrent to learning that day was the structure of the lesson. It was
no fault of the teacher’s, however. Classes at Mt Pleasant are very regimented
and come with multiple “cookie-cutter” formats and work sheets that the
teachers have to include in their lessons. The lesson may have been somewhat
interesting to the students, but that was lost with the mundane assignment that
needed to be completed. Each student had a three ring binder for the class
filled with vocab and comprehension sheets. There is no wonder that students
are so uninterested with what the teacher has to say.
To the teacher’s
credit, she seems to have a great rapport with her students. She is able to
joke around with them and they seem to respect her.
The hour seemed
like a whirlwind. It was quite an observation, which honestly, left me with a
few anxieties about teaching. The main worry I have is about having control
over my classroom. As a control freak, I want to make sure that I have my
student’s undivided attention. I know that each lesson plan is going to have to
pack a punch in order to keep everyone engaged. I certainly do not want to be
the teacher that barks orders and demands, “quiet” and for students to “pay
attention” but I do not want to be so laid back that students think it is okay
to speak when others are speaking. This leads me to wonder whether or not the
teacher I’m observing has classroom rules. Although it seems like a juvenile thought
to have “rules” it think it is important to have a standard set of guidelines and
expectations.
I’m glad that
everything I have observed so far can be taken away as a personal lesson in
what to do, what not to do, and what to do better.
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