Individual Field Blog Post

For the individual field experience I chose to go back to my old alma mater.  I attended Saint Ignatius High School and observed classes over the period of two days.  The days were long because of the packed time and between 8 am and 2:50 pm I only had one lunch break, so I was busy pretty much all day.  Though both days were physically and mentally draining I believe the experience was well worth it because I was able to observe a total of 8 history classes each day.  For a total of 14 hours of observation I was able to learn and pick up a lot on the similarities and differences I saw in the teachers throughout the day. 

What I found most interesting was actually observing the teachers as they taught the lesson.  Sitting in a class through high school, I would look at what was on the board and write that down in addition to what the teacher was saying.  This time around I did not focus on the content so much as the actions of the teacher throughout the class.  It was a real change of pace to just focus on the teacher and the way they moved and how they talked and the enthusiasm they would show for certain areas and the lack thereof for other areas.  It was an incredible experience and I had a great time sitting in on the classes both days and for the remainder of the blog I will post based on the periods I went through and what I was able to gather over the two days in each 40 minute class. 

1^st Period-  Honors World History (Freshman)-  I walk into the classroom to be greeted by a former teacher of mine who is happy to see me and have me observe him.  I take a seat in the back and take out my notebook ready to observe.  The teacher turns on the smart board and all the chit-chat and talking before class starts is now stopped.  My first reaction to this was amazement at how fast they all became quite as class was about to begin.  Students take out computers and note books and pens to take notes with (throughout the class students would play games on their computers so I don’t like the idea of those in the room).  The teacher throughout the class would walk across the front of the room to keep the students eyes forward and he would constantly ask questions about readings from the night before or previous units to keep the students engaged and to make sure they prepared for class and remember the previous units.  As the bell rang and the morning announcements came on he kept talking and even tried to talk over it to keep the lesson going.   After I left to go to a different class for period 2, his class continues and so he passed out a quiz that the students didn’t have enough time for and so let them finish on the second day I was there.  He was trying to give them advice about it as they were taking the quiz, such as “if you have to guess go with your first guess” and also “eliminate the two answers that it can’t be and take your best guess at the answer you think it is.”  It was great to watch this class because the only time the teacher would stop moving was when he would walk to a podium at the front of the room to change slides on the power point.

2^nd Period- U.S History (Sophomores)-  In this class group presentations were being done so there was not a lot I could observe from the teacher other than him standing in the back of the room this time to watch the presentation and make sure the other students were focused.  One thing I thought was interesting that he did was that he would ask questions during the presentation if the students did not cover 100% of what he was looking for and so would ask them leading questions as well as jumping off points so they could expand on his ideas as well as their own.  If the students had researched their topics then they would be fine answering them but some students were unprepared and one group was so unprepared that the teacher told them to sit down and he finished the presentation himself.  When the group presentations are done he goes up to teach a little before class is over and calls specifically on the students who appear to not be paying attention.  He would walk around and used some humor in his lecture while talking with the students which I believe can help a lot in a classroom.

3^rd Period- U.S. History (Sophomores)- In a different classroom now that is not set up like the other two in rows and columns.  In this classroom the desks are in three rows but two desks put together like a small table for two students to sit at.  The weeks work and homework is written on the board (which I believe is a great idea so just in case a student isn’t paying attention when the teacher tells them the homework they can just look up to mark it down).  The first day I am in the class, she reviews quickly what the students went over the previous week by asking the students questions and then she passes out a project they will need to work on with a partner and tells them to go over them for homework to figure out what they want to do.  After all the talking is done she decides to show a documentary on the women’s suffrage movement because that is what they are studying.  The next day the students pick their partners and their topics for their project but today the teacher decides not to show the documentary.  Students today now are grading a quiz from the previous week and she passes out red pens so they grade them for each other.   When they are done grading the quiz she puts a power point up on the board and starts the first slide with review questions.  While still moving she lectures to the class what is on the board and when she asks a question she only accepts answers from students who raise their hands which I thought was interesting because in the previous period the teacher called specifically on the students who appeared to not be paying attention.

4^th Period-lunch

5^th Period- A.P. U.S. History (Sophomores)-  The most interesting room set up that I experienced all day.  The desks were set up in a baseball diamond type way where two rows of desks were off to the left, two in the middle and two on the right and the teacher standing in the middle would be “home plate” so that all students could see him and the board.  This set up allowed for the teacher to walk around a lot for his lecture with the students.  Both days were test review days for the day following after I finished my observations.   Both days the teacher would keep a steady pace around the room and keep everyone engaged by talking directly with students when asking questions and calling on students both with their hands up and those with them down.  His hand motions and use of eye contact made sure that everyone was paying attention at all times.  He would turn the lights off when the power points were on and turn them off when he would just speak with the students.  The bullet points on the slides did not hold all the information he would talk about, these bullet points were only staring points of conversation so the students would have to make sure they were listening to take sufficient enough notes. 

6^th Period-Cleveland History (Seniors)-  The first day there was a surprise test for the students to fill out so there was not much I could do.  The test was a page just filled with lines and the students would find a partner and write a 3-4 paragraph essay on the topic of their choice from the paper.   The next day the students took notes and although it was a small class the teacher still did his best to walk around.  Each slide was just a picture that he would explain, there were no notes on any slide so the students would really have to pay attention.  If the students were talking while he was he would simply talk over them until it got to a point where just told them all to shut up and focus (in a humorous but stern way). 

7^th Period-World History (Freshman)-Same teacher as the last period so I didn’t have to move rooms.  Power point has notes on the slides this time for the Freshman.  Not only are the notes informative but some were quite funny, a lot of modern humor that the students could relate to.  Uses the notes on the board as jumping off points to talk about other issues while remaining on topic.  Each slide would relate back to a main idea that was on the first slide (and would appear again on the last one).  This teacher in particular loves to make jokes while teaching and keeps all the students engaged through humor. 

8^th Period- U.S. Government (Juniors)-  This class is set up in tables spread out across the room instead of rows and columns.  Before the class even starts the teacher passes back old papers and asks if there have been any problems with his grading which there were and some students had to come to his desk to fix it.  When class actually starts he beings with a review of class from the last week.  As he is talking to the students he draws pictures on the board to represent different things that relate to the topic.  These drawing really would help the students make associations for when a test or quiz comes up.  The next day he reviewed from the day before, and kept the students attention by randomly asking questions to each student in a random order.   The day after my observations the teacher was planning on playing a jeopardy game for bonus points, and I believe that this is a great idea before a quiz so it will help relieve stress before a test, is a good way to review, and also offer bonus points to the students who are already prepared to take the test.

9^th Period- World History (Freshman)- In the last class of the day the teacher would ask questions called “cold calls” that are questions to engage the students as soon as they walk in the room.  This teacher really walks around and keeps a good pace throughout the room and used constant hand motions.  If students were to start talking while he was lecturing he would keep going until they would just become quite again.  He would expand on all the points and questions through more slides and lecture to keep the students focused. 

The one major similarity I found with all the teachers is that no matter the size of the classroom or the amount of students in the class they would walk around.  Each teacher would keep moving to keep the students attention on them and their voices as well as what’s on the board.  Even in college I have now come to notice that teachers will move while speaking whenever possible and I believe this is a good thing to do.  A student’s eyes will be focused on the teacher and what they are saying or will be focused on the board to copy down the notes.  The combination of both of these tactics I believe works well because a student will try to focus both and give his or her attention to the teacher and the information. One other similarity that I saw was the use of humor throughout the day.  If the students could laugh a little during class then it releases tension on them so they can get back to the grind of the class in front of them.  You could tell that there was “authentic friendship” as described by William Ayers.  There is a line where the teachers would not cross and that was after making a joke or funny observation about a topic, not getting back to the information.  All of the teachers and students would laugh but then everyone knew that more work had to be done and no one had a problem with that.