Observation #1
Delanie Downey
English 150: Carver 264
Friday September 9, 2016 @ 9:10am-10am
I observed Delanie’s classroom while they were wrapping up Assignment #2. Delanie had an editing activity planned and a reflection assignment due at the end of the class period. She had students work with partners and exchange their papers to do a final quick edit. She requested that they make corrections in an alternative color font so that it would be clear what mistakes had been made while completing the final draft. She explained that unlike the peer conference where they shared feedback that would help improve content and substance, this quick edit activity was mostly geared towards addressing sentence level errors and formatting issues. It was a session to review and fine tune their piece.
As Delanie asked students to pair up themselves, she indicated that she would like partners to be with someone that the student had not formerly worked with. The students took a long time to group, so Delanie walked around to help match students up. It seems that this class requires instruction. Leaving it up to the students to decide on partners took up too much time and Delanie had to pair students on her own anyways. This informed my plans to pair students off in my own class. Instead of leaving it up to students to decide on their partners, which increases the chances of some students being alienated, I try to use methods of randomized grouping by having students count off or matching them up by rows rather than with the person next to them.
Delanie was thorough with what she planned to do and even gave the students a detailed description of what she would be doing the next week. The clear timeline made it easy to see how the day’s activities tied into the bigger picture of their 150 class. There were correlations between what they were doing in class that day and what was coming up in the following week.
Delanie has a very clear and descriptive approach to directions. She gives a very detailed timeline to her students, something I should implement more within my own PowerPoint presentations. She is pleasant and calm while answering questions. I admired the way she showed genuine interest in student questions. It reinforced the importance of showing care as a teacher. She is specific about her expectations and gives students a chance to ask more. I always try to give students enough time to ask questions, and noticed that Delanie was encouraging her students to ask more by looking around and making eye contact while pausing.
It was difficult not to notice that multiple students arrived late. This is distracting and caused pauses in Delanie’s attempts at explaining directions. I struggle with the same kinds of interruptions. It is especially difficult when you are trying to give directions and have to repeat them to those who came in late. Following the class, Delanie and I discussed the frustration that teachers face when students are persistently late. Both a distraction to us and other students, we discussed ways that we must rise to the challenge of those who refuse to arrive on time.
Observation #2
Imelda Wistey
English 250, Monsters: Ross 22
Friday, September 16, 2016 @ 12:10 pm-1 pm
Imelda starts class on time and has already written “today’s activities” on the board. She explains to the class what they will accomplish in the 50-minute meeting and gives the students opportunity to start class with questions. The agenda included: finish presentations, discuss AE, transitions, discuss reading, peer review and work time. After reading through the list of activities and greeting the class she asks if anyone has questions. Then she tells the class that she will upload grades for their analysis essay that night. She has structured her feedback so that they must read through her comments in order to see their final grade on the word document, a good way to ensure students will read her comments.
Next Imelda has the students read a passage on the board. The paragraph lacks transitions. She has students engage in discussion about why we need transitions and how it affects the reader’s experience. Imelda asks students what they see is not working in the passage. She asks if anyone is able to offer revisions. Then, she gives time while students read the board. She waits until a couple of students raise their hand before calling on anyone. This is a great strategy because then students can’t just rely on the proactive students who raise their hand every time.
Next Imelda turned the class over to a group presentation. She stood attentive at the back of the classroom. I thought this was a useful strategy because it puts pressure on other students to pay attention and it shows the group that she is engaged. She encourages the group and gives them positive feedback when they finish, then return to the front of the class.
Next, Imelda readdresses the class. She is good at relating to students, by mentioning how she realizes that it is Friday, but that she still wants to stay focused and discuss the reading. She has students refer to their book and bring up comparisons of vampires in literature. She asks how pop culture reestablished or reinvented the vampire war? When nobody answers, she waits through the quiet pause and eventually students step up with responses. She was patient and giving the extra time to pause was useful because students did step up with answers after a few seconds.
Next Imelda moves the class to peer review. She structures this well, by offering students a checklist based on the rubric. The checklist breaks the assignment up into questions and bullet points that satisfy portions of the rubric. This is a great idea that I will use in my own courses. This helps students to focus on more than just sentence level errors during their peer conference. The class seems quite engaged and you can hear people giving great feedback as they work together on peer review. During the conference time, Imelda circulates around the classroom and gives one-on-one advice to students with questions. She often takes the question from one student and addresses the whole class with the answer.
Imelda showed control throughout her class, without being bossy or boring. Instead, she was assertive and engaging while showing genuine interest in her students. It was useful to observe a successful class and learn useful strategies for my own course.
Observation #3
Matty Layne
English 250, Border Crossings: Ross 0015
Thursday, November 10, 2016 @ 2:10 pm- 3:30 pm
I observed Matty’s lab classroom session during a presentation week. This section of ENG 250 is focused on the Border Crossings reader. The project they were presenting featured hot button issues such as police brutality, LGBT communities and the bathroom debacle, stigmas surrounding mental illness and the death penalty. The presentations were documentaries that students created.
A few minutes before class, Matty plugged in his laptop and loaded the videos so that he would be prepared, he started by addressing the class and sharing the names of students who would be presenting. He explained how he planned to regroup and sit in a circle to foster a larger discussion following the showing of videos. I thought Matty did a great job giving students an agenda before starting the lesson.
He also addressed the college’s request to share information about debriefing sessions hosted by campus clubs, resource centers and organizations, in relation to the recent election. He kindly suggested ways students could access resources to help them cope with the results of our presidential election, which took place the week of this class. I thought it was courteous of Matty to share this information with his students. It helps to build a level of comfortability when students feel as though they can talk to and rely on their teacher.
Matty started the first film and shut the lights off. As he prepared to start the film, he told students to write their feedback by hand in order to avoid the distractions of using a computer. Some students ignore this request. I notice that students with their laptops open would occasionally check e-mail or do other things. I run into similar technology issues in my own classroom, and there is hardly a way to monitor the activity of all students while you are trying to assess their presentation. As a teacher, there are limits to how much we can actively enforce our instructions and expectations, but perhaps he could have asked students to put their computers away. I know that in my classroom, it helps to ask students to close their laptops when they do not need to be on them.
After the first video ended Matty says, “I like your credits music.” He then says Justin’s is next and starts the screening of the next film. It was good to hear a positive comment at the end of the presentation while transitioning to the next student presentation. Matty did not always make comments while changing from one video to the next, so I would recommend that he pay more attention in order to be consistent. Either share one comment following each presentation, or refrain from remarks until the end of all of the films. Offering comments between the films gives students a sense that things are going well and could help to keep them engaged better.
It also stood out that on occasion between videos Matty asked if the student had anything to say. Again, I think that it would be best if he either asked each student this before their film was played, or none of them. I know that he was just filling the space of time while clicking the next video, but consistency is key.
One student enters class 20 minutes late. This is an issue I come across in my own classroom. Again, there is little we can do to address the problem and Matty did not let it distract him from the presentation.
When the videos were finished, Matty had the students rearrange and move so that the students who showed their videos organized as a panel against the wall and other students turned to face them. Each student had an opportunity to discuss their specific purpose and goals of the video they created. Students shared why they decided to focus their documentaries on particular controversies and what rhetorical strategies they used in creating them. Students actively spoke up about their intrigue on topics and the reasons behind choosing their specific subjects.
After students talked about their purposes, Matty asked who would like to start off the questions, there was a long pause before Matty said that he would not offer questions because it was part of their participation grade. I thought it was excellent that Matty left it up to the students. Sometimes, when my students do not jump in with responses, I will answer my own question or offer my own insights. This observation highlighted that it can be much more beneficial for the students to be held responsible. Soon after his comment, students jumping in with ideas. They raised their hands and began to engage the panel with questions.
When there was a good lead, Matty would add his own questions to further the discussion. He drew on important points and concepts to highlight what was successful (or not) in these presentations. I found this to be a really great way to engage the class in discussion.
When students slowed down and stopped raising hands, Matty helped by announcing that he would not end class early. Instead, he said that students needed to engage in discussion. Again, hands popped up. Observing this was really useful for me. Often times, when students seem to clock out or stop participating, I feel pressured to wrap up the discussion. This observation showed me that prompting students again can generate a new wave of ideas when the initial burst of participation slows.
Matty commented on the techniques students used to create their documentary and helped get information from the class about strategies for using technology. It was useful to hear students discuss various methods and apps used to develop their documentaries.
Matty then draws on how the topics are often sensationalized and asked the panel to comment on ways that their subject has been sensationalized. Students offered their ideas, and with this, Matty wrapped up the class.
This observation gave me an opportunity to see the ways a different instructor conducts presentation days. It was beneficial to notice the ways that the instructor can control the classroom, even when the students are the ones providing the substance of class.