I observed a high school classroom over several sessions. I took notes on what I saw the teacher do and how the students responded to her. In the paper below, you will find my observations using only low inference statements.
Mrs. G’s Class
I observed Mrs. G’s class at Highland High School in Gilbert, Arizona. This was her second year teaching, after going back to college to receive a teaching degree. I attended her 3rd period class various times, watching an array of activities occur. This was a Freshman English class, composed of 15 students, 6 girls and 9 boys, ages ranging from 14 to 15. One student was disabled with a mutated hand. All of her students were Caucasian, with one exception being a Hispanic. After observing the neighborhood and the students, I concluded that the majority are in an upper socioeconomic class.
One on occasion the students were participating in a vocabulary review game. All their vocabulary words were written in cursive on the chalkboards throughout the room. The desks were arranged in 5 columns, one for each group, with 4 desks in each column. Mrs. G had arranged the students into groups from a previous activity during that week. She instructed the students that after she read aloud a definition, the first person on each team needed to run to the board to swat the correct word with their fly swatter. After hitting the correct word, all the number ones of the group were to head to the back of their team’s line and then the game repeats with new participants. Some students complained they could not read the words because they were written in cursive. Mrs. G explained to them that they will be using cursive more and more throughout high school, so they need to get use to it. I was in charge of seeing who got to the words first. At some point the students started pushing each other into the chalkboards when they ran for the vocabulary term. Mrs. G kept telling them, “Be careful! Calm down!” Another item I noticed was that the same few students were getting the words correct each time. There were a few students who were not even trying. One boy explained, “Why bother, I am going against *David. He always knows the words.” I tried to encourage him, just as the teacher did, to try his best.
During another visit, Mrs. G asked me to choose a Dr. Seuss book from a pile. I chose one that was titled The Lorax. The students listened to the story and I did not hear one complaint that it was a “baby book.” Mrs. G read the story with a calm soothing voice. When she was finished, she wrote all the names of the nouns listed in the book (Brown Bar-ba-loots, Lorax, Truffula Trees, etc.) upon the chalkboard. She asked the class what they thought each item in the book represented in real life. There was a lot of participation from the students in the room, with a discussion about people’s disregard for the earth's environment. She explained to them how this story and many others are filled with metaphors and similes that relate to real-life problems and situations. She later explained to me how she plans to read various Dr. Seuss books during the year because the children not only enjoy them, but they open up new topics of discussion.
I had the opportunity to be in the class one day when the students finished their work early. Mrs. G was prepared with various brain teasers and puzzlers from a collection she began many years ago. She told me that she does not want them to have un-constructed free-time because that can lead to behavioral problems. She allowed the students to work in groups of four on the three puzzlers she handed out. Each group chose how to divide the questions up, if at all, and began trying to figure out the answers. Every student was involved somehow. Some of the students were even whispering to me, “Help us! Give us a hint.” I just smiled and told them one of my favorite phrases, “Think outside the box.” When class was almost over Mrs. G asked if someone could tell the class the answers. Only one group had figured out all three brain teasers. Some students stayed after, during their lunch period, to understand the ones they missed. Mrs. G. explained to me the one that I could not figure out. She offered to give me a copy of her puzzlers because she knows that teachers are always looking for extra material.
*Name has been changed
*Graphics
The Lorax graphic from the website: http://www.geekteacher.net/lorax.html
All other graphics from Big Box of Art CD
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