Classroom observation in fifth-grade language arts and social studies

Teacher Observing

Observation: Elementary School -- 5th Grade with one teacher. The class had 25 students. Six of these students required special education either in the classroom or at another location. There was another teacher in the room who worked with these students either alone, as a group, or while these students were doing the regular classroom lessons. The arrangement of the desks and the style of teaching was traditional: all desks facing forward with teacher in front of room. This class was for language arts and social studies. The students went to other rooms for math, science, art and gym.

It is proven that observing classes offers education students one of the most advantageous ways of learning about their future career. It is possible to see the actual interaction between teacher and student, the challenges teachers face, and the benefits gained for everyone involved. Through spending time in the school, one can also gain a better idea of the culture of this environment -- the pace, the communication, the expectations.

Preparation:

When planning to observe a class, it is important to prepare oneself and the teacher. The observer should talk with the teacher in advance and find a day that will be best for observation. Some days, for example, that consist of testing or review of material will not be "typical." Also, it is very helpful for the teacher to give the observer the lessons that will be covered, or hope to be covered, in the time allowed. The class' schedule for the day will let the observer know what other subject areas are being covered by other teachers, for example, art or physical education. When the students are eating or on the playground, the observer can view special education sessions; this teacher also has to be notified. Classrooms are very busy, and sometimes hectic, places, and making arrangements makes the observing more effective.

Classroom observing and taking notes is the first step. Analysis is the second. The observer needs to consider his/her expected teaching methodology and determine how it relates. What can be learned from the day's observations? What strategies observed can enhance future teaching or which does the observer feel should not be followed? Teachers have a wide variety of styles and approaches and observation can provide insights into this large range.

Because so much goes on in the classroom, it was decided to use a specific observational approach. This is recommended by E.C. Wragg in an Introduction of Classroom Instruction. The approach is purpose, or what the teacher is attempting to cover, and strategy, how this was done. This observer added personal comments (agreement with this strategy, what is learned, observations of nonverbal communication of students and teacher, etc.). The following questions will be the guide: 1) Which kinds of instructional methods will be incorporate into observer's teaching? 2). How will observations help gain credibility as a teacher? 3) What are some strategies that can be used to encourage information skills into teaching? 4). What are some strategies that can be used to integrate content learning into lessons? 5) What management techniques were seen that can be used in classroom setting? 9. Where does the observer see him/herself fitting into the curriculum?

PURPOSE

Children arrived in the classroom at the beginning of the day. They immediately went to their desks and took out their class scheduler, which detailed what homework was due for the day and week. They took out their homework from their backpack and put it on their desk.

Students were reading the book Wrinkle in Time, and they had 15 minutes before final bell to continue reading or to work on any homework not completed. The aide for the special need students walked around and helped anyone who had a question.

STRATEGY

The beginning of the class was very hectic as students were coming into the room, taking things out of their backpack, running back and forth to lockers, chatting with other students, etc. This quiet down time was effective. By the time the second bell rang, all students were in their seats and working.

STRATEGY

The purpose of this was to get students used to the routine of taking the standardized tests. Rather than having them do it by themselves, it was done together as a class. Depending on learning type, this was either beneficial or not. Those students who did well listening to instruction did well; however, those students who do better by reading quietly to themselves had difficulty keeping up.

THOUGHTS

This was an example of the "teach to test" that is becoming so common in classes today. The students were only superficially learning about the topic they read; the emphasis was not on the subject matter as much as it was on identifying the main points and then being able to answer the questions. The students had only a brief time to read over the three paragraphs, and the teacher went at a steady pace. Some of the children were falling behind and looking at other students' papers. It is questionable how much was learned in this particular session; if this is done often enough, the students will most likely be more comfortable with the test and knowing how to respond. It is unfortunate that this valuable time was taken up with this lesson.

PURPOSE

The students then took out their novels. This was a 45-minutes in-classroom reading. Different students read a few pages and then the teacher asked questions. The students have a list of vocabulary words from the book. They are to refer to that list if they do not understand a word. If they find a word that is not on the list, they are to look it up during a free time or at home and add it to the list. The teacher encouraged class discussion on the reading and raised some interesting questions that made the students think beyond the reading.

STRATEGY.

The purpose was encourage class discussion and help those who did not understand some parts of the book. It also was to help with vocabulary and pronunciation. It was easy to see the different reading levels when the students read.

THOUGHTS

The classroom discussion was good and most of the students became animated and involved. A few students' body language showed that they were not interested or perhaps did not understand what was being discussed. This also gives students who have already read ahead an opportunity to read over sections; however, it was necessary to keep them from discussing something that happened in the future when relating to the present discussion.

THE STUDENTS MOVED to MATH CLASS

The math room setting was not traditional. There were groups of four to six tables together. The teacher said this was for group lessons that she did regularly. She also gave lectures to on the front board when there were new topics learned. The 25 students was difficult; sometimes she had someone to help and other times she was alone. It was difficult answering questions and getting necessary information completed.

PURPOSE

For the week, each student had a worksheet and had to complete a series of geometric assignments. The students were at different levels, because after a 15-minute lecture, they had free time to work on these lessons. The students were allowed to ask for help from others if they did not understand what to do. The teacher stayed at her desk, and students were able to stand in line if they wanted to talk to her about a particular question.

STRATEGY

The goal was to let students work at their own pace on the lesson plans. The students who were clearly ahead and understood the concepts helped those who were struggling. There was a good interaction and learning among the students. For broader questions, the students could ask the teacher. The students were animated and worked diligently; at times, it was necessary to tone down the volume of voice. The 45 minutes went by quickly.

THOUGHTS

This more flexible and nontraditional method of teaching worked in most cases. However, there were times, depending on the students, when someone asked for help and could not find anyone free or asked for help and was helped to quickly and did not truly understand the rationale for the answer.

STUDENTS WENT to LUNCH

While this class went to lunch and the play ground, the observer went to the special needs room. This area was for about a dozen students maximum at a time. The students there ranged from ADD to a child who was incapable of acquiring any more learning. There was one teacher and the students all in one row along a long table. The teacher sat on the opposite side of the table.

PURPOSE

These students were also reading out loud, but a short story rather than the novel. They were learning vocabulary words as they went along. The pace was much slower than in the other main classroom. The students answered questions as well as had discussions; the level of these depended on the ability of the student. During this session, three of the students were called out to meet one-on-one with a special needs aid. There were other activities that these students did. The observer was not told the students' learning disability.

STRATEGY

There seemed to be a relatively large number of special needs students in this school, and it was difficult to have a one-on-one with each student. This way, they had some of the students in a smaller group and then took out a few of them for the one-on-one sessions, which deal specifically with their needs.

THOUGHTS

Unfortunately, the students who were together in the group were at different levels of learning and had different disabilities. It is difficult to know how much they are learning in this smaller group setting, versus one-on-one. This school seems to have a sizeable number of aides to work with the special needs students. They also use substitute teachers to help with these students and/or to work in the classrooms to assist the primary teacher and specifically watch these students during full classroom settings, when some could and do get easily lost.

PURPOSE

After lunch, the teacher had the maps that the students completed graded. They were handed back to the students. The students were learning about early discoveries in America and had to draw routes of the different explorers. They added on with each new explorer. The students also have a history book and are reading about these explorers at the same time as they are studying the geography of their explorations. This was a 45-minute lesson

STRATEGY

The teacher felt this was a good way to combine the geography and history lessons. The maps in the book are not conducive to appropriate learning. She is encouraging the students to either go online or at the school/local public library to find the maps for the geography. This is teaching research in print and online as well as the geography and history. At the end of the explorer topic, she is planning to have students choose whatever project they want including writing a story or poem, artwork, putting on a play with other students, and music that reflects back to what they learned about these explorations. Despite her usual traditional approach to learning, she recognizes that students have different learning styles and tries to some kind of cross-learning style project each semester.

THOUGHTS

It is important that students have the opportunity to learn in different ways. This teacher is very traditional in most of her educational styles. This project provides another outlet for those students who require something that is more eclectic than the traditional form of learning.

THE STUDENTS WENT to the SCIENCE CLASSROOM/LAB

All students went to the science lab. At the lab were a couple of aides who awaited their students. It was necessary to work with them one-on-one in this setting. Only in the case when students are in a wheelchair does the aide go with them one class by another. In other cases, the students went alone and met the aides in the classroom. The observer heard of several instances where the students became lost, did not know there were change to the activities for that day, or did not know where the class was located. The students were studying weather, so were conducting an experiment.

STRATEGY

The students were doing the lab at the same time in a traditional way. The teacher thought this was necessary because it was a step-by-step experiment and too difficult to do at an individual pace. However, with 25 students, this made it difficult to follow each student. One of the aides who was there for a specific student ended up helping some of these students.

THOUGHTS

It is difficult for the teacher to interact with 25 students in an activity like this. If he felt it was necessary to work on a step-by-step basis, then he could have divided the students in half and worked with only one group while the other worked on a different project -- such as working on lab notes. The teacher was fortunate to have this aide here to answer questions, but it was not her responsibility to do so.

OVER ALL THOUGHTS

This field work experience once again showed the challenges that faces the pubic school teacher in present educational experiences. In addition to regular curriculum, the teacher has to "teach to the test" so that the students are trained for the standardized testing. The classrooms are at a size that it is too difficult to do all activities together.