Classroom observation of a first-year teacher at Helen Mae Sauter Elementary

¶ … Teacher Profile

Sarah Cormier is a first-year teacher. She teaches first grade at Helen Mae Sauter (HMS) Elementary School in Gardner, Massachusetts. It is the school she herself attended, so she is quite excited to be at her old school in a new role. The school currently has 260 students in grades one through three.

Gardner is a community of approximately 20,000 people. It is largely a working-class community, located about fifty miles west of Boston. Known as "Chair City," Gardner was once home to a number of furniture factories, now closed. The largest employers in the town are the hospital and the community college. Approximately forty percent of the students received free or reduced lunch. Most students, like Ms. Cormier herself, are of French-Canadian extraction. Central Massachusetts, including Gardner, lacks racial and ethnic diversity.

Ms. Cormier earned both her bachelor's and master's degrees in elementary education at the Fitchburg State College (now Fitchburg State University). Since she is a new teacher, she has not completed any professional development activities other than those offered through her school district on workshop days. Topics have included classroom management strategies and test preparation strategies. Ms. Cormier has volunteered to be on the committee that will select a new basal reading series for the school.

Ms. Cormier is observed by her principal, Cherie McComb, three times during the school year. These observations are scheduled; to date, Ms. McComb has observed a math lesson and a language arts lesson. Ms. McComb is a frequent presence in the hallways of the school and will walk into the classroom unannounced. Ms. Cormier confided that most teachers do not mind, as the principal appears to have a good working relationship with all the teachers and seems to find a positive comment to make in any situation.

Section II: Pre-Observation Conference and the Classroom Observation

Ms. Cormier feels she has good rapport with her students. She loves teaching and feels that she has made the right career choice, but she confessed she often feels overwhelmed by the amount of work there is to do. She admits that she compares herself to veteran teachers who "make it look easy." She feels that she is an organized person by nature but that her classroom is "a mess" because she has collected materials from her education program and other teachers as well as all of the files and materials she inherited when she took over the classroom.

The supervisor suggested that Ms. Cormier focus on one content area at a time. The supervisor assured Ms. Cormier that organization, as well as a certain comfort level in the classroom and the profession, come with time. Ms. Cormier should not be so hard on herself, as it appears that she is an intelligent young woman who loves her work and who is determined to do a good job.

The supervisor observed a writing lesson. Ms. Cormier uses the Six Traits program, as required of all teachers in the school. The focus of the lesson was word choice. Ms. Cormier began the lesson by reading Fancy Nancy, a book about a girl who likes to use "fancy" words. Most of the children really enjoyed the story, but there were several students who required a considerable amount of Ms. Cormier's attention because they were nudging each other, whispering, and trying to make each other laugh. Ms. Cormier redirected the two boys repeatedly during the lesson and seemingly chose to ignore two other children who were doing much the same things but in a quieter way. Towards the end of the story, Ms. Cormier's frustration was apparent.

After the story, Ms. Cormier engaged the students in what she called the "Fancy Nancy Game," in which students were challenged to come up with their own pairs of words with the same meaning. The discussion moved to similes, which had been previously discussed in the class. Students gave examples such as "as big as a house" or "more humungous than the moon." They really enjoyed the activity, although once again there were several children who were silly and disruptive. Ms. Cormier threatened to "turn a tag," which is part of the classroom discipline plan. Students have three tags per day, green, yellow and red. With good behavior, a student stays on green all day. Turning one tag means removing the green tag and exposing the yellow, which is to serve as a warning. When the yellow tag is turned to reveal a red, the child misses recess. If the red tag is turned and no tags remain, a note or phone call home results. The two boys Ms. Cormier spoke to had yellow tags already. Loss of another tag would have meant loss of recess privileges. Neither boy seemed to pay much attention and although Ms. Cormier made several more threats to turn tags, she did not follow through.

For the writing activity, the students were tasked with writing a story and using any "fancy" words they could. In the pre-conference, Ms. Cormier had explained that, for first graders in the second half of the school year, a "story" could be anything from two or three sentences to a paragraph or two, depending on the student.

As soon as the students returned to their tables to work, there was a flood of questions: "What should I write about?" "How long does it have to be?" "What if I can't think of anything?" "Do I have to fill up the whole page?" Ms. Cormier's frustration was again apparent as she attempted to answer the questions so that all students could hear. She was also working to settle a few students in their seats. One child complained that she did not have a sharpened pencil and Ms. Cormier directed her to a container of pencils "which you know you can always go to if you need one." The transition to quiet time was not very smooth and it was a full seven minutes before all children were engaged in the activity. Children raised their hands and Ms. Cormier moved around the room, conferencing with as many students as she could. Toward the end of quiet writing time, some children began asking "When is snack?" The schedule was posted at the front of the room, indicating the same time for a snack break each day. It is likely that just a few, if any, children were able to tell time; the schedule showed 1:40 as snack time rather than a picture of a clock. Once one child mentioned snack time, however, others chimed in and wanted to know when the break would occur. The lesson fell apart as opposed to being brought to a conclusion. Children raced to their lockers to get their snacks, many of them failing to turn in their papers or put away their pencils and erasers. Ms. Cormier tried to quiet the children as they rushed out to the hall, but few paid any heed.

Section IV: Professional Growth Plan

The supervisor suggested Ms. Cormier spend some time observing veteran teachers in her building, specifically to watch how they handled discipline issues. The supervisor also suggested that Ms. Cormier spend time talking with the schools behavior support specialist, who has attended a number of Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) training sessions and is working with teachers to implement the model at HMS. The specialist can help Ms. Cormier design a system in her classroom that uses positive reinforcement rather than punitive measures, a system that has been shown at HMS to be more effective. It is recommended that Ms. Cormier attend any professional development sessions she can find that will provide her with strategies for classroom management. The supervisor agreed to meet with Ms. Cormier in six weeks' time to note changes in Ms. Cormier's approach to discipline and any positive results with students. At that time, they will conference about Ms. Cormier's progress and further plans for improvement.

Section V: Summary

Ms. Cormier was nervous about being observed. At the end of the lesson, she seemed near tears and confessed that she believed the lesson had not gone well at all. The supervisor assured Ms. Cormier that the lesson idea was a good one. It was suggested that, in the future, Ms. Cormier provide students with clearer direction so they would not use questions as a delaying tactic when they were charged to sit down and begin the assignment. It was suggested that Ms. Cormier include a list of "brainstormed" words on the board that students could use. It was also suggested that she give students a writing prompt rather than an open-ended assignment in which they were asked to write a story. Generating an idea was too much for first grade students who were also tasked with using "fancy" words and using their "very best printing."

Ms. Cormier seemed to appreciate the supervisor's suggestions about professional development and indicated she would talk with her principal that day to arrange time to observe colleagues. It is clear that Ms. Cormier is dedicated to making a difference as a teacher. With more time and experience, she will be a great teacher.