Michelle Loomis

EDU 379 – Initial Host Classroom Visit Observation

4^th Grade at “Algebra Elementary School” with “Mr. Page” (Names that are made-up for confidentiality will be in quotation)

When I first walked into the classroom the atmosphere was very welcoming. The first thing I noticed was all the animals that were located around the room. I noticed two hamsters, a gerbil, and two fish tanks. The next thing I noticed was a reading rug. When I was in High School, I also did an observation in a fourth grade classroom. In that classroom there was no reading rug. Therefore, I was a little shocked when I saw a rug in this classroom. I thought that fourth graders might be too old to enjoy a reading rug. However, I quickly realized that they greatly enjoy sitting on the rug and working on their ELA skills. I also noticed in the classroom that the desks were in clusters. When I saw that I realized that the teacher probably centers his teaching on group work. After sitting in the classroom for a while I began to look around the room at the bulletin boards. I saw some great ideas! There was a “chore tree”, quote of the day, student of the week, and a board on NYS which they are currently learning in social studies. The room itself is exactly what I would think how a male teacher would decorate his room (excuse the stereotyping). It lacks color and decorations but it still has an effective appearance.

I believe that the classroom provides a great atmosphere for the students to learn. I agree with his setup of putting the desks in clusters. I believe that having clusters helps to provide an environment for teamwork and student to student interactions. However, I have realized that he does not provide many opportunities for group work. I will keep monitoring his reasoning for the clusters.

The bulletin boards allow for student interaction, which I believe is a key function of bulletin boards. Students will have the opportunity to be the student of the week and decorate part of a bulletin board with items and pictures about their lives. Students are also able to interact with the chore chart by switching jobs each week.

The animals in the classroom provide an opportunity for students to have responsibilities. It is the student’s responsibility to take care of all the animals in the room. Overall the set up off the classroom is effective. I am interested to see how his teaching style reflects upon how he set up his room.

My initial reaction to the main teacher was that he was very welcoming. Since he has many people observing in his room, throughout the week, I was shocked by how interested he was in getting to know us. When he introduced us to the class, they were all very intrigued. I found that throughout the day they always wanted us to help them and not the teacher or the student teacher in the class.

“Mr. Page’s” teaching practices seemed to be ok. The first positive I found, about his teaching practices, was his discipline procedure. He has developed a modification to the three strikes and you’re out rule. The first time a student misbehaves (i.e. talks without raising hand, or not staying on task) the student is told to go pull a card. That first card is a warning card. The second time that student loses ten minutes of recess. The third time the student loses all of recess. If the student misbehaves four times in one day, the principal and parents are notified of the behavior. The next positive teaching strategy I found to be effective was the way he got the attentions of the students. Every time “Mr. Page” wants the class’s attention he claps two rhythms that the students know to recite it back. This quiets down the class and gets the attention of all the students.

One of the ineffective teaching strategies I have noticed so far was the way he controls the attention of his classroom. One would think, with his two great teaching methods I mentioned before, that the class would keep in order most of the time. However, that is not the case. Throughout most of the time I have been there I always have to go to someone and tell them to stop talking. The strange thing is most of the time it is not the same group of students, it seems to be everyone. Last week Danielle and I went to the teachers room next door to help his class with Math. The atmosphere was completely different. Since some of the students are the same, because the two teachers collaborate their teaching and break the students up in levels, I was shocked at how differently the students acted in the other teacher’s classroom. The students paid attention, did not talk, and completed all their tasks without being asked. It was a completely different kind of class.

The students have not done much group work when I have been there. However, because their desks are in clusters they seem to always help each other out when a student is having trouble with a task. One specific example I remember was when the students were pasting labels onto their salt maps of NYS. Some students understood where things on the map where immediately. Other students took a while. However, because the next activity in the day could not be started until this one ended (open house was that night), the students had time to help one another out. It was good to see how well some of them explained where some of the places were on the map, and hear them share stories about when they visited that place or what is located near that city. The lesson was a great experience to watch, and the students seemed very excited to participate.

When lessons are being given most students are on track. Most of the students want to participate when a question is being asked. However, there is one student who both Danielle and I observed to have not been on task many times. This girl, who seems to be on task because she does not disturb others, is often on a different page or zoning out. Danielle asked her to move to the front of the class the other day, and it seemed to help because she was able to see to board easier. I believe that was one of the problems. I will continue to observe her as the semester progresses.

“Mr. Page” has informed us that most of the students in his class are at the fourth grade level or slightly below. However, there are a few students who are only at the third grade level in some subjects. In Math they are working on word problems with time. Most students seem to understand the concepts. I worked with one student who did not understand moving backwards on a clock because the teacher’s model moved automatically and hers did not. This taught me to make sure I have the same model as the students are using. In social studies they are learning about the different regions of New York. They have created salt maps, labeled blank maps, filled in graphic organizers about the different things in the region, and are currently working on post cards on a given region. In ELA the students break up into smaller groups and rotate between two sections. The one section is facilitated by “Mr. Page” and the other is facilitated by literacy specialists. I have not witnessed a science lesson yet, because the other teacher is in charge of science lessons, but I hope to visit one soon.

I have only really observed the student teacher facilitating lessons so far. I would change how she taught her latest social studies lesson. In a lesson she filled in graphic organizer on an overhead and had the students copy it down. I would facilitate that lesson by having the students go through and fill it in first and then go over it. I would do it that way because I do not think all the students were paying attention. I believe that by having them do the work first they would be forced to participate and want to check for right answers. This way would allow for a bit more student interaction.

Overall, my experience in the classroom has been enjoyable and informative so far. Next week the student teacher will leave and Danielle and I will hopefully be given more things to do. I believe that “Mr. Page” enjoys having student helpers in the class, because he already relies on us to do a lot. I am excited to see what we will be able to do as the semester progresses.