Extra-Curricular Observation- Math Night!

Last week I went to math night at my school. It took place on 3-14, Pi day! Each grade from Pre-K through 8^th came up with a couple of math games and activities. The games/activates were set up and run by the classes (the activities did not have to do with Pi, although it was encouraged to try to come up with connected to Pi). Teachers worked with the students to help them generate idea and prepare for the evening. When I walked into the gym my students had prepared the table with my partner teacher. The gym was bustling with activity. It seems like this is the most popular evening activity at my school. Student and parents were all moving around the room excitedly changing from table to table.

My students had two activities at their table. One activity was to write Pi Poetry. We cut out circles for the poetry to be written on. The idea of the poetry was that the first word should be a three letter word, the second a one letter word, the third a four letter word and so on. In class my students came up with word lists that we had hung up for people (since figuring out the different words is challenging on the spot). The second activity was called “Discovering Pi”. People were to measure the diameter and circumference of several different circles and find that the relationship is that the circumference is about three times the diameter, or Pi! How fun!

Students were to take turns, in shifts, manning the tables. There was one student who very much wanted to man the “Discovering Pi” table, so he spent the whole evening at the table. All the other students rotated between the tables and engaging in activities run by the other grades. It was so fun to see the students having such a good time learning! I also loved the opportunity to watch the students take leadership roles with both adults and other children.

Extra Curricular Observation 2- Carnival

Last week we had the annual carnival at our school. Each year there is a day where students get to wear pajamas to school and the Middle School students are in charge of running a carnival. The day is structured so that each grade gets 30-45 minutes of time at the carnival. At the end of the day the Middle School students had time to play at the carnival as well.

At the carnival there were stations with games like a ring toss. There were also a couple of activity stations, like cookie decorating and face painting. At each of these stations the Middle School students rotated around helping the younger children. In addition, there was also a bouncy house, giant blow up slide and blow up obstacle course.

When it was the Middle School student’s turn to play at the carnival teachers were in charges of each of the stations. I was asked to go into the blow up maze and sit at the top because some students were congregating in the back and it was hard to keep track of how many students were in the maze. It was such a blast!

As the students were coming through I was supposed to keep them moving. The students were excited and friendly. Some students wanted to scare others as they came up to the area I was at. They were having the best time and it was so great to see them enjoying themselves and playing with each other. It was a lot of work to keep them moving through the maze, but still fun. When I have a chance to see students outside the classroom it really gives me so much more information about their personalities and interests. I also got a clearer picture of which students are friends and how close they are with each other.

There is one student who is an English Language Learner. I have not worked with her very much; she is my mentor teacher’s student. However, I have had interactions with her and she struck me as very shy and introverted. She also was very blunt, which made her hard to read. While I was supervising this maze, she asked me to help her up the ladder, I helped her and then she said she wanted to stay with me. I laughed and told her that would be fun, but I am here because I am supposed to keep people moving through the maze. She said ok, and told everyone else, “Keep moving!” I told her she can come back around and sit with me for a minute again. She was hilarious and so much fun; we have something that has connected us so now when I see her in the hall, she always smiles and says hi to me. Just that, made the whole supervising experience worth it!

Extra-Curricular Observation 1

A couple of Saturday nights ago I went to a basketball game on my school’s campus. One of the teams competing in the game was the High School which my school feeds into. It is also in fact the school my brother plays for, which is why I was at the game. He is a senior and this was his last game. Several of the students who play on the High School team have siblings who attend the school where I teach. Many of my students were at this game. It was a great opportunity to see my students outside of the school day. One occurrence that was especially fun to watch was four of my students cheering on my brother. Their older brother is on the basketball team too, but they made signs for my brother not theirs! Through this experience I learned a little about them that I did not know. Namely, that they constantly tell my brother they like him better than their own brother (who happens to be my brothers’ best friend) J.

The 8^th grade student who I work with on his year-long project was there as well. He goes to most games because he is so excited to be on the team next year and he wants to be a professional basketball player. It was fun to watch the game with him because for the last four years (before this) he had a sister who was on the basketball team, so he “got it” when I was cheering on my brother. He also liked that I knew something about sports and it gave us something else to connect about.

Observation 3- 8th Grade Math

What I See                                                                                                                                                                  What I Wonder

I came into class five minutes after it started. Two of the students are taking advanced Algebra so they are sitting right outside the classroom working independently on an assignment.The teacher is reviewing HW questions from the night before on the boardTeacher is reviewing scientific notationStudents are all facing the board, two hands go up Teacher calls on each student one after the other and answers the questions Student asks if there is another way to solve the problem, a way she sees as simpler. Teacher responds by explaining why she does it the way she does it. Teacher says the way she does it lays out all the info more clearly Transition to note taking Students are having a couple of side conversations while teacher puts notes up on board (Teacher is using a projector, computer and smart board) Students are taking out their composition books to take notes Teacher begins explaining the notes on the board as students are copying down the notes One student asks a question, the girl next to her answers it quietly The next slide has up problems; teacher gives them a few minutes to find the answer. She asks for volunteers to answer the questions She calls on students- no one is raising their hand Teacher uses smart board to write out answers Student asks for teacher to go over one of the examples again. Teacher says we saw one like this yesterday as well, and then goes to re-explain how you solve the problem and why it can be solved that way. Transition Teacher gives out an assignment for students to work on as an in-class assignment Students get to work pretty quickly A couple of clarifying questions are called out. Teacher walks over to students to answer questions 10:15-Each student takes out their books and begins. Some students seem to be working together asking questions to each other. Science teacher walks in to give Teacher some papers Student start calling out Happy bday to science teacher- this creates an eruption of conversation Teacher calls everyone to attention, it needs to be silent in here so people can work Students get back to work immediately, with small conversations. One student is asked if she needs to move seats, she says no, she can get back to work. Students are re-engaged in the work Teacher is walking around asking to see students HW from last night, to mark in her grade book 10:20-Teacher gives a reminder for students to be quiet One student keeps asking the students around him if they got the answer to various problems 10:25-Teacher gives a reminder to be quiet again, students are silent As teacher is walking around checking HW, some students have questions about the math. Teacher stops at their desks to answer their questions. Classroom is decorated with math posters and information on the walls (i.e. the Distributive property, a guide to problem solving, and a picture of Albert Einstein) 10:30- Students are working silently on the math, teacher is walking around checking work and giving feedback to students One student gets up to leave classroom and as she is walking to asks to use the restroom, teacher nods One student raises he r hand often for help Another student says he is finished and is looking for teacher attention, but she is helping a student. He asks what should he do now Student who is finished is starting a conversation with student next to him Teacher says she will give him the HW assignment to start 10:35- more conversations are starting around the classroom Teacher is writing HW assignment on the board Students are reminded to keep it down again Teacher continues to walk around the room, answering questions or giving feedback as needed Students write down the HW, student work right up to the bell and are dismissed- they are reminded to leave their things because they are coming back 4th period

Do the students know that they may be called on without having their hand up?           This teacher has had these students for math for the last three years. It is obvious they have routines and guidelines that they all know well.

Observation 2: 8th Grade Social Studies

What I See                                                                                          What I Wonder

–          Kids walk in, Teacher checks who is late, gives a lunch meeting-          Kids are reading while waiting for class to start –          Teacher reminds students to raise hand when they want to speak –          Holocaust unit –          Defining of terms- perpetrator, bystander –          Student asks what is worse, being the perpetrator or bystander? Teacher says- I am throwing that question back at you. Student gives her opinion –          Teacher lists some words the students need to know –          Age of reason- do you know what this term means? Teacher calls on a student for an answer, student answers, the age a person becomes responsible for their actions –          Teacher reviews questions she wants students to be thinking about while they are watching a film called Confessions of a Hitler Youth. –          Students are given 5 minutes to answer three questions before watching the film –          Students are quietly working and are given the instruction to read silently while they are waiting for all to be done, and have their pencils down, that is how teacher will know the students are ready for the movie –          Student raises hand and asks for clarification on a question- teacher gives explanation through examples relating to the students life, asking him questions so she can get him to see the answer –          After kids are finished, she calls them together to give a short explanation of the film- who narrates it and what it is about –          There are three more questions to be answered while watching the movie –          After they watch the movie they are to read one of three articles –          Video is already set up and ready to go –          The movie begins –          Teacher covers over some of the film because the images of the holocaust are particularly graphic –          The story is about one child who was part of the Hitler Youth –          Students are all engaged in the movie (9:35) –          A student shows the teacher how to get rid of the menu bar on the bottom of the screen –          (9:40) Teacher reminds students that if they don’t think they will remember, they should take notes while watching the movie –          Some kids are taking notes, some are just watching the movie –          Teacher repeats one word that the narrator says often, because it is hard to understand with the narrators accent –          A students asks a clarifying question, teacher says, I will come over to answer that (teacher was on other side of the room when the question was asked) –          (9:45) A student gets up to go to the bathroom –          Teacher points out the boy was ten at the time- this related back to one of the pre-movie questions –          Teacher clarifies for another student a question –          More students are writing now while movie is going on –          Teacher clarifies a historical piece alluded to in the movie-she whispers more details to a few interested students –          One student is leaning back in his chair –          Student asks a question- teacher answers –          Student asks another question- starts to be a domino effect, Teacher says this is important I will answer questions after the movie –          Movie glitch-it pauses in the middle of a sentence- teacher quickly comes to remedy it- it is not working –          Students start to have a side convo –          Teacher says she will fix it by the time of their next period and says let’s switch to what we will do now then –          Let’s look at the first three questions- actually the bell will ring in one minute, so pick a spot for your sheet, put it away, bring it to 6th period class where we will finish the movie then move into L.A –          Students begin packing up their stuff and quietly conversing while teacher then continues to try to figure out movie glitch –          Bell rings, teacher opens up door, and lets kids go.

-This teacher has taught Holocaust to 8th grade for five years and works closely with the Washington State Holocaust Education Resource Center. She attended a Jewish Foundation for the Righteous Lerner Fellowship. -This movie is so intense; I wonder how she does this whole unit now. I appreciate the difficulty of planning and implementing this unit so much more after being in this one class period. I spoke to the teacher after to learn a little bit more about how she does the unit. The teacher teaches ideas- Pre-World War 2 European Jewish life, bystander, perpetrators, rescuers, resistance, and implications for the future etc., not the history of the Holocaust. The history of the Holocaust is not developmentally appropriate. The Holocaust is a mode to teach these big ideas without getting into the details of the camps etc… If kids ask, the teacher answers (ie what is the Third Reich, you might think that the teacher is not doing their job if kids don’t know what the Third Reich is, but it is not about teaching the holocaust or how Hitler came to power)

Observation 1- 5th Grade

Observation 5^th Grade

What I see…

What I wonder…

-Classroom has posters around the room with -Norms for different   activities, lesson norms, independent reading norms, and inquiry/writing   norms -Teacher is using a document camera and projector   -One other student is working independently on the computer in the   back   -Student: when explaining exponents, 2 to the power of 3. You do 2   times 3 Teacher: I am so glad you said that, I have taught 5th and   6th grade, that is the most common mistake, that students would do   2 x 3 – and then she explained what it again -Students are copying notes into a notebook -Teacher puts a problem on the board and asks for student’s   participation. She calls on one student, several students call out to correct   student. She ignores the comments, and says to the student she called on to finish – Teacher- “Thank you for raising your hand” student has a question   about a different scenario- she says, let’s do it. -Teacher-“thank you for those of you who are raising your hand” -Student- “Do the parenthesis really matter?” Teacher-“Yes, it does matter, sometimes it won’t, but in this case it   would, so let’s do it without and see.” -Teacher refers back to order of operations list -Teacher models how  and when   she can use mental math- she is incorporating other strategies they have   learned -Transition- students are taking out their white boards and writing   down a sample problem from the board. -Students solve the problem then hold up their white board so teacher   can check for understanding -Transition: after the check for understanding, teacher is handing   out the next assignment, giving the title and due date for students to write   down. -Students get right to work as they get their sheet -Students are quietly working – 8:30 -One student is finished- teacher walks over to check, she tells him   to get the HW packets, he goes back to his desk, teacher gives him grade book   to check off who has turned in the HW packets -Two students have come to the back for extra help- one asked for it,   one had to be asked to come back for the help -A second student came back to help with the HW packets -Class blogger has gone back to his desk to work on the math   assignment -Some small conversations have started happening Teacher:” Boys and Girls   quiet time, she is handing out “way to go cards” (part of our PBIS program)   for students who earned them based on the week- (she tracks behavior over the   course of the week) -Several students have gathered around  the back table, teacher comes over and   tells students to sit down and reminds the students who are working on the HW   packets of their job -Students turn their “way to go” cards in after they have written   their name on the cards, then teacher chooses from the bin one students’   name, student can now choose from a prize bag. Student chooses. Transition- “Ok I am going to hand out the HW, waiting for your   attention so we can talk about how”. About 1 minute goes by; teacher also   shows a visual queue with her hands.” Eyes up front so there is no confusion   about HW”- She goes through each page in the packet on the document camera.

I wonder why the student is working by himself in the back on the computer. I found out later that the student is the class blogger. The blogger   blogs on Fridays-  a different student   each week                                                         Great way to do a quick check in during class, does not take much   time and gives teachers a quick overview of what students got. Love the white   boards!

 

This was a great observation, this teacher is amazing, and I love when I get the opportunity to spend time in her classroom. I also collaborate with her closely to help support several of her students. Most of the time I am in her room, it is working with students, so it is really nice when I have a chance to just observe great teaching.