ED414 Observation #2

1.     Identification of the Learning Objective: The teacher had “SWABT complete the real life situation of fractions and apply it to their own lives.

2.     Description of Student Body: There were a total of twenty-one students in the ICT classroom. Of those children, there were ten male, and eleven females. There was a teacher who followed the students to each class. This teacher also informed us that about seven students had an IEP. There were only 18 present today.

3.     Description of classroom environment: (Mostly the same as last time) This week she had updated her student work, and so the room was full of new works the kids were proud of. This teacher has decorations, posters, student work, covering the room (front, sides, back, windows, and bottom). There is room for more student work to be displayed. The walls have inspirational quotes and motivational words. The room is organized with worksheet centers; text books in the back lockers, pencils on the side. I also remember seeing a chart that had a connecting symbol with Math & Language Arts.

4.     Description of Instructional Strategies: (Similar) This teacher usually teaches direct instruction in her class. She occasionally has them buddy up and switch papers to peer edit, using indirect instruction. However, this week she said buddy up with the person next to you. But, she forgot to pair up the kids with their buddies who were absent. They paired up on their own. The same child is always by himself, students do not want to work with him and make mean comments to him. I realized it is almost like since the teachers brush him off so do the students.

5.     Assessment Strategies: (Same as observation 1) The teacher uses formative instruction by having the children complete a Do Now assignment and see if they have comprehended their homework. She then calls on a few students to come up to the smart board and write and share their answers. She also uses summative assessment by having the students’ grade each other and then put into their portfolio. I think that maybe student teacher meeting are coming up and so the teacher is preparing for it now.

6.     Classroom Management: (Same)This teacher seems to have control over the class. The students all respect her, a lot more than the other classes I have seen them with.  She keeps her class on task, she is always reassuring the kids and guiding them. There is always a child who is isolated in the back of the class, and out of the entire day there, she was the only teacher besides the traveling teacher who gave him a chance to do well.

7.     Use Technology: This teacher had a smart board in the front of the room. She uses it to teach her lesson, as well as have the students share their answers with each other. She used the smart board for her do now, objectives, notes, student work, and word problems for kids to solve. She is using the technology effectively. This class she did a lesson where the kids used fractions to bake a birthday cake, and had to figuring our how to accommodate the recipe to amount of guests.

8.     Description of materials used during observation: The teachers had the students use materials such as: the smart board, pencil, paper, colored pens) and a calculator. Smart board was to go over math problems, the paper and pencil was to take notes, the colored pen was to grade a classmate’s work (constructively) to grade each other, and the calculator was to check their work. She also had little cut outs of ingredients as manipulative.

9.     Personal Reaction: Week 2: Transition Between Activities:  There is no real transition that is obvious. The teacher does go over each question on the worksheet for the class, and then breaks down the answer before she moves on, but that is all. I have noticed that in every class, there is a student who is always in the back, at a distance from the rest of the class. Some teachers just ignore his existence but some keep him involved.  The boy is still alienated from the class. I feel as if the teachers do not want to be bothered by him. The two teachers from the previous week, who graduated from Wagner College, asked about homecoming and how classes are going, old teachers ad etc.  It was nice that they reached out a little bit, it made me feel like we were on the same level and was nice to connect with a teacher you are observing.