Rules and Procedures

Where is the teacher before class?
Before class begins the teacher was at the front of the room and providing help to those who needed it. Homework was due that day so there were a lot of individual questions. The students knew that they were allowed to ask for help before class began.

How does the teacher open class?
As soon as the bell rang, the teacher announced that for the first fifteen minutes they were allowed to complete their homework and ask questions. The class seemed somewhat chaotic. However, students were on task and helping each other out. The students were actually asking each other intelligent questions rather than copying off each other.

How does the teacher handle administrative matters?
The attendance was not taken until fifteen minutes into class. She was unaware of any tardies and would have only reacted to them if the student had handed her a pass. She was more concerned about making sure the students were able to complete their homework. There was a seating chart that enabled her to take attendance efficiently later in the class period when everyone was at their seat.

What evidence is there that the teacher has established routine?
The students accepted the fact that they had fifteen minutes to finish their homework, and they were able to do so. There was an obvious procedure of going over homework. The students knew to read the question aloud and then give their answer. They knew the procedure of checking their own work, which went rather smoothly. During questions and answers, the students knew they could answer out-loud without raising their hand. There was some difficulty in handing in the homework, but because the class is small there was not a large disruption.

How does the teacher handle individual concerns?
Throughout the period, there were some individual concerns such as sleeping in class and being unable to judge whether an answer is correct or not. Sleeping was solved quietly and quickly with little disruption to the class. The problem with the student not wanting their answer to be incorrect was basically left unresolved. The teacher decided that one point was not something to make a big deal over, so she left it to the student to decide whether a point should be counted off or not.

Management

How does the teacher handle interruptions?
During the class period there were no major interruptions. There was some loud talking outside, so she closed the door in the middle of the class period. Her goal seems to be to get rid of the problem as efficiently as possible at the least point of resistance.

How does the teacher handle transitions between activities/parts of the lesson?
Two major transitions occurred during the class period: from finishing homework to going over bookwork and from going over bookwork to discussing a new topic. The first transition was made rather smoothly by warning the students when their time was almost up. Then she gave specific instructions on what to do: get out your homework. She had the red pens already passed out and the books were already under the students' seats. This minimized the amount of confusion and movement. However, students did take their time coming to their seats.

The second transition was similar in that she gave specific, clear instructions. The students, however, took their time completing the activities. This might be due to the fact the teacher does not have a direct manner. They know that she has a relaxed hold on the class and that they can get out of their seats and slowly staple their papers. She has a high level of tolerance, which is pretty consistent.

Another way that the teacher minimizes the confusion during transitions is that she begins the activity with some sort of focus. So before going over the homework, she reviewed what the homework was about and asked probing review questions. Before she went into detail about the new topic of waves she asked the students to name instances where they have encountered waves in the past.

How are initial disruptions handled?
There were no major disruptions to the classroom.

How much flexibility does the teacher give?
The teacher gives a lot of flexibility to the students. If there seems to be a specific problem or question that does not necessarily pertain to the topic but still has to do with physics, she will adapt to the students' needs. The teacher also allows the students to yell out answers and to get up out of their seats to staple their papers.

How does the teacher enforce rules?
The only rule that the teacher enforced during the class period was no sleeping. She solved this by either tapping the student lightly or calling on them often. Otherwise the students did as they pleased which in most cases was paying attention to class.

Does the teacher accept choral response?
The teacher does accept choral responses. She also sometimes calls on people. There seems to be a variety of ways that she is able to check for understanding. In this way she is able to keep everyone engaged.

What is the teacher's manner?
The teacher's manner seems to be indirect. Instead of saying, "Joe, wake-up!", she will call on him to answer a question. Her methods work all right in this type of setting; however, in a larger class with a lot of apathy, her indirect manner would be laughed at and ignored, and she would lose control of the class.

Where is the teacher?
The teacher, when the students were doing their homework, monitored the class and went to those in need. During the lecture, she was nervous and paced around a lot. I could see how pacing around could become distracting to the students and that the movement should be minimized. While some movement is good to keep the class visually stimulating, the pacing could make the students dizzy.

How does the teacher handle misbehavior?
There were no instances of misbehavior besides sleeping in class, which has already been addressed. Additionally, no procedures for discipline were taken.

Can the teacher see all students all the time?
During the lecture, the teacher could see all the students most of the time. She put her back to the students when writing on the board. Additionally, when she was doing the demonstration, not all the students made the effort to get to a spot where they could see. When the students were finishing their homework, there were times when the teacher seemed focused on an individual; however, she was aware of what was happening around her because she was able to stop an argument over the homework, which was occurring while she was helping another student.

How much time elapsed between the end of the lesson and the closing bell?
The bell rang as she was finishing up drawing a figure up on the board. No time was wasted in that sense. However, she missed an opportunity to review what was covered that day.

Instruction

Does the teacher start with a focus activity? Does the teacher review?
The teacher did not begin the class with a focus activity because they were finishing up homework. However, before going over the homework and before starting the new topic, she did have focus activities and/or reviews to help get the class aware of what they were doing next.

Are the goals and objectives posted?
The objective of the day was posted on the board in very general terms. The teacher briefly mentioned them in passing. Her objectives were not specific enough to give students a clear idea of what to expect, but the students indeed had a general idea.

Are the expectations clear?
The students seem to know what the teacher expects and asks when she is unclear.

Is the assignment clear?
The assignment or what they should be doing at that moment is clear through verbal directions and modeling.

Does the teacher summarize main points of lesson at the end of class?
The bell rang before the teacher was able to summarize the main points of the class.

What is the pace of the class?
The pace of the class seemed to change throughout the hour and a half. During the homework time, the pace seemed rushed for some students while other students were done. Going over the homework seemed fairly drawn out. Although there was a bombardment of questions, the time seemed to go by slowly for the observer. Sometimes the class energy was high, while at other times the students seemed to be dead. Perhaps too much time was spent going over small details. During the lecture, there was a good mix of going over definitions, class discussions, and class participation. She had instances where the children were forced to move and get out of their seats. This allowed the students to wake up some and get focused back on learning. The variety seemed to be appreciated by the students.

Were you interested in the lesson?
As a student who was in the class, I think I would be interested in the lesson. I would have been bored if I had come to class with my homework completed. However, many of the students did not, so they needed the extra support and time for homework.

Does the teacher demonstrate strong content knowledge?
The teacher demonstrated that she was solid on a lot of the material. There were at least two instances where she gave out wrong information; however, the mistakes were rather small and were cleared up later in the week.

How well does the teacher answer or anticipate student questions?
The teacher is able to answer the students' questions most of the time. However, there were some cases where she was unsure of herself. In actuality, there were very few student questions. This could indicate that they did not have any questions or that she does not allow enough time for them. During the lecture, she does anticipate areas where students will have trouble and emphasizes the details that will help them. She also attempts to come up with mnemonic devices that will help them remember important information.

What were the students doing?

Are all the students participating?
The students seemed engaged most of the time. There were some times where the energy was low and some students were falling asleep. However, later activities with movement woke them up. The students seemed to participate fairly equally. There is not a group of students that dominates the classroom. However, there are some students who seem to participate a lot less than the rest of the class. She tries to call on these unobtrusive students often, but sometimes fails to do so.

What are the students asked to do?
The students are asked to complete their homework, grade their homework, read the questions from the book and announce their answer, participate in class discussions, and be a part of demonstrations. The students are called upon fairly randomly, although if the student is asleep, they are more likely to be called on. This might make calling on a person a punishment- a sort of bad implication. Because she is fairly random on whom she calls, the teacher is able to balance class participation by gender, race, and room location. However, the students in the middle of the room tend to be called on slightly more often.

How does the teacher call on students?
The students often have discussions through the teacher. There is no encouragement for students to talk about the topics with each other. The teacher is definitely in control of the conversation and at the head of the attention. The students are not asked to listen to each other often. Sometimes they are asked whether they agree or disagree. However, this is only done when the student is incorrect. Therefore, the students catch on that they are wrong when the teacher asks them probing questions about their answer. The teacher needs to probe even when the answer is right to check for true understanding.

Is class participation graded?
Even though class participation is not graded, the students seem to be engaged anyway.
 
 

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