Observation Blog:
During my observations there was one thing that really stuck
out to me. The students were doing a ten minute read during the class because they
cannot take the book home. It was well structured and placed in the class given
the situation with book shortages. The reading was not the problem it happened
when there was not enough books. One student in the class did not have a book during
the ten minute read. The teacher did tell him to look on with someone but he
just sat there in silence while everyone else read. Then the teacher discussed
the reading and had them finish the section for another five minutes. At this
point there were three other students done with the section and not using the
book. However, the teacher did not take the book from one of them and give it
to the student without a book. The entire time the reading was occurring this
student did nothing and the teacher did not do anything to change that. I am
not sure exactly why this happened during this class and if it has happened
before but it made me think. If the reading was so important to take class time
to read then why was it not important for this one student to read. If it is
not important for him to get the information is it important for the rest of
the class. I am not against the ten minute read in this school setting because the
students do need time with their books but if one student can miss the reading
why are they doing it. The essential question is whether the reading was
important enough to take up the entire class period. If the answer is yes than
one student missed a very important part of the class that day. If the answer
is no than the students could have been doing something else for the hour.
Overall, this makes me think of lessons in the future because there is a lot of
information to cover and I need to make sure the students get the important
parts. The question I will ask myself for this point on is “is this so
important that no student can miss the information?” If the answer is yes than
more time should be spent on that lesson or topic. If it is no than there is in
many ways no reason to be teaching it. One student can get by without knowing
that information so the whole class should be able to skip that section and be
fine too.
Jodi, after reading this blog I am thinking not of the student's action itself but why it was happening. I think if there must have been a reason why the student wasn't reading. Maybe it had to do with something at home or in another class, or maybe he just wasn't in the mood. I think the teacher should have at least gotten a book from a student who had finished the reading and given it to him, so he would at least had more of a chance to read it. Sometimes students aren't in the mood to do all the work in a class (I know that's how I am sometimes). However, I think the teacher taking the initiative to notice students being done and handing the book to the student who was not reading could have helped. Maybe he would've just sat there with the book in front of him. I really don't know, but I do see how this would be a frustrating thing to observe in class.
ReplyDeleteJodi, i think that you make a very good point in this blog. The value of the lesson needs to be evaluated before it is taught, especially in history where there is so much to cover and so little time. I also agree with Tiffany, not knowing the students I can't evaluate exactly why the teacher didn't give him a book when one was available. Did you ask the teacher after the class left about it? Either way there was an issue that was not addressed by the teacher during the class period. I find it very frustrating that there are not enough books for each student to have. I know that when i went to high school everyone had their own books and had to bring them home. With all the money we as a country spend on education getting books for students should be a priority, in my opinion.
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