Observation

This week we started our observations with our cooperating teachers. It was interesting to see the way the students responded to my cooperating teacher; they respect and like her. She did not have to get onto any of the students for not doing their work, or try very hard to get them involved in the class work.

For homework the students had to read an article, write an introduction using her formula, and come up with 3 main ideas they would like to elaborate on. Once the students got settled and she answered their questions they participated in a timed writing with the materials they had prepared at home. It was amazing to see how easily the students took to writing after they had prepared for it the night before. She was developing the students as writers and getting them ready for the PSAT timed writing portion.

My favorite moment was when one student mentioned that he "really enjoyed the homework." It amazes me how easily she moved from topic to topic. I have never seen a more efficiently run class. There was not the crazy shuffle of papers and nonsense at the completion of an activity. Every transition was smooth and the students were aware of that was coming next.

I learned that students want to learn. They all posses a willingness to learn. A teacher just has to activate the right schema to get the information to stick. The students were really engaged when they analyzed a paragraph that was full of religious imagery. Students like controversial things. Their lives are filled with drama so it makes sense that they would enjoy drama filled text.

The texts this teacher picked interested her students and provided them with something to relate to. I wonder how she picked them. The texts set the tone for the class. If the students are not interested in the texts there is no hope for the teacher and the information they are trying to get to the students. It seems to me that the text chosen for a particular class will make or break the learning process.