Reflective Essay on Classroom Observations
by Sandie Albritton
I began my observations early in the year with CK. She is pursuing a second career in education. Previously, she worked in the private sector as a marketing executive. I asked why she left her previous position and she shared with me that she felt she was not making an impact. She wanted to use her talents to influence children in regards to the benefits of education. CK has only been teaching one year. She is an Earth science enthusiast! This is evident upon walking into her room for the first time. She has various types of rocks all over her room. I observed CK for an entire hour on October 12th.
CK began her lesson with a story. This is a great idea but, many students were off task. The students were talking and shouting across the room while CK attempted to read the story. Eventually the children settled down and listened. I readily observed that while this teacher appeared to be a veteran due to age, she still needed assistance with classroom management. When I asked students why they weren’t paying attention most of them stated “she’s old and boring”. CK has asked for assistance with classroom management and I agreed to meet with her frequently. I also extended an invitation for her to visit my classroom.
I was asked by my administrator to conduct standards-based walkthroughs on math teachers. I chose to observe KB, BH, and PM. All three teachers agreed to the observation using the county’s standards-based walk-through form. KB teaches 6th grade resource math. She attempts to follow the new Georgia performance standards as best she can. Her five students are up to three grade levels behind in math. She shared with me that she has to modify the curriculum a good bit to make it accessible to her students. On this particular day, the students were learning about least common multiple and greatest common factor. KB chose to have students create a foldable that would compare and contrast the two concepts. I observed all students on task as KB circulated among the students addressing their concerns and frustrations. Frequently, I overheard KB state “I’m not sure about that. Why don’t both of us research your question and see what we can find.” KB was demonstrating to her students that she is not always an expert that she is still learning just like them.
I observed BH teaching her 7th grade math resource students the day after observing KB. I was amazed at the difference in what these students were learning. BH is not overly familiar with the Georgia performance standards and therefore teaches what she feels the most comfortable. BH kept the students on task through playing a game. The game was entitled “I have, who has”. The students were given index cards that had a one-step equation on the front and the answer for a different equation on the back. It was an interesting game. Once the game was completed BH began going over the next lesson on the properties of equalities. She wrote notes on the chalkboard for the students to copy. She stopped periodically to ask questions of the students. Many were off task through this portion of her lesson.
I selected PM to observe because I wanted to see how she was doing with the Georgia Performance Standards. I spoke with PM prior to the observation to find out how she felt about teaching the performance standards. She stated that the material was easy for students. The difficult part was in helping students complete the performance tasks. I inquired as to why she thought this was the case and she responded that most students have always done multiple choice assessments and they never had to think or communicate mathematically. During her lesson on two-step equations, she stressed that communicating mathematically was hard for her as well. This seemed to put some students at ease. The students’ task was to write a letter to an absent classmate explaining how to solve a two-step equation. While the students were working in small groups, PM circulated among them. She explained to the students that while this was a math classroom, spelling would count. She further explained that in order for people to understand what you are writing you must spell correctly. You don’t want your message diluted by spelling and grammar mistakes.
I felt through all the observations I conducted that the educators stressed that they were still learners. The learning was on how the get and maintain classroom control, learning the appropriate Georgia performance standard, and how to communicate mathematically.