During our first school visit at the local high school, I had the opportunity to observe a 10th grade classroom. The teacher was a VMI Alumni, so I had the opportunity to engage and bond with him before class began. We discussed our different experiences at VMI, along with what the students would be learning that day during class. I came expecting the students to be eager to learn, but the results were not satisfying. The students entered the room and class began.
The first thing I noticed when I went into the classroom was the teacher’s classroom set up and environment. I saw some pictures, some learning tools, as well as the phrase “Be on time, Be prepared, Be respectful” written on his white board. This gave me the first impression that this teacher likes things done a certain way, and then if the time comes, he can be strict. Being strict can be a useful tool when dealing with students who tend to be “trouble-makers”. In addition, I noticed that the students were rather spaced out from each other. This shows that maybe some of them do not have that many friends in the class, or maybe they just want to be left alone. According to “Project Based Teaching”, allowing the students to work together as a team is an incredible learning tool. Boss said, “Excelling at teamwork is a goal that extends far beyond the classroom,” (Boss 83). Something that the teacher could have done would be to give the students an opportunity to work together.
For a majority of the class, they were going over a reading assignment from the book “Night”, and they were comparing the treatment from the Jews during the Holocaust to Japanese Americans after Pearl Harbor. The teacher was leading the discussion and asking questions to keep the students engaged. I noticed that several students were not confident with their answers and then some were simply not paying attention and were either sleeping or on their phones listing to music through their air pods. Judging from my observation and some reading from Boss, the teacher could have managed to engage the students better by assigning them to small groups. This would allow them to break their comfort zone and communicate with other students who may not be their friends. This would also help the classroom environment be more productive, rather than the teacher doing most of the work. If I were to make any other improvements, I would tell the students to take their headphones out, put their phones away, and engage with each other as groups, instead of having the same people participate the majority of class.
Do you feel this lack of connectedness that students are facing in the classroom can be felt similarly at VMI? If so, what changes have you directed to make your experience better and would you attempt to do the same in the classroom?
Declan, Good question. At RCHS it is often hard to know what students bring to the classroom. I do think making a class decision about phones instead of the warning might be more efficient, so that they are all involved in creating the classroom culture.
What did you notice about the walls of the classroom or the teacher’s language routines with the students-was it the IRE (initiation, response, evaluation) or did he try to encourage cross talk. The room set up in rows does little to help create investment- I wonder if changing that up would signal a different experience, or calling on others to speak to lead discussion, as you mentioned.
MAJ H