I felt like a little
kid on Christmas morning!
“Ooh! My own badge!”
The badge really made me feel like I was a part of the
District C community. This simple gesture meant so much.
Principal J gave each of us classrooms, based on our content
area that we would be visiting. He explained to Dale and I (we are the only two
history majors in our class) that District C does not have many history classes. We were
assigned rooms 209, 211 & 302. Dale and I walked together to 209 and 211
and then split up. I walked into room 209 and quietly introduced myself to the
teacher then made my way to the back of the room. However, a minute later the
bell rang and students began getting up and exiting the room. I took the
opportunity to talk to the teacher, who quickly informed me that this was his
free period, no class. I thanked him and joined Dale in room 211. I have
observed this class, History of Technology, on another occasion. The teacher has
a good rapport with his students. He jokes back and forth with them as they
freely answer his questions.
During the beginning of this class:
Teacher: “What are the three parts of a steam engine?”
Students all begin raising and waving their hands.
Some students saying: “Ooh, ooh!”
Some students saying: “Ooh, ooh!”
Others addressing the teacher: “Teach!”
Teacher calls on three students to come to the front of the
room.
Each student answers, one at a time...
Student 1: “Water/ steam”
Student 2: “Heat/ fire”
Student 3: “Locomotion”
Teacher: “Ok! Now play your parts!”
As the teacher explains how the three parts make the engine work he has the students waving their arms and making noises.
The whole class began giggling and everyone was obviously
having a good time while learning how these parts work together to make a steam
engine work. The teacher then asked the volunteers to return to their seats and
asked the question, “How is everyone doing with their Samuel Slater
biographies?” As the students randomly inform the teacher where they are in their
progress and I looked over and noticed something written on the white board:
Topic: Industrial
Revolution
Assignment: Bio Sheet & Samuel Slater Biography
The teacher was using both visual/written reminders as well as verbal ones... I like when I get to see effective teaching practices first hand. In practice it seems far less redundant than it seemed in text.
The teacher then transitioned into the day’s lesson:
Label
parts of the steam engine through a collaborative classroom Internet search.
Each student was given a school-supplied laptop, which they used to work
independently at their desk, sharing info out loud with the class as they found it. Some students raised their hands, others just shouted out their info. The teacher seemed to be fine
with either. He rounded the classroom making sure the students were on task. He
stopped at one student’s desk and exclaimed, “Miley Cyrus has nothing to do
with steam engines!” Again the class broke out in laughter. The guilty student
smiled and said, “Ok Teach! Steam Engines, got it…” I enjoyed the laid back atmosphere
in the class and I feel this particular teacher does a great job balancing
student involvement with a more relaxed learning environment.
Right before Dale and I left to observe Room 302 (which ended up having no one in it!), the
teacher took out a governor (part of a steam engine) that he had brought to
class. He warned the students that the metal, baseball-sized engine part was
heavy and then handed it to a student sitting in the front row so it could be
passed around the room. “This particular governor dates back to the
mid-eighteenth century,” the teacher explained. I wanted to hold the governor! I had to pull myself from the room, I knew we had a time limit and I knew we had to observe another class before returning for our post-observation discussion...I am truly a history geek!
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