Field Experience 9

CLASSROOM OBSERVATION
As I said in my last post, my host phys ed. teacher picked out a great classroom teacher for me to observe. Here are a few points about his teaching inside the classroom.
1. How is the classroom arranged?
The classroom was arranged with 4 big tables, with 4 students seated at them each. This set up was exactly how my 4th grade classroom was back in the day.
2. How does the classroom differ from the gymnasium as an educational setting?
As we all know, the gymnasium differs a lot compared to the classroom setting. One of the main obvious differences between the two is that, inside the classroom, students are sitting, while in the gymnasium, students are mainly moving around. Also, the classroom setting is much more quiet compared to a gym full of students learning a new physical skill. The classroom was obviously much more smaller than the gym at the school also.
3. How would you describe the classroom atmosphere?

The classroom atmosphere was actually quiet inviting. I forgot how eye catching the classroom can be with posters all around the room, stating certain topics, also there was one of the "old school" projectors in the classroom that was being used. In the lesson that I observed, all the lights were off due to the use of the projector. This here greatly effected the students in which all their focus was on the topic being projected on the screen.
4. What was the topic and structure of the portion of the lesson you observed?
The topic that I observed was adding and subtracting fractions. Examples: (6/6) - (4/6) = (2/6). The teacher first started out with adding/subtracting fractions with a common denominator. (easier) and then progressed into different denominators.
5. How would you describe the language and literacy levels of the students?
For the 4th grade students, I thought that their language and literacy levels were more advanced than when I was in 4th grade. I didn't start learning about fractions until 6th grade I believe. Some of the terms that were being used were; mean, median, mode, max, min, range, meter, centimeter, decimeter.
6. How did the teacher engage the students in the lesson segment you observed?
I thought this teacher was great with getting the students involved in the lesson. During the lesson I observed, the teacher put on a "magic show" about fractions. About how certain parts of a whole disappear. He also had students come up to the projector and make certain parts of the whole shape disappear. While this was going on, he played "magic show" music. He even had me engaged in his lesson! He used different shapes to show that they can be broken into smaller pieces that make up the whole shape. It was a great lesson to have observed.
7. How would you describe the social behaviors of the students in this age group?
The social behaviors of the students were your typical 4th graders. Many of the students were willing to answers the teachers questions by raising their hand. All students were respectful and I could observe that there was learning taking place throughout the lesson because students began grasping the concept of adding and subtracting fractions.
8. What did you learn from this observation that will help you teach this age group more effectively?
The classroom teacher that I observed was no doubt a great teacher. Some ideas that I can take from this observation and then add to my own teaching would have to be the concept of having a dynamic voice while teaching. This in return engages your students more in the current lesson being taught. Also, having a lot of student involvement is also great for learning. This usually happens for the majority of physical education students. Especially when students are practicing a certain skill as a whole.
9. What other insights did you gain from this observation?
One other insight I gained from this observation is that, I thought that the teachers idea of having a reward system for answering hard questions is a good idea for students to grasp the content being learned more effectively. When the teacher said that there would be a reward for the student to answer the question correctly, all of the students hands went flying into the air willing to answer the question.