Observation #3

For this observation assignment, I am actually going to use the final class that I observed, as it was noticeably different from the others.  This was evident from the beginning, as I could tell the teacher was much more traditional in his methods.  I find myself wondering if this contributes to the attitude and resistance he was met with that day, which I understand was not a unique occurrence.  All of the desks were arranged in straight rows, facing forward, where the teacher placed himself at a makeshift lectern.  It was a 12^th grade English class, and they were studying “The Rape of the Lock,” a mock heroic narrative poem by Alexander Pope.

The students filtered in noisily, and took their time about finding their seats.  He got their attention in order to quickly introduce me, and as I sat down he made his first correction of the period, threatening a student that he would take her phone if she didn’t put it away.  He then asked who did not have their books, and as he handed out a few class copies, he commented that it was going to be the last time he did and that they needed to be responsible for their materials.  As it is already November, I found myself wondering how many times he had threatened that it would be the last time he loaned out books.  He may have taken attendance as he did this, but if he did, it was quietly, and escaped my notice.

Before getting into the material, he asked a student to apologize to the class for an outburst that had occurred the previous day—though what the outburst entailed was not mentioned.  As the student apologized, a group of guys at the back continued to chat.  The teacher separated the group, making one of them move their seat.  He noisily got up, dropped his backpack at the new seat, and griped loudly as he did.  The teacher then commented to the class that he knew they had senioritis, but if they didn’t cooperate and participate, he would load them up with work.  “I will make your lives miserable,” he said.

He finally moved into the material, briefly reviewing notes on satire and characteristics of epics that they must have covered the previous day.  As he talked and wrote on the board, many of the students spaced out or doodled.  This disengagement continued throughout the class.  As he stood at his lectern, he then began asking individual students to read small segments aloud, which they would then discuss.  However, each student he called on had a mouthy response to having to read (it was kind of strange to watch).  After the third student, a girl, was called on and complained—“Why should I have to read?  I read yesterday, make someone else read”—he stopped them and instructed the class to read the rest of it silently, and come up with 10 questions and answers (about plot or any thematic element), which would count as a quiz grade.  This, of course, drew protest.  He told them that he had warned them that he would give them work if they didn’t cooperate, and he did follow through with that.

One particular student continued to complain, so the teacher moved him to the corner of the room.  As the student continued to mutter and complain, the teacher warned him that he would throw him out, to which the student replied, “I’m just trying to fix my chair, holy sh*t!”  The teacher let that one go.  As this student continued to complain in his new seat (“How am I gonna write questions about something I don’t even understand?  What the f***?”), the teacher chose to ignore him.  Eventually the rest of the class quieted, though only half of them truly seemed to be working, as the rest stared off into space or doodled on their notepaper.  About five minutes before the bell, a student asked if it was homework.  He thought for a moment, and then said that because they had been working quietly, he would give them time to finish it on Monday.  At this point, the rest of the class took this exchange to mean class was over, and began packing up, standing up, and chatting.

I was able to chat with the teacher for a few minutes after the class had departed.  He apologized for their behavior, but commented that he thought it was good for me to see, because this sort of thing “is a part of it.”  I’d have to agree.  Even though I didn’t get to observe a lot of teaching, it was definitely a lesson in student behavior. The teacher mentioned that behavior management was a daily thing with this particular class, and more than half of them have IEPs and 504s.  That definitely makes it a challenge.

While he eventually succeeded in achieving quiet in the classroom (mostly, anyway), and followed through on what he said he would do, I’m not sure how much learning actually happened in that class period.  I am curious to know how things went the following Monday, which is the next time that class was going to meet.  Did they finish their work?  What kind of questions did they come up with?  Did he stick to making it a quiz grade as he said he would?  How did the discussion go?  Were they better behaved, knowing that he would pile on work like that?  Did they all have their books?  I wonder.