The Old, The New, and the Student Teacher {Science Class Observation}

Big Spring High School is a three story building with the science classes residing on the third floor. I was able to shadow a chemistry teacher in her second year on the first day of school and an anatomy teacher in her 22nd year teaching on day 4 of classes.

Chemistry: First Day of School

The chemistry teacher I shadowed had a non-traditional pathway to start her teaching career. She student taught last year, during her first year, and now, being in her second year, she is still learning on the job. The class I sat in on is Forensic Science. It was the first day, she did not have objectives, or at least posted in the classroom. For the first day the teacher stood in the front of her 16 students introduced herself and asked students to introduce themselves with whatever they seemed important, but had to say if they had a dog or not because that was important to her. The rest of the class was an introductory activity and notes. There was no syllabus review or classroom expectations, procedures, or behaviors, just a review of the major assignments 

Here is what I took away:

1. Students like talking about themselves so let them do the talking

2. If using Google Classroom, do not put all your assignments for the quarter or semester on their because students lose track and get pushed to the bottom of the stream as more content is added

3. Starting notes is okay, but it needs to be short and with an interest approach

The class was small so the introduction activity worked. I would have expectations, procedures, and consequences on the first day though. The teacher did express enthusiasm for subject and variability, but business-like behavior and learner-centeredness could have a stronger presence.

Anatomy: Day 4

The teacher of this class taught for 22 years and I knew how good she was as she taught her class, managed it, and handed me binders of resources, her laptop, and explained it all to me while teaching. I was blown away. She knew her content, had an impressive organization system, wanted to share all she could, explained why she did things the way she did, and told me she frequently collaborates with the agriculture department. She also extended an invite to come and visit her whenever I need resources, questions answered, or someone to talk too. 

Here is what I took away:

1. She utilizes many activities that we discussed in the fall: KWL, think-pair-share, and word splash

2. She uses bellwork affectively to benefit the students as well as give her time to take care of beginning of the class business. 

3. She uses popsicle sticks with students names on them to ensure she is fairly calling on students

I felt my mouth drop as the teacher conducted her room and class. She multi-tasked smoothly and her students enjoyed being there. She showed me how she got to where she was and reminded me it takes years. I want a district full of teachers who care about their students and schools as much as she did. Even though she was teaching definitions of parts she did it in a way that I was even interested. She had all the components of effective teaching except variability, but looking at her lesson plans, that did not same normal.