Observation Assignment 3

The Met School, Providence, RI

When I arrived for my assignment the students were already in their room.  Time was 12:30 and I believe that had just returned from lunch.  The room was very warm.  So you have a very warm room with 15 teenagers that have all just eaten which normally equals to someone falling asleep. The students were sitting at a long oval conference table. The table is actually several smaller tables put together so that all may sit together as one group.  The teacher who goes by the name “Ed” shakes my hand and tells me to take the comfortable chair near the computers.  He explained that this was a math class.  He mentioned that the class was 1.5 hours long and that he normally starts with algebra and then does geometry.

The students were sitting all with their Chrome books open working on problems online.  Fifteen students and three adults myself included and this room was silent.  Ed told them to finish up and to grab a worksheet from the folder on the wall.  Again classroom is silent.  The principal walked in for an unannounced observation.  No one skipped a beat.  His TA asks a student where another student was so I’m assuming this is their version of an attendance record.  Ed begins his lesson.  About ten (10) minutes in two (2) students arrive late and take their seats.  They’re told nothing but seemed to move like robots taking the worksheet from the folder on the wall and sitting down.

One of the students that arrived late seems to have a distraction issue.  Not only with herself but distracting other students as well.  Ed prevailed not missing a beat and he dealt with the student in a quiet manner after the class was dismissed.  While Ed taught everyone participated except for the one student with the distraction issue. 

Towards the end of the class session is the only time the class needed to be quieted down so that Ed could discuss the homework.  He collected the worksheets completed in class before the students left.  At the end, I thanked him for allowing me to sit in with this class and he explained to me that classroom management is dealt with at the first week of class and normally not dealt with again.  He said “these kids know what’s expected of them and know that if their end of the bargain isn’t kept they’re gone.”

These kids worked like a well-oiled machine.  Even though they were all sitting at one giant conference table they were still sitting with their group.  I noticed on the wall there were team leader names and then other students under those names.  I asked Ed about that at the end of the session and he said they all sit with their groups and help each other out with homework, group work or if one of them is asked a question by a teacher and don’t know the answer.  They encourage group effort.  Teaches them how to work with others which is important once they get out into the real world.