Classroom Observation

In Mrs. Aragons 4 grade class, there was a lot of movement and mumbling. All
over the classroom there were a variety of posters and charts of many subjects and
motivational quotes. I also see four computers, three bookshelves with pillows and
beanbags surrounding the shelves, desks arranged in groups of four, and a sink with a
built-in water fountain. The students were talking amongst themselves while working on
multiplication problems on the smart board. Kids are working by themselves and with
kids at their table group while Mrs. Aragon individually helps one student with a reading
assignment on a computer. This particular student happens to be Mexican. Another girl
sits on her chair using her knees. We all stop to listen to daily announcements through the
intercom and stand up to recite the Pledge of Allegiance.
A boy turned around to talk to me and ask me if I was going to a school concert
his class was going to later on. I told him that I dont think so. During the math lesson,
this same boy stands up to sharpen his pencil and teacher tells him, You had a lot of
time to sharpen your pencil before our lesson. Do you have to sharpen it right this
second? He sits back down. After hes back to his seat, this boy blurts things out loud,
slams his ruler on his desk multiple times, and lays his head down on his desk. He seems
sleepy, distracted, and antsy.
Throughout the lesson, Mrs. Aragon asks questions and students raise their hands
to answer them. She asked her class to use their multiplication chart to do their
multiplication problems. Mrs. Aragons smart board seems to be off-touch, and she
repeatedly makes comments about it throughout her lesson. She also constantly starts to
say math statements or sentences and will let the students finish them out loud. A few
minutes later, Mrs. Aragon made a public comment to me about the smart board not
working properly. It seems to be a hindrance to her during her lesson. The same boy from
before keeps turning around to mumble things to me and shows me his notebook so I can
see how small he writes as he squats on his chair.
Mrs. Aragon uses a lot of hand gestures and body language while teaching. She
speaks necessarily loud and annunciates her words very well. Throughout her lesson, she
occasionally made comments to intentionally make the kids laugh or chuckle. Most kids
are taking notes on what is on the smart board while others are twiddling with their hair,
yawning, fidgeting with their nails, or spacing out. After a portion of the lesson, Mrs.
Aragon asks multiple questions out loud to make sure they understand. After the lesson is
over, the students line up by the door to go to the bathroom. While they are all waiting in
line to go, Mrs. Aragon has them tell me their three-step procedure they must do before
going to the bathroom: 1) face forward, 2) mouths closed, and 3) hands and feet to
yourself.
After observing Mrs. Aragons class, I went over to observe Mrs. Cochrans 5th
grade class. They were currently in the library checking out books, and she had to
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constantly tell the students to quiet down and hurry up for those who were taking too long
picking out a book. When everyone was ready, we went to her classroom.
Mrs. Cochrans strength is math, so when we got to her classroom, her class went
to a different teachers class for a reading lesson while the other teachers students went
to Mrs. Cochrans class for a math lesson. Compared to Mrs. Aragons 4th grade class,
these kids were a lot more loud and rowdy. As everyone was getting situated in their
seats, two of the students got to sit in the back of the classroom to work on an I-Step
practice worksheet because they already mastered the order of operations concept, which
is what the lesson was about. Mrs. Cochran is also having difficulties with her smart
board.
One boy stands up to yawn and stretch. He also begins to rock back and forth with
his feet while throwing a marker up in the air repeatedly, then sits back down to write
something in his notebook. Then he stands up again to repeat what he did before. Mrs.
Cochran calls on that boy for an answer. She seems to tolerate his behavior a little, or at
least doesnt consider it a big deal. As Mrs. Cochran works out a problem on the smart
board, students are working it out along with her with individual dry erase boards and
markers. She calls on another boy for an answer who didnt raise his hand to get him to
pay attention. One girl sitting close to me seems really anxious to share her answer on her
dry erase board with the whole class. She turns around to ask me if her answer is right.
Mrs. Cochran wants someone to come to the smart board to work out a problem
for the whole class, so she calls on someone with self-control because she only calls on
students who have self-control. The class reads a problem solution from their book
individually. Students are mumbling amongst themselves and blurting things out loud.
One boy was wiggling too much in his chair, got really excited while raising his hand,
and fell off his chair onto the floor, which made the entire class chuckle. The boy that
stands up to rock back and forth from before asks to go to the bathroom. Mrs. Cochran
says, No, not during our lesson. As she is walking around to check on the students
work on their dry erase boards, the anxious girl asks Mrs. Cochran why she wont pick on
her when she raises her hand. She says because she already picked on her once today.
A minute later, Mrs. Cochran calls on that same girl to read a short paragraph and
the girl didnt really want to. She said she doesnt like to read out loud, but did anyway.
The lesson is almost over, and lots of kids are walking around the classroom. The boy
that previously asked to go to the bathroom asks the boy that fell from his chair for a
pencil, so he throws it across the classroom. Mrs. Cochran scolds him, and says, You
know we dont throw things in this classroom. He laughs out loud, so she sends him
back to his homeroom teacher. The antsy boy asks to go to the bathroom again (not even
five minutes after the previous time he asked) and she says no again. Students pack up
their belongings while Mrs. Cochran assigns homework. With an extra ten minutes left,
students begin working on their homework or silently read a book.