Novia Perkins #19

Observation Assignment 2
1e. In my opinion, the classroom layout could have been much better if there weren’t so many
desks. However, for having 43 student desks, Mrs. English did a very good job of making space
for all of those desks, including adding tables for her student aides to sit at and fitting in
bookcases for her students to turn in their work and get calculators from. For having such a
relatively small classroom and so many students, I think she did a very good job.

2a. The classroom fits what Mrs. English is trying to do in her room, which is walk around and
help students and watch them while they work. It may be tight, but she’s a smaller woman and
has plenty of room to move around in between the aisles to get where she needs to go.

b. While there are plenty of tight spaces in the room, nowhere is really a traffic area. For the
most part, students stay in their seats unless they need to sharpen a pencil or go to the bathroom.
If they need to get up, it is one of her rules that backpacks are not to be left in the aisles, so
students have enough room to get through.

c. Every student is visible by the teacher. She has two desks; her main one in the back, and a
table in the front. She also walks around the classroom throughout each period.

d. The only things that the students use that is not their own are classroom calculators, and every
calculator caddy is within reach of the students.

e. I walked all across the room, sat at the teacher's desk, and at the table in the back left corner.
Every space that I was in, whether it was in the back, middle or front, I was able to see the
whiteboard and the projections. Besides, even if the screen was slightly obstructed, then there are
giant sticky notes and instructional posters all over the room that can be used to help a student
who is confused.

3. As I mentioned before, I believe the tight spaces can hinder a teacher if they don’t know what
they are doing or how they wish to move. However, I feel that with so many students and desks,
there is no better way to arrange it. Plus, Mrs. English moves about the classroom with skill and
grace, and you can tell she has done it many, many times and knows exactly what she is doing. If
it works for her and how she runs her classroom, then it’s a good layout.

4a. There were 43 desks in the room, and while I did not count every student for each period I
was there, almost every seat was filled each period each day I was there. I would say on average,
there were 36-38 students per class, give or take.
 Novia Perkins #19
Observation Assignment 2
b. I wouldn’t say there were many isolates. There were quite a few kids who were loud or
wanna-be trouble makers (especially in period 4) or some kids who were just a little quieter.. The
only true isolates were the one kid-per class that sat in the very back for behavioral issues.

c. There weren’t any kids who would raise their hands a lot. For each period, she had one kid sit
up at the front table and run the powerpoint, and if no kid came up she would either call on a kid
or her helper would solve the equation.

d. I wish I could say that trouble makers were excluded to the back of the room, but they were
well spread out. Mrs. English had a seating chart, and made sure not to put all of the loud and
rowdy kids in the back. Her classroom helper for on period sat in the back, and there were a few
loud (and kinda rude) kids mixed into the middle and front of all her classes.

e. Mrs. English made sure to praise everybody she could. Anybody who was doing the work,
anybody who answered a question anybody who needed help and asked for it, and then was able
to work the problem through on their own after that. She made sure to acknowledge everybody
who deserved it.

f. As I said before, she tries to get to everybody that she can. I wouldn’t say anybody is ignored.

Summary
I was placed into Mrs. English’s Algebra I class for highschool freshmen. I was never very good
at math, and not interested at all, and I could tell that most of her students were the same.
However, I could tell that she was able to reach a few of them, get them excited to come to class.
She was always energetic and excited to be there, and talking to her students as such and helping
them out often made them excited too. I could see it in their grades too, as she had me enter
grades into her grade book for her one day. Many of the students had gotten their work done, and
had it done correctly, even in the more troublesome classes. As a former Durango graduate, I
know how difficult going to this school can be. Many of the principal’s rules, while some
standard, are all made to be incredibly strict. Also while a good amount of the teachers there love
what they do and are excited to be there, many of them shouldn’t be teachers and just don’t seem
like they want to be surrounded by kids all day. Mrs. English, however, does want to be there,
and I can vouch for these kids when I say that a nice, excitable, good teacher can make all the
difference when learning a subject you don’t particularly like.