Supervisor Observation 1#

Ms. Marshall lines up her students by calling them up by their table groups. She has

always lined them up this way. I’ve noticed that many of her transitional routines remain

consistent and are organized in ways that are straightforward and easy to follow. Most of her

students have short attention spans, which is common among most 8-9 year olds, so keeping

transitional routines quick and to the point works really well for them. Before she lines up the

class, she makes sure they are standing at their seats ready to go with the correct materials in

hand. During the routine, she expects the class to focus their attention on her and control their

bodies as they move from their seats to the line. First, she will get their attention by saying,

“Track Ms. Marshall.” Then she will call on each table group one at a time. The tables are

organized by colors, so she will say something like, “Red group, go ahead.” Once each group is

in line and visibly ready to go, then she will release them into the hall. Her students are

conditioned to this routine. In fact, sometimes I notice them reminding each other to stay quiet,

because they know they will have to wait if they are talking. If any students are talking or unable

to control themselves then she will make the whole class return to their desks and start over. This

routine normally takes no more than 2 minutes.

When I performed my routine, I tried to mirror exactly what Ms. Marshall does. I waited

until each student was standing at their desks ready to go. Then, I said, “Track Mr. Barnes,” and I

proceeded to call them up by table groups. My students responded to me in the same way that

they respond to Ms. Marshall. I think my success was due to the fact that I copied Ms. Marshall’s

routine and maintained the same consistency that works so well for this class. The class was able
to line up quickly and efficiently. One student had to tie his shoe, so we waited, and once he was

done we completed the routine.

One key takeaway of mine from this experience is patience. For example, when my

student needed to tie his shoe, I had the class wait until he was done, and then we completed the

rest of the routine smoothly. This made me think back to our class on 11/8/23 in which we

discussed Zora, and how her teacher was constantly making a negative example out of her. This

made Zora more uncomfortable, meanwhile the teacher thought she was doing her a favor by

holding her to such high standards. I believe that if her teacher had been more patient, then Zora

would not have felt as bad about herself.

Next time I complete this routine, I will continue to be patient and hold my students to

the same standards that Ms. Marshall has set in place.

I’ve demonstrated FEAP 2c: Conveys high expectations to all students. I’ve done this by

waiting until each student is quiet, facing forward, and holding the right materials before

beginning the transition. I’ve also demonstrated FEAP 2f: Maintains a climate of openness,

inquiry, fairness and support. During the lineup routine, one of my students needed to tie his shoe

so I gave him a minute to get ready while I waited with the class until he was done.