::OBSERVATIONS::
chemistry with Mr. G
[period 3, observed 2/3/03]
The first thing I notice
about this class is how the classroom is set up. Unlike the other classrooms
in the school which either have rows of individual desks or desks arranged to
face the board, this classroom contains several rectangular lab tables with
about three to five students seated at each table. There are about twenty six
students present. The class takes a while to settle down as the teacher stands
in the front of the classroom getting organized and saying “shhhh”.
I also notice that there is a periodic table at the back of the classroom with
one or two computers. On the bulletin board, there are some samples of good
student work and a list of “Mr. G’s norms” which are the following:
1)follow directions given by teacher 2)come to class prepared 3)show respect
ot others 4)be quiet while
others are speaking 4)be encouragers-always use positive language, remember:
disruptive behaviors are NEVER positive 5)only touch lab equipment with teacher’s
permission,be careful with school property, please ask for anything you need
6)you make the choices that control your destiny in class. Do well. Additional
norms include no gum or food, be kind and listen.
The objectives for today’s
class are written on the board: period, ionization, and electron affinity. Mr.
G. starts the class by telling the students to get two books for each table
and to turn to page 82. There is continual chatter in the class and Mr. G addresses
this by staying “It is very noisy” and “I’m not pleased”
as he walks around the class. He also reminds them that there is a test on Friday.
Students for the most part cooperate and get the textbooks. Students begin to
take notes as Mr. G. presents definitions and information. He goes over the
definition of ionization energy which he writes on the board and explains. Then
he goes on to talk about the ionization energy trends and does a good job explaining
the trends on the periodic table. He asks specific guided questions in which
he is looking for one right answer. Students take down the very specific notes
he writes on the board about the shielding effect and the examples of exceptions.
Throughout his lecture, students continue their side conversations. Mr. G. must
stop his lecture at several points to make remarks such as “please stop
talking”, “why are you talking?”, and threatening to move seats
or to have new seating arrangements.
Students are asked to turn to page 84 and Mr. G continues his lecture by talking about multiple ionization energies and explaining what happens on the periodic table. He asks a couple of recall questions to get some students involved. At no point did he ask students if they had questions. The notes on the board are quite extensive and disorganized as he runs out of room. At the end of class, he puts the homework on the board.
::ANALYSIS::
Before
I came to visit Mr. G’s class, I had heard some rumors that he had problems
with classroom management. He is a new teacher at Parkway (and has only had
one year of experience teaching at a rural Christian private school). He is
a young Caucasian male and his class is mostly minority students. In addition
to the way the room was set up which leads naturally to student conversation,
Mr. G’s kind
demeanor and high-pitched voice tone make it hard for him to establish respect
and authority in his class. Though his preparation, organization, and content
knowledge was evident, Mr. G clearly had problems with classroom management.
Some of those problems seemed to be due to the fact that his lesson plan was
very content-oriented and teacher centered. Most of the students probably had
trouble understanding the
theoretical aspects of his lecture which he did not really take the time to
explain or demonstrate other than through a fact-based lecture. Students only
had a chance to apply the knowledge learned through their homework. Because
chemistry is one of those subjects students find challenging and not as relevant
to their interests, Mr. G. must try even harder to be creative and to engage
the students in the material. Because students can only participate by listening
to his lecture and taking notes, I think students get very bored and distracted.
I would suggest that he move his periodic table to the front of the class and
use more visuals (besides the board) to explain the material. Also perhaps if
he used more real-world examples/analogies (especially elicited by the students)
to explain the material and also had some time where students could work together
on some problem sets, the class would be more interesting, interactive and relevant
to the students.