ED 101 Observation Report

School:Seward Middle School Date of Visit :11/10/11 Your Name Emmalynn Rodriguez

Teacher’s Name:Mr. Miller Grade 8th Subject History

Your ED101 Professor: Professor Kromminga

Level (Check one): Elem K-4 Middle 5-8 Secondary 9-12

1. In class, when were students most alert and participating most actively?

The students were most alert and participating when they were playing the roles of the cowboys, Indians and famers while acting out the Homestead Act. The students sat in their groups and had to write journals about how the Homestead Act affected them. The students were also very alert during the video. Some of them were even making connections from the video to their own lives here in Nebraska.

What percent of the time would you say they were on task? 85% Off task15%

2. How did students respond to teacher’s instructions?

The teacher had a lot of control over the students. I could tell that the students really respected their teacher. It appeared that it was easy for the students to listen to the teacher because he really knew what he was talking about, he was excited about what he was teaching and was speaking directly to the kids. A few times the teacher would start to joke with the kids about the material and the students were allowed to talk and put their input into the matter, but once the teacher told them to stop talking and get to work, they usually listened pretty quickly.

3. What forms of peer interaction did you observe?

Overall I thought the students were very interactive. During the times when they could talk there were all kinds of students talking to one another asking each other different questions relating to the material or their days in general. The teacher got all the students involved by drawing names to answer questions.

4. What are they wearing? What do you notice about their appearance?

The students at this school had free dress. The boys were starting to wear more name brand athletic clothes such as Under Armor, Adidas and Nike. The girls were starting to pick up on stylish boots, spend time on their hair and have started experimenting with make up. I could tell that these students were starting to care more about their appearance.

5. What sort of things seemed to motivate them – what did they do or talk about with enthusiasm?

One thing that really motivated the students was their groups. It appeared that this really motivated them because it made what they were learning fun. They were “experiencing” the Homestead first hand. I feel like the students will always remember the Homestead Act because of the experience they are having in this class. I also think that because the teacher was so excited about this section the students also got very excited.

6. What do you see as their greatest strength at this age?

One of the greatest advantages at this age is their ability to think more on their own and they can work more independently. With this age group you can do more mature and harder activities. At this age they can be easier to talk to and you can expect more of them.

7. What would be the greatest challenge they would present to you as their teacher?

I would have a hard time having pacience when the students "act up" or act as though they are better than others. I would have a hard time dealing with students who just "don't care" and don't want to try. At this age they are also very social with each other and want to talk to their friends all the time.

8. Sum up your reflections on this experience and think of the possibility of your teaching students at this age. Be honest with yourself. How do you see your personality/character traits working with this age group? Why do you feel this way? If you WERE going to teach this group, what things would you set as goals for yourself?

I enjoyed my observation and I thought it could be fun to teach this age group, but I'm concerned I would loose my patience with this age group a lot. I would love how I could have them do their own work without me needing to supervise them all the time, but overall I think I would enjoy teaching a younger age group. If I were to teach this age group I would want to make it fun and easy to learn. I would want to try put the students into the lives of the people in history they were learning about. I would want to teach the students all kinds of math tricks to make it easier for them for the rest of their math classes. I would want to drill writing papers because writing is such an important aspect in their livesm and makes college much easier.