Observer’s name: Jessica Goh
Teacher’s name: Janet Stevens
Observation date: 3/3/11
Observation time: 12:30-1:45pm
School: University of Missouri-St. Louis
Class: First-Year Composition
Physical Setting/Classroom context:
The classroom was small and relatively bare; there were no posters or pictures hanging on the walls. Along the back wall,there were two windows that extended from the floor to the ceiling. The black blinds on the windows were halfway closed. The classroom held about 30 desks and was equipped with an overhead projector and a computer. There was a chalkboard along the front wall and a transportable dry erase board to the side of that.
Notes on the class:
When the teacher and observer walked into the class, the students were sitting in rows. However, after short greetings, the teacher asked if the students wanted to sit in a circle instead, and they said “yes.” The students moved the desk into a circle, which included the teacher’s slightly larger desk. The observer sat in the back, left-hand corner of the room.
When the teacher and observer first arrived, only six students were in the classroom. As more students trickled into the room, a few small clusters of social groups began to form. While some of these students talked quietly, others were looking at their phones. One student had an iPad open on her desk. The class suddenly quieted down as time got close to 12:30pm. As one student walked into the room a minute before the class started, she apologized for the fact that her shoes squeaked and were “too loud.” The teacher gave out a few assignment sheet papers, presumably to those who had not received them the day before. She then asked one student if he had received her email, and when he said “no,” she asked to speak to him after class. The teacher then asked the students to get out their journal responses and assignment sheets.
The teacher began the discussion by asking the students to explain what they were “supposed to do for the paper.” The student responded that they were supposed to construct an argument about the film and about a character’s identity. The teacher reminded them that their arguments should be “debatable” and that they should explain a character’s “identity.” After going over the instructions for the paper assignment, the teacher asked for “any other questions” and the students remained silent.
The teacher then asked them to share some of their journal responses and to tell her some different ways of formatting the paper. They discussed the pros and cons of each approach. For example, one student pointed out that chronological order is easier to follow, but that it can limit the writer’s thinking. The class also discussed comparison and contrast and reverse-chronological order. One student wanted to compare the film the class was discussing (Little Miss Sunshine) with another film about suicide (Sunset Limited). The teacher asked about the movie and commented that his paper sounded “interesting.” The same student also mentioned his desire to write about Proust and Nietzsche – two philosophers mentioned in Little Miss Sunshine. Another student asked who Proust and Nietzsche were, so the teacher gave a couple of details about their lives. She then mentioned that one of the characters in the film, Frank, shared the same last name as Allan Ginsberg. She gave them some background on Howl and Ginsberg’s turbulent love life. Both Frank and Allen Ginsberg were gay, in love with someone who never loved them back, etc. She wonders whether “they chose this name for him because of Allen Ginsberg.” She mentions that she only noticed this connection after reading through the students’ journals the night before.
The teacher then asks the students to turn in their journals. One student, who had arrived to class a few minutes late, raised his hand and explained that he had come late because he couldn’t print his journal off. The teacher asked him to speak with her after class about this. After the students sit back down in their chairs, the teacher says, “Now we are going to talk about how to formulate a thesis that is specific and debatable.” One [black, female] asks, “Do we really have to turn in our topics by tomorrow?” The teacher says, “We can talk about that. I would be okay with extending it until the weekend. And we’ll talk about the movie today, so maybe your ideas will start to flow.”
The teacher asks, “What do we know about Frank?” As students call out various character descriptions (for example, he “loves his family” and “attempted suicide”), she makes a list on the board. After the initial round of responses, the students become silent again. The teacher asks, “What does he look like?” Numerous students respond at the same time with {sometimes comedic} answers (for example, “Steve Carell,” and “Jesus”). When one student mentions that he was wearing a white shirt during most of the film, the teacher asks what the color “white” means. Some students say things like “innocence” and “rebirth.” The teacher suggests that Frank was reborn over the course of the film, and students begin to debate that argument. One [white, male] student interrupts a [black, female] in this debate. [She clearly likes to talk a lot}.
The teacher concludes the discussion by saying, “We have a lot up here. These are all things that we know. Take a few minutes and try to write a thesis about Frank that you think is debatable, that you could argue either way.” Some [maybe half] of the students begin to write, but others are clearly thinking. The teacher encourages them to talk to their neighbor about their ideas. All of the students turned to each other and started talking, but a few went off of the topic. [After a very short time period], the teacher says to “come back together as a class” and to share what they had discussed. The [outspoken, black] girl in the front of the class gives an interpretation of Frank’s character. The teacher tries to understand her answer and says, “So you’re saying…” The girl cries, “I don’t know!” The teacher says, “You can argue either way. What I heard you saying was…” Soon afterwards, the teacher turns to the two [male] students on her right and says, “I heard you talking about Frank and Dwayne. What were you talking about?” She then asks, “What other things were people talking about, specifically from this area?” She points to a corner of the room, and a male student answers. [This is the same student who asked about Proust and Nietzsche earlier in the class].
As discussion continues, one [female] student asks if others understand her point. The teacher notes that it may not have connected to the person who spoke before her, and the girl says that the thought just “popped into my head when he was talking.” The teacher then asks to hear from someone who has not spoken yet, and the [black female] student to the left of the observer answers. The teacher then asks her to “say more.”
The teacher says, “This arguing from both sides, this is good. Take ten or fifteen minutes and do what we just did on the board. Come up with your own characters and ideas.” As the students begin to talk at one time, the observer hears a [male] student say, “What are we doing here?” [The observer what not sure whether he meant by “here”: in the paper, the discussion, his argument, etc. The [black female] student asks the teacher, “Do we only have to choose two characters?” The teacher replies, “I want to keep it as specific as possible, but we can talk about that. What were you thinking?”
During this group discussion, one group begins to veer off topic, discussing the psychology class they had earlier in the day. The professor had [supposedly] given the students some chocolate, and the girls agreed that the chocolate was “good.” One girl mentions that the professor had yelled at her for talking on her cell phone during class. They begin talking about their standardized test scores.
While most of the other students are discussing the film, a few others sit quietly and work independently. The teacher walks over to the observer and expresses concern about the group of girls who aren’t talking about the film. The observer suggests that the teacher go over to the group and talk with them.” The teacher admits feeling “weird” about doing that, but she decides to go over and redirect their conversation.
The observer can only hear a couple of groups’ discussions. In the group to her right, one [male] student says that he doesn’t know how to “make an argument about this.” Students to the right of the observer discuss important themes and scenes in the film, including the “ice cream scene” and the issue of body image.
The teacher moves from group to group around the circle, asking each student to share their paper topics with her individually. The students become quieter, and two students pull out cellular phones. The teacher moves to the group on the right of the observer, which has one [male] student who says that he can’t create an argument. The teacher asks him about his notes, and they begin to discuss the film. Meanwhile, the students in the previously disruptive group have started discussing topics that were off topic, [presumably now that the teacher has left their side of the room]. They are talking about their respective wages at Walmart and Ameristar. The other groups begin to talk more, both about the film and about other topics.
The teacher moves to another group and asks one student, “How are you doing? What are you thinking?” The [white, male] student discusses one particular character in the film that he wants to write about, and the teacher says, “Okay, keep thinking.”
The teacher kneels down next to the student on the observer’s right, who says that her “thesis is about Dorian.” Two of the groups in the class were talking about topics unrelated to the course, two other groups were silent and writing in their notebooks. Others were checking their cell phones. The observer noticed a [black, female] student exchange email addresses with a [white, male] student.
The teacher says, “They all sound interesting. That would be good.”
Some students are sitting silently and not doing anything. Two girls, who were in the previously disruptive group, discuss clothes. One girl then shares a story about watching a policeman separate two people in a fight with his stick.
Except for the student who is talking to the teacher, all of the students have become silent for a minute or two. One student begins talking about a cartoon to his neighbor.
The teacher asks a student individually, “What stuck out to you? Those might be what you want to write about…I haven’t heard anyone talk about…” She then goes to the next student and asks, “Are you still thinking?”
The two [disruptive] girls discuss answers for another class.
Students on the opposite side of the room as the teacher begin to pack up their books. Three students get up to leave, [knowing that class time is up], but they sit back down when the teacher walks up to the front of the class and says, “Okay, class.” She reminds them that first drafts will be due on Monday and reminds them about the “Shitty First Drafts” article and that they don’t need to have their drafts completely finished. She continues, “Also, you need to be on time. No more being late.” She lets the students know that “they’ve extended the deadline on Litmag” and to let her know if they plan on submitting anything. She says, “email me if you have questions,” and most of the students stand up and leave. Three students stay behind to ask the teacher questions.