Observation Report
The first class I observed was Teacher A 1301 English class. She started her class with her students talking about texting and brought up a discussion of acronyms and emoticons. This went well because it relates to the student’s own realm of experiences. It also led in well to a discussion about language which was the topic the thesis statement assignment that they would be given at the end of class in their Brief Assignment #5. She introduced the idea of language by beginning with a powerpoint presentation describing the functions of a thesis statement. Answering questions about what a thesis statements was, the functions, and why it helps the reader. She broke down the steps and then had them practice the thesis statement which I thought worked really well. She picked out a random sentence about cowboy football and had three separate people make up a better or more focused thesis statement from the one she provided. It was a really good demonstration and the students responded well because it was related to sports and got the students involved that would normally be quiet.
She also included types of analyzing by providing different types of examples of how many can be contrused differently from phrases such as “blood is thicker than water” or “a jack of all trades is a master to none”. These sparked a lot of discussion and got the class involved in the discussion. There was also a video clip demonstrating the different way that a movie can be analyzed. She ended the class with giving examples of draft 1.1 and different areas that the students could write on and different topics they may not have thought of yet. It was a very good class and Teacher A had a very commanding presence and teaching style that her students responded to well.
The next class that I observed was Teacher B class who was discussing the same topic as Lauren. They both have extremely different teaching styles. Teacher B class was a little talkative but that is to be expected towards the end of the day. She broke down how to analyze something very differently than Teacher A did. Melanie created a chart divided into sections named parts, what it does, how it helps, and how does it hurt. She used this diagram to break down how to analyze a topic or subject. I like the diagram and thought it helped keep conversation flowing and organized. Teacher B used her background in band and picked an instrument to break down first which allowed the students to connect with her on a personal level which I thought was good. She then moved on to a powerpoint presentation to specifically discuss and break down how to analyze. Although, the techniques were different for each person there was effectiveness to both teaching styles. I feel that I learned a great deal about what I liked and did not care for in a classroom situation.
