Observation of another UTA Reflection
Class Room Observation Reflection I beat Nehali to the classroom, where her English101 session is held. I walk into the room and notice the puzzled looks on the students’ faces, as I am sure they do not recognize me. I send Nehali a quick text to let her know I have arrived. I put my phone down, whip out my notebook and finally take a look around the room. The english classroom in LeFrak hall is tiny. The desks are placed in a “U” formation with a few, lonely desks off to the side. The room has one small whiteboard and another tiny pull down projector. It is not one of UMD’s nicest class rooms, but it is suitable and cozy. Nehali enters the room first, and the professor trails behind her. Instantly, I can tell Nehali is used to running the classroom, as she stands, while the professor takes a seat. The classroom is dead silent, until Nehali asks “how is everyone?”. A few students murmur in response. She immediately tells them to break into pairs to “socialize”. All of the students stand up and move to the center of the U, where they begin to discuss their experience with researching so far. This lasts nearly fifteen minutes. Nehali instructs them to rotate periodically in between her conversation with the professor. It is hard for me to hear any specific conversations over the general roar of the classroom, but I know that I like how much energy this exercise brings to the room. Professor Pleydell and I rarely use this the of “socializing” method as a way to reflect on our work, but, perhaps, we will in the future. Nehali yells over the students’ conversations and tells them to settle back into their seats. Before we transition into the next activity there is a little tangent about bitcoin that one of the students brings up. The whole class chimes in on the topic and the professor and Nehali go along with the conversation. After the tangent, Nehali tells the students that is time to move on and passes out worksheets. She kindly hands me as one as well. At this point in the class, Nehali has spoken about twenty times more than the professor. This is impressive to me, as Professor Pleydell usually does all the talking in my class. The worksheet is a list of poorly constructed sentences that the students must revise. They are granted permission to work in pairs, and once a gain a dull roar of conversation consumes the room. Time is flying by, there are only 20 minutes left in class. As the students work on their handouts, I realize I am surprised to see a grammatical lesson in English101. We have never focused on grammar in our section; we usually direct students to the writing center. Once the conversation among the students dies, Nehali reads their answers aloud. She makes corrections for some and approves of others. By this time, class is running overtime, so the professor makes some closing remarks. I am very impressed by Nehali’s leadership, grace, and confidence in her teaching. there was not a single dull moment from the time she walked in the door. Her students were consistently engaged and group work seems to be a regular thing in her classroom. The energy of her classroom was unforgettable.
Notes Taken While Observing
Nehali enter…professor follows classroom is set up in a U shape, with some desks behind the U, where i sit Nehali seems to take control of the class room right away. The professor sits down and nehali stands and immediately directs the students to stand up and socialize. Students are shared to encourage stories about how their research is going. this seems like a fun activity to get everything in motion. The students stand across from each other and when Nehali claps “go” they all start asking each other about their research. Nehali and the professor talk on the side while the students chat Nehali instructs the students to switch partners-socializing begins again I am immediately surprised by the difference of energy between Nehali’s classroom and my own. Her classroom is loud and talkative, where as mine and professor spleydell’s is much more lecture based Nehali pulls a lone student into the conversation This “conversation” exercise seems to be used to buy nehali and the professor some time to discuss what their plan is for the day. Students move once again-they continue talking Its so loud I can’t hear what the students are saying but I know they are discussing their research progress Nehali is still on her feet, professor is still sitting Nehali asks if the students have any questions/ how is their research going in general, their emotions on the assignment?popular vs scholarly? bias? neutral sources? students respond to her statements, good energy conversation between professor and student about bit coin ensues how to write the paper on bit coin conversation starts tangent about bitcoin- I am so confused i don’t understand bitcoin Nehali passes out papers that she calls “clunkers” and tell the students to split them in half inTERESTINGLY ENOUGH-NEHALI’S CLASS ONLY HAS 3 GIRLS AND 13 BOYSwondering if this affects the social dynamic at all The clunkers appear to be poorly written sentences that students are supposed to break apart into partners to correct students seem eager to work together and not reluctant like my students sometimes are nehali and professor chat on the side while the students work on their clunkers students are STRONGLY encouraged by nehali and her professor to write their improved sentences on the board students finally step up to write their sentences on the SMALL white board in the corner of th room nehali and the professor seem to work together ver well, emphasizing each other’s words and reexplaining things, asking questions at the same time professor pittman????? Nehali seems to be doing a lot of work she is on her feet the whole class, and i am usually not. I can usually sit behind my computer screen and get away with zoning out for second or to. strong subject seems to be a person or a group professor still sitting, nehali still standing; nehali is first to answer questions and respond to raised hands…I am not this way usually get rid of verbs of being big emphasis on strong subject its interesting that they are working on this in english101, we usually tell students that grammar is their responsibility. we send them to the writing center. Nehali and her professor are about to spend 2/3 of class covering this grammar exercise. this class is going by sooooo fast Nehali and professor give closing remarks
Thoughts on Being Observed
The idea of someone watching your every move in a classroom can make you feel awkward. I certainly felt this way when I learned that I was going to be watched by another fellow UTA this semester. i worried that she would think my class is boring or I had poor speaking skills. I worried about the lesson plan I would present the day she came. I wanted everything to be perfect. When my fellow TA reached out to m via email, she told me she was so excited to visit my class. For some reason I found that hard to believe. Nevertheless, she sounded very friendly and I looked forward to meeting her.
I arrived one minute late to class, as professor Pleydell and I had been chatting in the library. My observer had already arrived to the classroom and made herself comfortable in the side of the classroom. We introduced ourselves briefly and exchanged a moment of small talk before class had to begin. Throughout class, my observer did not say or do much. She typed on her computer while I jumped into a few conversations here and there. I had no special lesson plan arranged for that day, so there was not anything to spectacular to see. I was pleasantly surprised when i read her review of my class on the 388v discussion board. She said I had great energy, which meant a lot to me because I feel like to keep engl101 as exciting as possible. Emily's review of my class was so thorough and left me flattered.
I arrived one minute late to class, as professor Pleydell and I had been chatting in the library. My observer had already arrived to the classroom and made herself comfortable in the side of the classroom. We introduced ourselves briefly and exchanged a moment of small talk before class had to begin. Throughout class, my observer did not say or do much. She typed on her computer while I jumped into a few conversations here and there. I had no special lesson plan arranged for that day, so there was not anything to spectacular to see. I was pleasantly surprised when i read her review of my class on the 388v discussion board. She said I had great energy, which meant a lot to me because I feel like to keep engl101 as exciting as possible. Emily's review of my class was so thorough and left me flattered.