Observing classrooms this past semester had made me more excited than ever to become a teacher. The first couple of time I walked into a classrooms, I walked in not knowing what I should be doing. As the semester progressed, I witnessed the bond students form with their teachers, each classroom had intrigued me into knowing more about not what to teach, but how to teach. I saw skills that I liked and disliked, and a couple tricks that I ended up using for presentations in my other classes. My first experience with observing a classroom was through Plainfield district 202 observing a Post Secondary Transition/Educational Program, or P-STEP class grades 12+ at Joliet Junior College. There I observed David Sylvester teach a small group of student. …show more content…
I observed Val Baumgard’s 4th grade Math and History class. Mrs. Baumgard had a method of teaching that I am considering on also using. Mrs. Baumgard split the class in two and rotated teaching them. When the group was not being taught, they were working on a different assignment, or homework. Mrs. Baumgard had a student teacher who worked with individual students and answered questions for the group in “individual time”. The group that she was teaching was sitting on the floor huddled around the projector screen and she actively encouraged for students to participate. Mrs. Baumgard asked open ended questions to help guide the students to understand the reasoning why hours can be converted to minutes and minutes to seconds. After sometime, the subject was switched to History. Mrs. Baumgard began the class by reading a passage from their work book. She used a method that I ended up adapting very shortly of reading aloud and having the students as a whole read the bolded key words. I noticed that it helped keep the students who struggle to pay attention more engage in the passage. After reading, the class as a group went over the passage and highlighted key points that will help them complete their homework. I made note that the more enthusiastic Mrs. Baumgard was, and the more eye contact she made with students, the more the students participated and followed along. The longer I sat in this classroom the more I tricks I learned on how to engage a students to participate and pay attention. I however was not previously concerned about how to keep a classroom of children engaged until this classroom. These fourth grade students were just full of energy and life, and Mrs. Baumgard did an excellent job and keeping their focus on the subject