Classroom observations

Frankfort Senior High School

Mr. Seymour- U.S. History
Junior level students
*Note: Mr. Seymour is a first-year teacher. Though I requested to not observe a first-year teacher,
the assistant principle highly recommended Mr. Seymour and insisted that he would be a good
candidate to watch.
I arrive just after the bell rings and take a seat in the back of the classroom. Mr. Seymour is
letting the students help themselves to donuts and orange juice. I later find out that the students
contribute money throughout the week to a jar; the money is then used to buy the class donuts on
Friday. He does this for first period only.
There are five vocabulary words on the board. While the students enjoy their donuts, they define
the vocabulary words in their notebooks. This takes about ten minutes. Mr. Seymour continues to
interact with the students while they do the activity. Many students are utilizing their cell phones
at this time.
Mr. Seymour calls on students to define the word to the class; he then explains it in further detail.
The student must explain the definition of the word in their own words. After this activity, Mr.
Seymour uses the smart board to show his presentation via Prezzi. A student arrives late, the
teacher takes the pass, but stays on track during the lecture. He refers back to the vocabulary
words throughout the lecture. At the end of each slide, he pauses to allow students to write down
notes. At the beginning of the new slide, he ask questions regarding previous information.

After the presentation, he shows a brief video clip from the History Channels The Men Who
Built America. They are studying industrial America. After the short clip, Mr. Seymour assigns
homework. The students are to research one of the four men discussed in the presentation. Then,
they create a 3-4 slide PowerPoint and present it to class on Monday. The students can pick their
partners and utilize class laptops to create presentation. They can use the last thirty minutes of
class to work on this.
As I observe the groups working, some use the textbook to find more information. Mr. Seymour
helps students log into the laptops and pull up PowerPoint. I then notice the demographics of this
class: 12 Latino students to 5 Caucasians. Mr. Seymour plays music while students work; all but
one group appear to be on task.
While the students work, Mr. Seymour talks to me for a few minutes. I take this time to ask him
some questions. He tells me the most challenging part of being a first-year teacher isnt the
young age, but simply time management. He explains how difficult it is to cover all the material.
He explains how he doesnt want students to memorize information because the internet is so
easily accessible these days. He wants the students to understand why the material is important;
however, his tests are standardized from the textbook. He also describes how first period is the
most challenging because the students arent really awake yet. Sometimes he takes the students
outside to get their bodies moving. He also tries to keep the presentation short because the
students attention fades quickly. Finally, his advice to me would be to observe or student teach
in inner-city schools.

My findings:
I was a little disappointed with how little information Mr. Seymour shared with the students. I
was really well-versed in the subject that he was teaching and I couldnt help but think about all
the things that he didnt mention. I do understand that it is difficult to cover all the material and
that students become disengaged easily, but it is the job of a teacher to find a way to make the
content interesting to students. Though it was nice to talk to a first year teacher about their
struggles, I overall felt that Mr. Seymour was still in the learning process.

Classroom observations
Frankfort Senior High School
Mrs. Isgrigg- Honors World History
Sophomore level students
I arrive to class before the students. As they trickle in, they are talking about Homecoming,
which will take place later that night. The class schedule is written on the board, showing all the
activities that will take place in class that day. Mrs. Isgrigg arrives and multiple students rust to
talk to her. She sends them back to their seat and asks them to work on their bell ringer activity.
There, inevitably, is computer issues, so Mrs. Isgrigg reads the bell ringer question to the
students. After about ten minutes, the class discussed the bell ringer. The teacher calls on a few
students to read a small section of the book. She then collects the bell ringers from throughout
the week.

The students have a quiz and the teacher allows them to study for about five minutes. The
students start to chit chat, but Mrs. Isgrigg confronts the issue. While the students study, she
writes about fifteen words on the board. The students are studying Greek mythology and gods.
The teacher gives oral quiz over material. She reads the definition and students write correct god
name on paper. She repeats definitions after quiz on a need-be basis.
After the quiz, students take out notes from previous day. She shows a PowerPoint on the smart
board. Mrs. Isgrigg asks questions throughout presentation to allow for student engagement. She
uses visuals (maps) on the PowerPoint to show location of current civilization discussed.
After the presentation, half the class discusses Athens, the other discusses Sparta. The class has a
some-what version of a debate about Athens and Sparta. Then, the teacher discusses the chapter
in more detail with the use of the smart board. The students take notes from further discussion. A
student asks a question about a current event topic regarding Congress. Mrs. Isgrigg takes a
moment to clarify the information and even stops and says, Let me think of a way to say this in
a non-biased way. I thought her conscious decision to give both sides instead of her own was
very beneficial to the students. The class then takes the last five minutes to discuss this current
event.
My findings:
A huge thing I noticed between the previous general education class to an honors class is that
there is more curiosity amongst honors students. They actively and openly ask questions about
material. Additionally, they seem engaged throughout the whole lecture, unlike some of the
students I observed in Mr. Seymours class. I think this proves that students have an attention
span more than fifteen minutes if they stay engaged and class discussion is incorporated.

Classroom observations
Frankfort Senior High School
Mr. Smith- General Education World History
Sophomore level students
The teacher arrives just after the bell rings. He has the students open to the current section of the
textbook. He gives a handout with questions about the section. Each question had a level of
difficulty next to it rated 1-6. Mr. Smith goes over questions from handout and has the students
create a three column table and match definitions to each column. The teacher supplies the
definitions and important information that pertain to each of the columns.
Throughout the week the teacher has passed out handouts for each section. It was unclear to me
what the teacher was talking about, but the students seemed to understand what was going on. I
can only conclude that he was discussing material from throughout the week. As the students get
going, he walks around and helps those who need it. The students work individually and quietly.
I talk to Mr. Smith briefly and ask him how he sets up his classroom. He said he prefers to use a
student driven approach. He has the students do a handout first to learn the material and then
discusses it with the class. He, like Mr. Seymour, emphasizes that the students become
disengaged very easily and he likes to keep his discussions to about fifteen minutes maximum.
Still during third period, I scoot back over to Mrs. Isgriggs classroom where she is in a co-taught
class.

Classroom observations
Frankfort Senior High School
Mrs. Isgrigg and Ms. Piert- U.S. History
Junior level class
This a full classroom. I observe the last half of class where the students work on a cross word
puzzle with section material. The class is allowed to listen to music with headphones during this
time. Both teachers walk around to help students. Some students work together to complete
assignment. Most students demand more one-on-one time than in my previous observations.
Mrs. Isgrigg addresses the same child multiple times for the same reason.
The students are learning the same material as general education U.S. History classes. A
disruptive students makes a comment about online shopping. Mrs. Isgrigg addresses the student
and puts him back on task. Student continues to act out. He appears to be a class clown figure.
Towards the end of class, the teachers go over what the class will do on Monday. At this point,
the students get out of their seats and talk amongst each other; however, the teachers are still
helping those who need it.
My findings:
When talking to Mr. Smith, I thought it was interesting how his classroom was student driven.
I cannot understand how students learn by giving them handouts and talking about the material
for ten minutes at the end of class. In my sophomore year of school, I learned best from class
activities and discussion more so than doing handouts, where I barely absorbed any of the
information.

Watching the co-taught class was very interesting. Before this observation, I didnt even realize
that classes were set up this way. I noticed that these students needed more attention and had
more behavioral issues than my other observations. The teachers had to constantly ask the same
student to get back on track.

Classroom observations
Frankfort Senior High School
Miss Graham- Strategic Marketing
Senior level class
This class has only five students. All girls and one boy. Miss Graham uses the smart board for
her presentation. The teacher relates material to everyday life with examples. The class interacts
very well. The students use iPad to take notes. This lecture is more conversational than others I
have observed and the students appear to be more engaged. Miss. Graham checks long the way
to make sure students understand material.
I only observed Miss Graham for thirty minutes while I waited for Mrs. Fortner to return from
lunch.

Classroom observations
Frankfort Senior High School
Mrs. Fortner- Biology
Freshman level class
This is a very big class, around thirty people. As the class settles in, the teacher asks students to
get out a worksheet from the previous day. The class remains noisy and the teacher quiets them
down. As the students observe cells on the overhead, a student begins to poke the person in front
of him with a pencil. Mrs. Fortner disciplines the student in front of the class. She points out
what he did wrong and gives him a verbal warning. Mrs. Fortner was very stern and serious; the
classroom became silent after this incident.
The students then draw cells on their worksheet. Then, Mrs. Fortner talks about their lab activity.
They will be gathering cheek cells. Mrs. Fortner demonstrates and gives direction before lab.
The fire alarm sounds. The teacher quickly reminds the students where to go and follows them
out the door. She then takes attendance outside to make sure the class made it out. We later find
out that this wasnt a drill; there was a small fire in the welding room.
After the all clear is given, the students file back in and get to work on lab. They gather to get
their supplies and are able to pick their partners. Those who havent finished homework cannot
participle in the lab. When ready, the students show the teacher their product and Mrs. Fortner
adds alcohol to finish lab exercise. Students seem excited about seeing their DNA. When
finished, the teacher must sign off on their work.

My findings:
I really liked how Miss Graham kept her class actively engaged. I was even sucked into the
lecture, almost forgetting to write down my observations. As I went to the freshman biology
room, it seemed like chaos. The students were much more disrespectful than any other class I
had observed. I think Mrs. Fortner did a good job of disciplining the student who acted out.
During the fire drill (while we waited outside) she took the student to the side and discussed the
situation more with him.