Observation 1: Your Classroom

Student Composition: The Basics (Period 4)

1. 12 boys / 9 girls
2. 17-18 years old
3. Haley, Jack, Dylan, Robert, Erin, Roy, Teran, Margaret, Ryan, Justin, Annabelle, Julian,
Reed, Maria, Katherine, Marina, Samantha, Nikolas, Hannah, Miles, Brendan
The Physical Environment

The Learning Environment

1. Coach Montgomery jokes a lot, but he also has high expectations of his students, so it
creates an interesting classroom dynamic. He can be intense at times and very laid back
and joking with the students at others (as is often the case with coaches). Overall I would
say that it is a relaxed atmosphere that is conducive to learning, but I could maybe see
how some students might feel like he is too unpredictable to feel comfortable in his class.
This feeling would hopefully subside after settling in a bit, so I think it is a good
classroom atmosphere overall.
2. The students and Coach Montgomery joke around with each other, but he also makes it
known that he expects them to be responsible and take care of their work. He is definitely
the authority figure in the room and everyone seems to respect that. All around the room
there are things hanging on his walls from things that interest him (baseball and English
posters), things that past students have drawn for him, and funny things that he has either
found or been shown by students. The room is rather decorated, and it obviously has had
work put into it.
3. There didn't seem to be a whole lot of positive reinforcement from what I have observed
so far, although there honestly hasn't been too many opportunities. That said, Coach
Montgomery isn't the kind of person to praise students for every little thing they do.
When a student read their paper out loud in class, he would tell them "good job" or "very
good" or something else to that effect. He also made sure to clap for each student after
they read their paper, likely since he perceived that as a more difficult task than just
passing papers to their neighbor or something like that. There are three students with
learning differences in the class since it is a collaborative class, and one of these students
in particular requires a lot of extra attention. With this student he does tell him "good
job," "well done," "excellent," "I'm impressed," and other things like that more often than
other students. When a student does something that he is particularly pleased with, he
will point them out as an example for the rest of the class and say, "See what ___ did?
This is exactly how I want you all to do it," or something to that effect.
4. When Coach Montgomery is talking, I haven't noticed any other kids talking (save for the
aforementioned collaborative student, who occasionally blurts out comments or questions
as they come to him). Students don't move around the classroom unless they ask first or
Coach Montgomery instructs them to move. Coach Montgomery has said he does a good
deal of group work, so this may change once I see classes where they are working in
groups.