Steven Walker 9/20/12 EDUC 328: Instructional Strategies Dr.

Bettie Hicks Knowing the Classroom In William J Clark, there are many teachers using different systems of structure in their classrooms and teaching. As a college student doing field observation I have to make note of all that goes on in my teachers classroom. This semester I am in Mrs. Anna McLendons seventh grade math class. She came out of retirement just to teach this year and said that she is going to work as hard as she can to make sure she does not short change her students in their learning. In Mrs. McLendons class I have taken some notes on her system: how she organizes the classroom environment, instructional strategies, and classroom management. Upon my first morning entering into Mrs. McLendons class, I felt the class was constantly at work. All of the walls in the school are already plain grey, but Mrs. McLendon has her walls covered with posters that scream out to me, and possibly most of the students, to GET THE JOB DONE NO MATTER WHAT! The walls in the classroom are covered with posters of different math formula such as how to change a fraction to a decimal back to a fraction then into a percentage. Also Mrs. McLendon has her standards, indicators, and class agenda on the front board. And also she has her rules of conduct on the walls, and as a shock to me some motivational quotes on the walls as well. This doesnt mean that she is a wants the students to do anything but work when they get in the desks every day, but that she has high expectations and it

is her way of motivating them to push through the work she gives them so that they will be prepared for the work load theyll receive in the near future. The desks, students and teachers, arrangement felt cluttered at first, then after she had me help her move her classroom around on the first day of my observation it felt more like a place of business. Where the Mrs. McLendons desk was moved to the right corner of the room and the students were all arranged single filed facing the front of the classroom with just a split space in between rows and a space splitting the rows from the entrance of the classroom. Even the desks Mrs. McLendon uses are piled with student papers and other forms that I nor her can make out since it is some much. She just says that its just stuff to either check or correct or forms to review and sign. At first it seemed like a cluttered mess but then just happened to be, in her words, an organized mess. They have three computers on the right side of the classroom which I have never seen used during my time in the classroom. Mrs. McLendon did inform me that she and her two colleagues the other seventh grade math teachers at the school use the computers during their planning period to work on lesson plans and come up with new and effective instructional strategies. Although plain and feels like a place of business instead of a normal classroom, Mrs. McLendon classroom is an ok setting to get the students focus on the task at hand and that is to learn and get the work done. At least thats what some of the students in the first two period classes told me when I asked them how they felt the classroom setting made them feel. Next I will explain how Mrs. McLendon teaches. On my first day in the class, I could already tell that McLendon was probably a brick wall teacher when she began give instruction to the class. Brick wall meaning that she will

ignore her students and be very demanding in the class, wants order and total control of her classroom, basically run the class like a business. Although Mrs. McLendon does expects a lot out of her students and runs her class like it was a business, she does not ignores them look a true brick wall teacher would but instead she does take time to listen to students questions and feedback in the class. Some examples of this I observed in second period when she was going over the homework with the students to see if anybody had any issues doing the work. Looking at the agenda for the class, Mrs. McLendon does not change much on it every day. Every day the students start on their Do Now equations that has different problems each day correlating to the chapter that they are on in the textbook, then Mrs. McLendon goes over the homework problems, gives guided instruction, and then gives the students independent work until the period ends. Every day is the same as the day before, unless the students have a test, my schedule will not allow me to attend on the days when Mrs. McLendon does her assessment. She told me that the only thing that changes on a test day is that instead of doing a Do Now the students will take the test and then continue on to the next session or chapter. Asking some the students how they like how each day goes on in the class they replied that they dont really like it, it gets boring sometimes and wish they could do some fun activities or anything to make the class more fun. They do like using the active board she uses and going to the front of the class to do their problems to show that they know the material. I understood how they felt because I know math can be boring at times and it is up to Mrs. McLendon to make some changes to her instruction. After talking with her about how some of her students felt about her instruction she said that she is going to make the learning more as soon as she can get her students on track because they are behind as of right now. I understood Mrs. McLendon and learned that she has to reteach material that the students did not learn the previous year. As soon

as the students catch up with the other seventh grade math classes then they can learn at a slower pass and hopefully have fun learning. Next I will discuss Mrs. McLendons classroom management. As mentioned earlier, Mrs. McLendon is like a brick wall teacher. She commands attention, has high expectations and does not play games in the class. When she wants the students to get to work she only has to tell them once and they follow her command. After my first day in the class, I asked some of the students how they felt about Mrs. McLendon and they said they were scared of her. I could see why they would have this fear of their teacher because she even scared me for a while when I was observing. She didnt make threats or yell at the students, she just has great control over her tone and gives a very serious look at the students when they know they are either miss behaving or even get an answer wrong on their in class assignment. These qualities make Mrs. McLendon seem like a true brick wall teacher with the exception that she does ask the students if they ever have questions or feedback about any work they do for her. By making sure she listens to all of her students and trying to make connections with them she shows qualities of an effective teacher. The students that Ive witnessed in Mrs. McLendons first two period classes are all well behaved, well at least when they enter into Mrs. McLendons class. If any of the students thought about misbehaving in the class; talking to their peers around them, not doing the work that has been assignment during class, or being disruptive in any manner Mrs. McLendon would give them the look and a serious tone telling them to get with the problem or get out. So far my favorite line that Ive heard Mrs. McLendon use is you guys better get to it or get to step pin. Although the students say that they are scared of their teacher, I believe that its just the fact that Mrs. McLendon has many years over them and that age commands respect. Every child

learns that they should always respect their elders no matter who they are and so with Mrs. McLendon coming out of retirement they show her more respect than they probably do with their other teachers. Mrs. McLendon makes sure that she always has her students order. During class period changes when students are leaving whatever class they are coming from they do so in an unfashionable manner, but when they arrive at Mrs. McLendons class they have to line-up beside her class and then enter the class single-filed and not loud like their peers do for their other classes. As soon as the students enter the classroom the go straight to their desks, put the books and book bags under and beside them and get started on the Do Now. The students know the code of conduct and the consequences of any inappropriate action they make in school so when they get in Mrs. McLendons class they know how to act because they know she will get on their cases. All though the students have many rules to follow, they rarely misbehave, and in Mrs. McLendons class I havent seen problems with misbehavior. Mrs. McLendon definitely has her classes in check.