As the
students walked in to their AP US History class, they picked up their work
folders from the bin on Ms. H’s desk that was marked with their period number
and class title. They sat down in their
seats and immediately had a task to do.
Written on the white board on the side wall was their assignment. It read: “Do Now. Who fought in the Revolutionary War?” It seemed like an easy question AP US History
students to answer and Ms. H explained that she wanted to make sure all her
students knew the answer because on her car ride in that morning, she had heard
on the radio someone who did not answer the question correctly and had claimed
to have been an AP student.
The nine
students in the class worked on answering the question on a small slip of paper
and most of them did not take too long to do it. One student came in a little late and when
the question was posed to him he began answering aloud not realizing that it
was a written “Do Now” assignment. His
classmates and the teacher quickly hushed him and explained he should write it
down. I am assuming the “Do Now” is a
daily occurrence and it is a school wide theme.
Every class I observed had one posted on a board somewhere in the
room. This is great for making sure that
students have something to work on immediately upon entering the classroom and
do not have to wait for a lesson to begin.
It seems
the rules in Ms. H’s class were already understood and these students, having
been in the class for a few months, did not need to be reminded of class room
procedures. I do not think anyone raised
their hand to answer a question, they simply took turns speaking and no one
interrupted anyone else. When it was
time to take notes from the overhead projector, students freely moved their
seats to be in a better position to view the overhead. When a question was posed by the teacher ad
no one volunteered to answer, she called on someone. All assignments were posted on a chart on the
wall. I observed Ms. H give an assignment
and shortly thereafter she marked it on the chart. I should have gotten a closer look at the
chart to see exactly what information was on it but I did not want to hover
over her shoulder as she wrote it in and then I forgot to look at it after
class had ended because I was talking to her about the class. I think she numbered the assignment, titled
it, wrote the date it was assigned and possibly the date it was due. This serves as an easy way for students to
make sure they are up to date with assignments without taking time out of
learning activities.
While
students worked in groups reading primary documents and answering questions
about them, the teacher went around checking the prior day’s homework
assignment. With grade book in hand, she
went to each student to make sure they had completed it. Some had not, and one student in particular
who had been absent the day before had e-mailed the teacher to ask for any assignment
he missed while out. He had not
completed the homework even though he had been proactive in asking for it. He and Ms. H went back and forth a bit about
it in a very calm, conversational way; she did not get mad at him and he did
not get defensive. She had him check his
e-mail again on the computer in the classroom and reread the message. After doing so he admitted he had not read
the entire message and thus missed the assignment and that was that.
Ms. H managed
her classroom effectively. She was very
even-tempered and had a calm demeanor about her. She was assertive without being too hard on
students. She let them know what she
expected of them and held them accountable but also treated them as adults
capable of handling their own business.
She used subtle reminders when students did not follow procedures. She must have heard someone say something inappropriate
under their breath or to their neighbor as she walked by. She did not get overly upset or berate the
student. Instead, she gave him a look of
subtle disapproval and asked him, “What was that?” When he said, “Oh, nothing,” she maintained
eye contact with him and said, “I must have a ring in my ear, I thought you
said something.” She let the student
know that she knew that he had misbehaved but without letting most of the other
students know the student had done wrong.
The way in which Ms. H managed her classroom allowed for more learning
time and less time correcting or supervising behavior.
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