Observation Assignment #1

            I walked into Mt. Pleasant High School, and was overwhelmed by the school’s size right away. It was different than every other high school that I have ever been in.  When I first walked into the classroom that the secretary directed me to, I noticed how plain and simple it was. There were desks in the middle of the room in groups of three to four, and a larger desk in the front of the room for the teacher. There was also a large desk in the back where I sat. There were a few posters on the wall, all of which were geometry related. There were also two chalkboards, a smart board, and a computer towards the front of the room. Overall, I thought the room looked like a pretty typical high school classroom. It made me feel pretty bored at first, as it was very bland and unexciting. The students entered the room loudly and obnoxiously, as some of them would yell things at each other, some of which was very inappropriate for a classroom setting. When they finally sat down, the teacher was constantly trying to get them to calm down and listen to her, but her efforts were unsuccessful for the most part. She never was able to fully get control of the whole class. I noticed that there were 20 students total, 12 of who were Hispanic, and 8 were African-American. Also, 11 were female, and 9 were male, and none of the students seemed to have any disabilities. The class seemed to be fairly consistent with the rest of the school in terms of diversity.

            The teacher finally started teaching, after she gave the students about 10 minutes to work on a warm up activity, which I observed that maybe 6 students actually worked on. She tried to get the students involved, but most of them were still talking and complaining pretty loudly. The teacher gave every student a chance to participate, but only the same 4 or 5 students would actually participate and answer the teacher’s questions. I couldn’t believe how disrespectful some of the students were to the teacher. When the teacher asked one of the students to pay attention and stop talking so loudly, she replied “Why should I listen to this crap that I don’t need to know,” in a rude tone of voice. From then on, all of the teacher’s attempts to get that student or any of the other’s sitting in her group were shot down right away. The few kids that did take part in class discussions seemed like they knew the topic very well. They understood the questions and problems that the teacher put on the smart board, and were doing a good job at answering her questions. If only the teacher could have controlled the rest of the class better, she could have had a much more successful and effective lesson. Her many failed attempts to get them to join the rest of the class wasted a lot of class time.

            I could tell that the bell was about to ring, as many of the students started getting their stuff together and standing up, even though the teacher was still talking. She asked them to sit until the bell rings, but they continued with what they were doing anyway. Within seconds, nearly every student was standing and fooling around loudly while they waited to leave. The teacher simply sat at her desk and waited for the bell to also. When it finally did, the students quickly left, and the teacher seemed very relieved. I have never experienced a class like this in my schooling career, so I was very surprised and interested to see how it would play out, as I could tell the direction that the lesson was headed right when the students walked into the room. I think it would be very interesting to be a student in this class, and in the school in general. I would be a minority in terms of race, which would be a big change for me. In my high school, I was in the clear majority, as about 90% or more of the students were white. The environment inside the school is also much different than in my high school. It would take a lot of adjusting to the new setting. Although the class did not go as I had envisioned it would, I believe being able to see it unfold was a good experience, as I can use the lessons that I learned when I become a teacher myself.