Today, I had the opportunity to complete my first classroom observation for the semester. The teacher a observed, Mrs. Johnson, teaches one Freshman English class and two AP Language classes. I observed the Freshman English class, which was beginning a new unit on short stories today.
This was, by far, the best observation experience I ever had. Mrs. Johnson was enthusiastic and engaging, and she showed compassion for each of her students. The first thing I noticed was the way she treated all her students as individuals; it was evident that she has gotten to know each unique personality. She adapted her lesson to many different learning styles, and the students seemed interested in the lesson. I observed the following activities:
- Students took a quiz on mysteries (closing the unit on this genre)
- Students played a “Sherlock” game in order to relax after working diligently on the quiz
- Mrs. Johnson and the students reviewed literary terms together using study cards and a presentation
- Instructor gave a unique introduction to short stories that caught students’ interest
- Instructor passed out copies of a story and read it aloud. Students followed along on their handouts
- The story was a cliffhanger, which was a word they added to their vocabulary list
- Students participated in a poll to determine what they thought the ending would be
- Students used leftover class time to read books they chose
This class and instructor were simply amazing! I was only there for two hours, but I felt as if I learned so much from Mrs. Johnson. After class, I stayed and spoke to her about a few things I learned in my Reading and Literacy class, for I noticed Mrs. Johnson implemented much of what I’ve learned into her classroom. If I have time, I hope to visit Mrs. Johnson’s Freshman English class again.