Learning Service/ EDG 4467

Hello, this is Alia
September, 12, 2007
From 12 noon until 2:00 pm.
As usual I went to Mr. Hunt class and the students just finished lunch. The teacher started telling the students to get out their science folder get the paper inside it, and clear you desk from any thing else. Most of the kids did except the same two students that do not organize their papers, so I helped them to look for it.
The teacher: Now we will talk about science and what would you do when you have a science projector a science experiment, what is the first thing you will do?
None of the students raise their hands.
Teacher: There is something you will do first and talked about it yesterday.
Student: Ask a question.
Teacher: Good. You will ask your self why this happened, what cause this thing to happen. What is the next thing you will do in the experiment?
Students: We do not know.
Teacher: Hi Ashely, Hi Eric.
Students: Started to laugh.
Teacher: I said Hi because the word starts with Hi Hypo..
Student: Hypothesis.
I really liked the way he scaffold the answer from the kids by relating it to something familiar and funny. He explained the hypothesis to the students as their guess of what would happen. He agreed with them from two days ago to bring different colors T-shirts to check which color will make them feel warmer and which will make them feel cooler. He talked about the tools, the steps, and the variables.
Then they moved to reading period. The asked all students to get out their reading book and pulled Hooray for Tay Tay. The teacher told the students now it is phonics time, we will read loud together for one minute and count how many words we can read in one minute, and if you feel comfortable standing up or sitting on the floor I have no problem. They start to read and I was making sure that all of them were reading loud. After half minute, some started to get slower and softer, so the teacher praised a student for reading loud and clear from the beginning to the end. The read 108 words /minute and the average for 3rd graders are 97 words/ minute. The next time they scored 112 words/ minute.
After few minutes, the teacher asked the students to go to take AR tests on the computers on the books they read before. The teacher asked me to use the multiplication cards to let them memorize their tables. I did it as a competition and it was really a successful practice because they had a math test the next day.
I just felt very comfortable in the class and with the students because everyone was participating and looks happy. Not only the students, but the teacher too, he looked happy and comfortable because they did finish the first two weeks testing. So the personal feelings of the teacher do in fact reflect on the students’ performances.
Alia Kasem