Observations May 10

Well, this week had more MSP testing. Luckily, I got to teach my first official lesson of the quarter. On Thursday my cooperating teacher asked me to find a news article for the students to read on Friday. I found an interesting piece on the recent disaster in Bangladesh. I'm surprised how little media attention the story is receiving. I first heard about the on a brief two minute report on a national news program. At any rate, my teacher suggested that I teach the lesson and design a powerpoint jeopardy game. I also found two video clips with very different opinions and purposes. I wanted students to be skeptical of the news and to think critically. I wanted to spend more time discussing the article and surrounding issues but I think the students' interest was fading. The jeopardy game was fun and engaging. I noticed that the students argued with my judgment on some of their answers. I was glad to see that the students weren't afraid to speak out and make compelling arguments. For instance, students were supposed to define a word in the article. They used and quoted the correct dictionary definition but the students forgot to look at the context surrounding the word. I had some management issues throughout the lesson. One class would talk during the individual reading time. I moved a student that continuously remained off task and that seemed to work out well. Another class talked during the jeopardy game. I couldn't hear the responses and they couldn't hear my ruling. Eventually, I just stopped the game if the class wasn't silent when I needed the class silent. It worked but I'm not sure if this is the most effective way of getting their attention. I tried several different techniques but they didn't respond well. Another problem I encountered was completely uncooperative students. About four of them refused to read the article and complete the assignment. I told them to get to work and even offered to help them read and summarize the article. They would just give me the stink eye. My cooperating teacher intervened and got them working. I didn't know exactly how far I should push them. I didn't want to start huge confrontation. If students are that unwilling to learn I'll say "it's your grade on line. Not mine" My teacher told me that they are reluctant readers and they need that extra push. With some time and experience, hopefully, I will be better at gauging how far to push students.