Observe another teacher's literacy instruction

Date:
02/06/08 ~35 minutes

Summary:
During this particular Wednesday, our CT was at a conference out of state so we were able to observe a guest teacher's instructional strategy. This observation took place with an activity which utilized the local Lansing District Newspaper. The teacher read the the article and the students were to choose one paragraph, list its main point followed by three details that support the main idea.

Reflection:
While teaching the lesson, the guest teacher followed the gradual release strategy. After reading the whole article, she re-read one paragraph and as a class they came up with the theme/topic of that paragraph. After the topic was chosen, then the students had to find three details which supported the topic. Once they completed this task as a class, they were asked to do this as individuals. The paragraph the guest teacher chose to do as a class was the third paragraph, this is one thing I would have done differently. The students became too concentrated on counting down to the third paragraph (some not knowing where a paragraph started and ended) they forgot the central focus of the activity. Personally, I would have thought it would be logical and easier to follow by starting with the first paragraph.
Relating back to course content, before reading the newspaper article, the guest teacher did a good pre-reading comprehension strategy by asking the students to guess what the article was about by using the pictures and article title. However, while reading, there were no comprehension strategies used. She simply read through the whole article, not taking any breaks to ask "what did I just read," "what was just said," and so on. Considering the point of the lesson was to recognize main points, asking questions during reading would have not only encouraged student participation, but it would have also aided in the development of students’ literacy and their ability to complete the task of the lesson. Also there were no post-reading strategies that were utilized. The students went right into their individual work.
The students became very frustrated when they were to do this activity independently, many of them did not understand what they were suppose to do or how to do it. The students' literacy could not be developed because the stress of the work became debilitating not facilitating. They began to get worked up and lost focus, many of them quitting all together. It was hard for the students to become focused again, however after further examples and guidance the majority of the students were able to complete the task. This simply means that the students were 'released' too early to be expected to complete the task on their own. If further instruction and guiding examples were given initially, then they would have been able to complete the task the first time and the stress could have been avoided. One skill that I learned through observing the guest teaching and will use in my future practices is the skill of re-wording. At first the students did not understand the initial question; however after rewording it in many ways, students were able to understand what was being asked of them and respond appropriately.
It was interesting to observe a guest teacher and the different methods of literacy instruction. It was especially interesting to see how as a future educator with formal education classes, I am able to observe and reason why the classroom responded they way they did. I wonder if the guest teacher had any formal education in the in the education field. She stated that she has substituted for many years, but only in middle schools. This was clear with her classroom management skills, however her instructional methods were at times depth-less and unclear. She was able to keep the classroom quiet and fairly focused. As an experienced guest teacher, her skills of classroom management have been tried and perfected. One of these skills involved her prefacing every question with “raise your hand if you know…” This prevented student from shouting out and disrupting the classroom by giving a simple reminder of appropriate behavior.