This past Veterans Day (11/11/15) I walked to Hathaway Brown for the fifth and final time this semester. What waited for me there was a day full of observations with three different teachers, in three different classes. Overall, this visit put a fitting cap on my field observation experience.
I started the day in third period American History with Mr. Hoffman. Seeing as it was Veterans Day, he started the class by passing around a picture of one of his family members that served in World War I. This created a very personal, and pertinent connection between history and present. After talking briefly about the history of Veterans Day, the class proceeded to begin their discussion of their newly begun chapter: Slavery and the South. A large part of discussing historical topics is providing students with a considerable amount of contextual information necessary to understand how people of the time period thought and reasoned. That is what the majority of the class entailed. Mr. Hoffman spent time talking about the different types of farming, and the rise of agriculture before the Civil War. One thing that Mr. Hoffman did was make jokes or humorous comments regarding some of the information. This effectively made students seemingly interested in an otherwise antiquated, and boring topic. Another method Mr. Hoffman used that made the information relevant to students was the use of videos.We viewed a "Crash Course" video by John Green about the antebellum South, and Mr. Hoffman plans to show Lincoln, the new film starring Daniel Day Lewis, and Gone With the Wind.
Next period I attended Mr. Ciuni's English class. I entered into a discussion of the students first reading of The Arabian Nights by Muhsin Mahdi. The discussion started with a review of vocabulary terms, and an understanding of how they connected to the reading. Next they moved in to a discussion aimed at solidifying characters and their roles in the reading. The final portion of the class included a group activity where the girls were asked to identify things in the text they found disturbing and "fantastic." What particularly struck me about this class was how eager and open each student was to share their opinion on the assigned reading. The conversation never fell to a lull, and the opinions and points made by each student were not misplaced, and always revolved around the topic of discussion. I feel as though it is apparent that Mr. Ciuni cares deeply for each of his students, and as a result the girls feel comfortable in his classroom. I hope to be able to create a similar classroom atmosphere.
After a satisfying lunch of chicken and waffles and a brief planning period, I attended Mr. Frazier's English class. This was my third, and final class of the day. Lucky for me the class was continuing their discussion of The Awakening by Kate Chopin. In this class, however, they were really digging into the text. Although they were offered the chance to break into small groups, the class decided to engage in a full class discussion of the reading. The only other thing that they did that I found effective and fun was an "Around the World" review of vocabulary terms for the test the next day. It was both a great way to review the terms, and was fun for all involved.
I am so incredibly thankful that I was given the opportunity to shadow the teachers at HB. I have observed many different teaching styles that have allowed me to reflect on my own intended style. Thank you to all of the teachers that made my experience possible!
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