Thursday, February 23, 2017

Week 2/20-2/24: Observations!

This week I had the opportunity to observe other teachers in the building. I visited the 7th grade science teacher, 6th and 8th grade social studies teacher, 7th and 8th grade language art teacher and the 6th-8th Spanish teacher. Not only was it a great experience for me to see other teaching styles, but I was also able to see my students in different classroom situations. I noticed that some students that are typically quiet in my class were more talkative in science and vice versa. This got me to think about how teachers influence a classroom as well as how the different mix of student (social aspect) influences how a student act/performs in class.
As soon as I walked into 7th grade science I was bombarded with questions, “ Ms. Angulo are you teaching us Science today—are you our teacher today?” “Ms. Angulo this isn’t social studies!” “Ms. Angulo what are you doing here?” I explained to them that I was just going to sit in and observe.  I was surrounded by them! An unexpected thing that occurred was having some students come to me with questions—“Ms. Angulo is it okay if we look this up?” or “Ms. Angulo, can you help us with this?”  This showed me that they had become comfortable enough to ask me questions (even if they were not social studies questions). It also made me feel like they actually regarded me as one of their teachers—which felt very nice!  
I received a variety of ideas from observing the different teachers form varying subjects in middle school. I wrote down some strategies/activities that I think could work great in social studies. Furthermore, having the opportunity to visit these classes showed me the importance of teacher collaboration and professionalism. It has been an amazing 7 weeks here. I am most definitely going to miss the students, teachers, and staff! They all made me feel welcomed and part of the school community.


3 comments:

  1. Isn't it great that they saw you as a teacher! The fact that they asked you questions in other classes shows they value you as a teacher and depended on you. I was also able to visit other classrooms this week. I agree that it was beneficial to see how other teachers operate. Good luck next week on your new placement!

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  2. It's good that you went to observe other classes and got the opportunity to see your students in a different environment. I'm sure the students will miss you just as much as you will miss them. They did seem to see you as a teacher figure--yay for you! Good luck at your new placement, I'm sure you'll do just as great!

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  3. Glad you got to observe some other classes. I found it is nothing but beneficial to see methods other teachers use with some of the same kids that you teach. It is also great to see how the students interact with other teachers as well as with the material.

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