For my observation assignment I went to Chiang Mai International School and observed a Spanish teacher as that is what I will be teaching in the future. Some classroom management practices I found effective were 1) individually greeting each student at the door as they entered her room, 2) having students stand up and answer a prompt before sitting, 3) calling randomly on students to answer questions or respond to prompts during the lesson, and 4) requiring students to put everything away and then thank her for the lesson before leaving. There were no major transitions that I observed as students did not work in pairs or groups but maintained their seating for the duration of the class and there were no interruptions. The only transitions occurred between listening and grammar-based activities. During these transitions there was some talking so the teacher used verbal reminders and raised her voice to counteract this disturbance. For the most part this observation proved to be more of a lesson of what I do not want to do rather than an example of the sort of teacher I wish to become. The lesson was grammar-based and not particularly engaging. There was no opportunity for students to communicate with each other, which to me defeats the purpose of a language class. One strategy that I will try in my classroom is having students wait outside so I can personally greet them as they come into my class. While she still took attendance, I will try to use the greeting time to take attendance and assess how each student is feeling that day so I can get an idea of the level of preparedness my students have before the lesson begins.
A companion site to EDSC 658/458 course at UAF
