International Newcomers Academy
November 14th, 2018
The first thing that stood out to me about this school was the diversity of its students. I enjoyed seeing that despite their different backgrounds, there existed a tremendous sense of community. At this school, I observed an eighth-grade math class. The classroom felt extremely welcoming as it was full of math related posters, flags from various countries, and fun phrases. It was well-organized with labels on material bins, homework assignments and learning objectives clearly placed on the board, and the tables were placed in a way that made for easy movement around the room.
When the teacher was reviewing a problem on the board, he clearly articulated his words and questions. After each question, the class respond in union. He never had to call on a particular student, rather, asked questions and expected the class to react as a whole. This was something really impressive to me as it clearly showed that all the students were fully engaged and involved in the lesson. In my past observations, I had not seen a teacher able to manage a class so well.
Another interesting aspect of this observation was the use of application called “Quizizz.” This website required students to use a piece of technology, solve a set of math problems, and choose the corresponding answer on their device. Through the Quizizz application, their progress and accuracy would be shown on the Smartboard. Prior to this observation, I had never been exposed to Quizizz, so this was something completely new to me. I found it to be an effective way to keep the students involved and working. While each student had their answer accuracy displayed on the Smartboard in front of the class, there was no sense of competition between the students. Also, I noticed the teacher did not offer any prize for the top finishers, which I thought was great; it allowed the kids to focus on intrinsic motivations rather than extrinsic.
In addition, an interesting aspect of this observation was the classroom community. The students were beyond friendly. They were constantly working effectively together and even had small moments of celebration each time they successfully solved a problem together. The teacher also seemed to have strong relationships with his students. He constantly walked around the room, kneeling down to help whichever student needed help. The students did not hesitate to ask any questions and seemed very comfortable his classroom. This is something I hope to establish in my future as a teacher; I would like to build a strong connection with each of my students, where conversations are natural, and they feel comfortable asking any questions that come to mind.
To connect a concept discussed in lecture to this observation, I observed the presence of collaborative learning. The students were seated at tables with designated shoulder partners. The teacher made it extremely clear that he wanted each student working with their shoulder partner, in which the students did. Throughout the entire class period, no student was working alone. I believe this encouragement for student interaction contributed to the school’s overall close community; the students were constantly working and learning together in a manner that appeared to be extremely effective.
Another concept discussed in lecture that I saw in my observation was one of the six cognitive principles of learning, that is, learning through explanation. In addition to simply “doing” the problem, the teacher required his students to provide an explanation behind each solution. This method of explanation allows the students to have a better retention of the material as they are forced to think more thoroughly through each set of problems.
I noticed the teacher encouraged the students to speak in English while they worked with their partners; is there a requirement for each student to reach a specific level of the English language prior to attending the school? Is there a test they need to pass or are students from all international backgrounds welcomed despite their knowledge level?