Skyla Sale

UTeach 640, J. Haug

November 21, 2015
Observation #7
This lesson was a fun one to work on, and after watching the
video, I am so pleased to see and hear the students work on it.
Students got a little rowdy at times, but this video reveals that most of
the laughter and talking was about the work they were creating, which
is a good thing considering comedy was one of the okayed genres. It is
clear that I have become more comfortable with the students and the
authority or being a teacher, but I still see areas that need to be
improved.
One of the things that surprised me the most was the way I
interact with the students. I tend to walk up to each student or group
and stare for a bit, and then I ask for explanations and elaboration. I
like doing this because it allows me to get a grasp at what the student
is trying to convey versus what their work shows. This helps with
guiding the students to their intended goal. And once they reach this, I
tend to give out high fives (18:39 & 23:15). I never realized I did this
until now, especially since high fives have never been something I
often do. I think I give them out as a way of affirmation to the students
and it brings an aura of teamwork, which I think is important in a
student driven classroom.
The students were excited at the beginning of the lesson and
they were pumped to all add along to a story, even if it ended
tragically. Students started to get rowdier and sillier, but I know they
would be mad if we stopped the exercise, so we kept going. I wish I had
been firmer about talking at the beginning. A student even yelled to
the class, everybody shut your mouths (11:15), which was nice of
her to be on my side, or at least want to listen, but that shouldnt have
to happen.
During this lesson especially, I had to really bring out my teacher
persona in order to reign in the students at times. I thought when I said
things like Guys! Come on. Please! that I said them very firmly.
However, after watching the video, I realized I have some sort of soft
enthusiasm in my words, and at times, I even use uptalkwhat I
thought was GUYS. COME ON ending up sounding like guyyyysss,
come on? This is something that Ive been working on ever since I
started rallying in the feminist world, and I am disappointed to see
myself doing this at a time when I should be fully confident. But, I had
to laugh this off when our class clown said Were helping you become

a better teacher Ms. Sale, SAIL! (17:19), and he said the last sail in
the tone of the awolnation song, Sail, which my Dad loves. And things
eventually quieted down when I finally told the student aid (grey
sweatshirt, standing up) to go away, you are distracting them, not
helping them. (29:08)

One of my favorite things that happened was around 24:00 when

a student, Daniel, walked in. He got caught up to speed with Mrs.
Watson, but I still went over to check in personally. He said he
understood the assignment but he was concerned with his partner. For
this assignment, they could work with a partner, or work alone, but
apparently, Mrs. Watson paired him with a student Daniel often
(literally almost every single time) works withMiss, do I have to work
with Sam? Im always stuck with him. Once I told him he didnt have
to, he explained to me that he was late to class because he was at a
therapy session to work through his shyness. I found it ironic that he
was so open about being shy, but he continued by telling me that in
the past hes been too shy in class to ask anyone else, and so he
normally gets stuck or paired with Sam, who is autistic. Daniel
explained to me that hes fine with helping Sam every now and then,
but that he would like to also try something new every now and then.
He also asked me if I had any personal experience with working
through shyness since he said I seemed talkative since day one. I
told him my advice would be to talk to one new person every day, even
if it was to ask the time or to talk about weather. He smiled and then
left to sit opposite sides of the room from Sam, who wasfor the first
timeworking nicely with someone new and he didnt even seem to
notice the change. I felt like there was growth in the room somehow,
and it made me feel warm.
Overall, I was happy to see what the students had created by the
end of the lesson. There were two story maps (not shown in video), two
different character drawings, and a character map/chart. I move
around a lot and revisit almost every student several times. It was a
loud class, but people were continually writing and working. I know I
have grown since Observation #5, but I still feel like I need to work on
my authoritative persona as we move into the next semester.