CO#1 Alice

       For my first class observation, I observed Calyn Stringer’s Group 3B reading class. She began the class by writing her agenda on the board which was as follows:

1. Answers from the Pronoun article

2. Holes-Reading and a movie

       Upon seeing that the class would be discussing the book Holes by Louis Sachar, I immediately became excited, because that is one of my all-time favorite books and movies! Cayln is very personable and friendly. She conversed with her students before the class started. I noticed that some students went to her with questions about the assignment they had the night before, or about their reading, and she would take the time to respond to each student. Before class started, she handed out papers that the the students’ had completed the previous class. She also went over a vocabulary quiz the students had taken, and gave them positive feedback through the use of encouraging words.
       Students spent the first couple of minutes in class discussing the article they worked on the night before in pairs. If a pair was caught speaking in their native language, Calyn would politely walk over to the pair and whisper, “English only please”.  When time was up, the class reconvened and went over the article together. She called each student by their name to answer a question, and she went down the row of desks to ensure that everyone got a turn to respond. When someone did not know the answer to a question, as a class, they discussed it until someone got the right answer. After they finished reviewing the pronoun article, we watched scene selections from the movie over previous chapters they were assigned to read as homework. In class, we read Chapters 10-14. The chapters were relatively short. Calyn would read each chapter aloud while the students followed along in their books. I was even provided with a book. Calyn continued to ask lots of comprehension questions about the story to make sure that the student’s fully understood what was happening. She read in a quicker manner, which seemed appropriate for the level of the class. The students could understand it, because they seemed to be answering the questions correctly. At the end of the class, she went over the students’ pending assignments, gave them homework, and reminded them of assignments that will be due in the future. I enjoyed the pace of the class. I was never bored, and the students seemed focused on the lesson plan that day.