I had the pleasure of observing Drama I and Advanced Drama at Dana Hills High School in Dana Point, CA. The instructor is Ms. Samantha Sanford, and in shadowing her in her role, I was able to glean a great deal of pertinent information in relationship to the role of the educator. Her classroom was slightly unconventional in nature given that it is a subject in the arts, yet her practices as a teacher remained sturdy in the foundations of traditionally understood teaching methods.
The class, comprised of 38 students, was held in the Porthole Theatre at Dana Hills. The class was a mixture of Freshmen, Sophomores, Juniors and Seniors; however, the student population of this class was predominantly first years. The objectives for this session were clear, students performed a pantomime of an everyday activity in order to increase their understanding of spatial awareness on stage and a “show not tell” attitude in the theatre. The class period began with a welcome from Ms. Sanford in which she directed each of the students to join her in a circle on stage. She asked the students if they had any late work to turn in remarking “some credit is better than no credit.” They proceeded to play a game which required patience and critical thinking. Although frustrating to some students, this game allowed them to enter into the appropriate mindset to facilitate a conducive learning environment. Although high school aged students are a bit older than other primary aged students, they proved to take a particularly long time to focus their attention on the task at hand. This posed several hurdles for the teacher: maintaining focus once achieved, ensuring the fewest disruptions possible and appropriately asking students to behave themselves. Once attention was achieved in the whole class, the activities for the day were able to commence. Ms. Sanford created an order for the students to present their pantomimes, and asked if the students had a preference in the order they performed in. Once an order was established, the presentations began. After the first student took the stage, and presented her pantomime, the teacher asked the students to reflect on the performance and provide positive feedback as well as constructive criticism. This routine repeated until the penultimate moments of class. At the finish of class time, Sanford asked the students if they had any announcements regarding student body affairs or on campus activities. Several students shared announcements on campus, and she closed with allowing students to have 5-10 minutes to work on assignments or ask her questions regarding upcoming work. This lesson provided me with many new understandings of the inner workings of the classroom. At the top of my notes I noted the word “multitasking” with several underlines. Sanford presented a facet of teaching that I had not anticipated. Within a period of ten minutes, an operations manager for the district came in to ask her a question, a student asked for the hall pass, a student asked for a note to visit the nurse and a call slip came for another student in the class. All of this occured while she was teaching her lesson for the day. Spring notes the demanding role of decision making the classroom writing “Also, in comparison with many corporate and factory jobs, teachers enjoy a great deal of autonomy in the classroom. It has been estimated that teachers make more than 200 decisions an hour in their classrooms. These decisions range from curricular and teaching problems to behavioral problems. Unlike routine work, teaching involves creative decision making” (Spring, 277). I had not anticipated the level of multi-focused activity that would be demanded from the educator at any given moment. I was also able to see the impact of group work for students. In allowing students to share feedback with their peers, they became both the student and the expert. Robert E. Slavin describes the importance of group work in 21st century learning by writing “In the 21st century, teamwork and the ability to solve problems and learn in groups are increasingly important in the world of work, and every student should know how to work productively with others. Cooperative learning is strongly encouraged in writings about the Common Core State Standards and other college-and career-ready standards” (Slavin, 202). Under the guidance of Ms. Sanford, these students were able to proactively help one another resulting in a greater understanding and appreciation for the subject matter. One of the greatest takeaways from my visit in this class was the role of discipline in the classroom. There are two kinds of discipline that exist within the classroom setting: the discipline in relationship to students, and the self-discipline required of the educator. As typical in any class, there was a group of rowdier students who appeared to thrive on performing in loopholes, or in opposition to direction. This group of students sat together in a space where the teacher would not be able to see them or hear them all the time. In order to ensure the space was not going to be disrupted by student distraction, Sanford began to ask students at random to offer feedback. This ensured that each student was actively, and attentively paying attention to the lesson, and offering the deserved respect to their classmates. She dually reflected the necessary skill of self discipline in the classroom. Although students would exhibit distracting and unruly behavior, Sanford expressed her disinterest in this behavior in a patient and appropriate manner. In encouraging students to behave maturely rather than lashing out at them for there lack of maturity, the students responded well to her, and often shifted their attitude for the betterment of the classroom. In my interview with Sanford, I had the opportunity to ask her several questions regarding her understanding of her occupation. The questions were as follows:
Question two brought about a conversation which aligned nicely with the focus of this course. She found that “balancing the tedium of the goals of the administration and the requirements of core curriculum” was more often than not a challenge. After recently studying the common core requirements, I was able to understand that there may often be contention among administrators, teachers and state officials as to what should be taught in the classroom. In contrast, she noted that her “students successes both personally and professionally as they find the confidence to make their own choices for their futures” was the most rewarding aspect of her job. Sanford expressed that this career give or take was what she had expected, sharing that some aspects were easier and some aspects posed more of a challenge. On that thread, we discussed her advice for interacting and communicating with parents. In her field of study, parents often become involved with the various elements of production. Some of the more useful tools she recommends were keeping in regular contact with parents and allowing for a smaller margin of error for questions, too much information is better than too little. Another method she employs is checking on how her students are performing academically as well as artistically. The school system has a tool which allows her to see when she has students that are “high priority”, this means that the students have two or more grades below a D. In these cases, she is able to see which students she should connect with and help them improve their academic stature. Seeing as students with a GPA lower than 2.5 are not permitted to perform in the arts, this allows her to intercede with the student and see where she may be able to help before it gets out of hand. In communicating with colleagues she shared that she was very lucky to have a small department of tight-knit teachers. This provides for the comfortability to communicate in less formal settings. With bi-weekly department meetings, and informal lunch collaborations, she noted that keeping lines of communication open among your colleagues is one of the best ways to ensure a well-working and efficient department. Her advice for me was varied and practical. She remarked that I should know who my union representatives are and be sure to be consistent on checking the accuracy of documentation with the district. Dually she noted that once I become tenured, I should consider only committing to projects that are of interest to me. Before the process of tenure is awarded to me, I need to be diligent with my co-workers and “play the game” as she put it, taking special attention to understand that I am not yet permanent. All things considered, I had a very informative and motivating experience shadowing Ms. Samantha Sanford. This observation widened my understanding of truly what is required of the position, and what some unforeseen joys are in the job. I look forward to pursuing my credential and seeing first-hand the rigor and expertise required of an educator. References: Sanford, S. (2018, September 19). Classroom Observation [Personal interview]. Slavin, R. E. (2018). Educational Psychology: Theory and Practice (12th ed.). New York, NY: Pearson. Spring, J. (2017). American Education (18th ed.). Routledge. I had the pleasure of working with my peer JT Richards this week to inform our discussion of professional development in the classroom as well as trends in our teaching philosophies. Working in pairs this week allowed us to work through some of our similarities and differences in teaching style and help each other find places we are thriving and challenged by in developing as future educators.
Our discussion began with working through our previous written assignments and seeing where we overlapped in our teaching philosophies. As it turned out, we had the same teaching philosophy from Sadker and Sadker’s “What is Your Educational Philosophy” quiz, progressivism. This student-centered method for teaching requires that the educator create a plethora of assessment techniques in order to adequately cater to the body of students in the course. We examined the various modes of assessment which could be appropriate for both of our fields of study, specifically methods that we had seen used in our educational careers. We came to find that often we were impressed with teachers and professors who offered many avenues for success and growth for their students. Dually, we discovered that it was the enthusiasm for students and their success which ultimately moves a good teacher to a great teacher. We are both involved in different sides of the academic spectrum (English and biological sciences), so for us to both find teachers who we related to in a more personal level suggests that it may not be the subject which affects student interest, it may be the educator. In our discussion we each commented on not wanting to allow our preferences to affect a students learning. Two places where an educators personal biases may show are in the educators opinions of subject matter and the educators learning and teaching styles. Perhaps the more explicit translation of bias in the classroom is when a teacher or professor suggests that a subjective concept has only one way to consider an answer. For example, as a hopeful English teacher, I could translate my bias by suggesting my opinion of a novels worth. Rather than address the text as a neutral work for students to discover, I have just given the students an opinion about the text before they even encountered the words. Another way that bias could be introduced is from allowing students to be affected by your (the educators) social and political affiliations. Whether or not they engage with your subject well, they may decide to forego their understanding because they do not agree with your views. Perhaps the less recognized space for bias in the classroom is the assumption that the classroom of students has the same learning style as the teacher. Just as teachers each have different teaching philosophies, students have different learning philosophies. For these reasons, the educator must cater to several methods for learning and assessing in one classroom. This provides for a space in which the educator is not favoring one style. For example, if a student is not particularly inclined to classroom discussion, but is more gifted in writing, the educator must provide a space for them to grow as a discussion mate and a place for them to thrive as a written communicator. While each subject works more closely with a specific assessment style, it is important to understand the students may disengage from your subject if you do not offer them a space to do what they do best. On the other hand, it is imperative that educators create an environment where students see their growth and progress in spaces where they did not find themselves to be talented. As educators we are tasked with created rounded learners, and this is only attainable if they are assessed in various mediums. Some ways to showcase the compassion necessary to be an educator are in the various roles that the educator fills. Working with students and families of various cultural, socioeconomic and educational backgrounds requires a constant use of compassion and understanding from the teacher. Understanding that students are not all afforded the same level of encouragement outside of schools means that the teacher may have to gage which students need a but more educational encouragement in the classroom. In addressing each student and family member, the educator must approach each interaction professionally and patiently. From there, understanding that each student may require the teacher to adopt a slightly different tone and role in the classroom is imperative. In moving forward in my pursuit of the MA in Education, I have several goals in the field of my professional development. I hope to learn various tools for addressing the needs of each student quickly. In order to learn these skills, I believe working in the classroom will be the best way to quickly maneuver through the various teaching styles. This will come I believe with the student teaching element of the degree. Another goal of mine is to learn how to appropriately discuss students educational enrichment with parents. In speaking with several educators (at the secondary level), I have gleaned that parents and teachers often have a disconnect in understanding a students successes and failures. I hope to find manageable skills to translate into conversations with parents who may be unhappy with their students progress in my course. Works Consulted Association of American Educators. (2018). Code of Ethics for Educators. Retrieved from https://www.aaeteachers.org/index.php/about-us/aae-code-of-ethics. Commission on Teacher Credentialing. (2016). California Teaching Performance Expectations. Retrieved from https://www.ctc.ca.gov/docs/default-source/educator-prep/standards/adopted-tpes-2016.pdf?sfvrsn=8cb2c410_0. Sadker, M.P. & Sadker, D. S. (1997). Teachers, schools and society (4th ed., pp. 403-405.) NY: McGraw Hill. |
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May 2020
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