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.
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