Observation of Teaching English Focusing on Teacher-Student as well as Student-Student Interactions - Essay Example

? Observation Report #2: Focusing on Teacher as well as Interactions and Lessons, Activities, and Group Work Ahmed Alzahrani ENGL 694: Observation of Teaching English Dr. Gloria Park November 2, 2012 Observation Report #2: Focusing on Teacher-Student as well as Student-Student Interactions and Lessons, Activities, and Group Work Description of the Classroom Setting The professor, Mike O’Bryan, was observed for the second time in his class Advanced English Grammar (ALI 345). He started the class by advising the students to open their course material to a particular page. It could be observed at the onset that his voice was particularly soft and he was standing at the front of class the whole time, and never moved. The projector was on but was never used for the duration of the class. Likewise, some students were deemed absent, as observed from the greater number of vacant seats as compared to the first observation period. He talks in a monosyllabic manner that is perceived to be monotonous and students at the back would strain to hear the entirety of his discussion. The students posed diverse stances ranging from perceptive, partially responsive as a class, partially attentive (which means there were a few who were really inattentive), somewhat indifferent, and generally unparticipative. Description of Teacher-Student Interactions The professor discussed the day’s subject matter on the need to examine the context of the sentence by enumerating a point-by-point sentence structure as detailed in their course material. He tried to solicit participation from the student by asking them questions after relevant points from the course material were presented. Apparently, only one student from Saudi Arabia was virtually responding actively to his inquiries. The rest of the students (predominantly Asian) were either very softly responding in their respective seats or silently observing and listening during the whole discussion. At one point where handouts were needed to be disseminated, Saudi students voluntarily stood up and assisted in distributing the materials to the other members of the class. As noted, other students (Asian) were not at all participating and one actually saw two students changing seats upon the start of the class discussion; and where one student even changed seats twice for some reason. Even worse, some Asian students were also seen sleeping in class (a total of three students) and neither the professor nor the classmates made any efforts to wake them up. The professor either did not see them or was indifferent to students sleeping in his class. Description of Student-Student Interactions Regarding observing student-student interactions, one could deduce that the students are already well acquainted with each other. This acquaintance was observed to have negative effects in terms of exhibiting private conversations and communications with each other, without regard to the professor discussing the lessons. These were actually three (3) Asian students talking to each other while the professor was explaining the lesson in front of the class. A positive student interaction was observed as two (2) Saudi students voluntarily assisted the professor in distributing the handouts. The rest of the classroom environment was predominantly silent during the lecture due to absence of reaction and response; as well as active participation from the students. Description of Lesson, Activities and Group Work The lesson was delivered purely using a lecture approach. Only the course materials were the sole reference for the discussion. Despite availability and access to using the overhead projector, it was not at all utilized. Likewise, the soft voice, monotonous manner of speech and communication pattern, as well as being stationary (standing in front of the class) limited movement, activity, vitality, and diversity in instructional approach and use of instructional materials. At some point in time, about 30 minutes after the start of the class discussion, students were observed to be sleeping (one after 35 minutes from the start of the class, another one at about 54 minutes of continued lecturing, and another one after 56 minutes in class and is even situated within the professor’s sight). One was actually initially disturbed that students openly sleep during the course and not one member from the class took any initiative to address this matter. There was no activity requiring the students to collaborate with each other, to participate individually, or to openly ask questions at any point within the lecture to clarify if there are ambiguous points that need further explanations. The professor just goes on talking and explaining and intermittently asking questions about the sentences that were being discussed. Honestly, the atmosphere in the classroom was deemed to be conducive to sleeping. Also, the professor’s voice was becoming more and more soft as his lecture progresses and the initial teacher-student interaction seen in the first part of the class discussion was totally erased. Critical Moments and Incidents Noticed The timeline for the whole class instruction, activity and incident noted during observation are started as one noted that the professor opted to start the lessons one minute late and ended 10 minutes earlier. There were several students who came in late (about three of them) and there were three students who eventually fell asleep. There were virtually no active class participation and little would the professor know if his students in fact understand the lessons that he was explaining. He was in a static position all throughout the lecture. Although he solicited responses from the students, the apparent lack of interest or understanding could be contributory to the lack of response. The professor’s reaction to these incidents was perceived to be intentionally latent: meaning, he appeared to be dismissing the fact the students were sleeping (maybe he rationalized some justifiable reasons for this), were late, and lacks active participation. The reason could be that their diverse cultural orientations could contribute to the manifested behavior and openly correcting these could cause undue discomfort and embarrassment for both the professor and the students concerned. Likewise, apparently, there were some classroom regulations or protocols that were not clearly communicated nor enforced. Students were allegedly allowed to sleep during the class. If rules on sleeping, class participation, encouraging feedback, and communicating suggestions for improvement were relayed, an improved learning environment could have been created. One observed that very minimal numbers of students (one or two) were responding to the professor’s questions and the voices or responses were likewise very soft or basically inaudible to the other students. There was even one student who was too busy using his phone and he virtually did not listen to the professor’s lecture at all. In the first class observation, one noted that the professor’s style of teaching was very accommodating, helpful and encouraging. However, this style could also generate negative results as manifested by the lack of participation and even respect from the students. At the onset, he could have established classroom rules to avoid behavior such as indifference, laxity in preparation and participation in the course, and sleeping during class. As the classmates do not exert any efforts to wake those seatmates who were sleeping, the professor should have called their attention immediately. It is their loss for not listening and these students’ academic performance would not improve for exhibiting these behaviors and allowing them to do so. The creation of a conducive learning environment should be a symbiotic relationship. It is up to the professor or educator to design instructional approach and the use of appropriate instructional materials to make their lessons interesting and innovative. The professor should likewise establish ground rules for classroom management, which must be communicated explicitly and clearly to all his students, who should be amenable and signify approval and conformity to these. Likewise, it is the responsibility of students to communicate to the professor any comments or suggestions for improvement From his own observation of the reaction of his students, he must have been able to discern which instructional approach is most effective given their diversity in cultural orientation and their competencies on this subject. As such, it would take creative and innovative skills to apply teaching methodologies and materials that would create a lively and fun learning environment that would motivate the students to learn, be more attentive, responsive, and participative, as needed. Only then could their understanding and comprehensibility on the subject be appropriately gauged. Read More