My First Observation

My first observation at the school was on Monday February 7th and while there I observed two different classrooms. Upon entering the school I was surprised that they seemed totally unprepared for my arrival. The secretary asked me if I knew which class I wanted to observe and seemed frustrated that the principal had not left any instructions for her. I told her that I was fine with observing any class, so she escorted me to a 6th grade social studies class. The teacher was very welcoming and told me that I could take a seat in the back of the classroom. It was near the end of class so I was only able to observe about 20 minutes of class, but I learned a lot during that short period of time. The students were supposed to be working quietly while answering questions from their book, but instead they were talking loudly and kept getting out of their seats. The teacher was very frustrated and told them many times to quiet down and finish their work so they could watch part of a movie. Once she turned the movie on the students continued to be loud and disruptive and did not seem to care when she told them to be quiet. The total lack of respect for the teacher was shocking! The teacher was obviously frustrated and looked at me numerous times with a look of pure exhaustion and hopelessness. During class change she told me she was sorry that her class behaved that way but that was the normal behavior for her classes that are after lunch. This was shocking because I thought I just happened to be there on a bad day. I stayed in her classroom to observe the next class period and the behavior was even worse than in her previous class. The students were passing notes, talking, changing seats, and even screaming during part of the movie. The teacher told one extremely talkative student that she was going to send her to the office numerous times if she continued to be disruptive, but she never followed through with the punishment.
During that first visit I also took note of the condition of the classroom. The teacher has a Smartboard but she usually uses it to display questions or movies. There were four computers in the back of the classroom, but it didn't appear that they were used often. I also noticed that the clock did not work and that the classroom pencil sharpener was one of the individual ones you can buy for 50 cents at most stores. You could tell that the teacher had tried to make the classroom look pleasant by hanging up a few posters and decorations, but the overall appearance of the room was not nearly as nice as the schools I have been to in the past.
Overall, my first impression of the school was very negative for many reasons including the bad behavior of the students and the lack of a nice school environment. I feel sorry for the teachers, staff, and students for having limited funds and resources that I feel are needed to promote success in our modern day world. I hope that the school will eventually be able to find a way to better their school and give their students more initiative to go to school everyday and get good grades. While my experience was not enjoyable, I know that observing at the school is going to be a wonderful learning experience that I can definitely learn a lot from.