Last Observation at the Middle School

On my last day at the middle school I observed an 8th grade English class and a 6th grade Science class. I observed the 8th grade English class first and was surprised that there were only 15 students. I originally thought there were more students in the class because at the beginning of class there were four other students who were in the class being loud and disruptive. After class began and the four students were still standing and talking the teacher finally told them to go to their classes. I was surprised that it took so long for the teacher to tell them to leave, because they were being rude and bullying some of the students. Once they left the teacher was able to start with her lesson which was about useful Power Point tips. She explained that they needed to know these things for their upcoming Power Point project. She displayed a Power Point she had made which gave the "rules" she thought everyone using Power Point should follow. These rules included what fonts to use, how many words and bullets should be on each page, simple transitions, and never use bright colors. After going over these rules she then took the class to the library so they could begin working on their projects. I was happy to see that even though the school doesn't have a lot of technology, the teacher was still trying to expose her students to useful technology that they will come across as they get older.

The next class I went to was a 6th grade Science class. On this day they went to the lab, so I was able to go along with them to see how they were able to learn hands on. I enjoyed this experience the most, and I even got partnered with a group of students. This was exciting because I got to talk with the students about what they were doing, and they were able to show me what they had learned. During the lab, the students had to create three different types of circuits and be able to label each part. I thought that this was a great idea because the students really enjoyed learning hands on.

Overall, my experience at the middle school was very insightful. I was able to observe many different classes and teachers, which allowed me to see different teaching techniques. Even though the school didn't have a lot of technology I think it was a great opportunity to see how schools can be so different. You never know where you will end up teaching, whether it be a school with a lot of money or a school like the one I observed at.