Yesterday was my third and final class observation. I observed Michele’s composition class. She was the first teacher to really acknowledge my presence in the classroom; she had me stand up and introduce myself and made all of the other students introduce themselves as well.
The thing I noticed about Michele’s teaching style is that she excels in communication. She communicated with the students better than any teacher I have ever observed! She wrote things on the board and clarified them as students brought questions up, She gave very specific instructions for assignments, was really clear about where she was in the grading process, and when students would get back old papers. She communicated with the students their entire schedule for the week. When she gave them an assignment, she communicated the pace, difficulty, and expectations in advance. As a result of her excellent communication skills, all of the students were on the same page.
The writing class started with journals. Michele stressed that they would not be judged on grammar, she just wanted them to write. After that they focused on the integrated writing. Monday, they would focus on the reading portion, Tuesday on the listening portion, and they would combine the two on Wednesday. The whole class did one example together (like Ramin tells us to do) and the last two examples were left as homework for students to do individually.
Great observations!
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