Observation of Jordan's Lesson on The Miller's Tale

As an introduction, Jordan showed a BBC adaptation of The Miller's Tale that was about 6 minutes long. Then Jordan had students read passages, the lines were numbered, and he explained vocabulary by asking students what they thought the terms meant then putting them into context and giving current examples to illustrate them, basically activating prior knowledge.  He was very encouraging when the students participated, and maintained a firm, confident voice and presence.  Jordan began reading each section first then let the students read.  Mrs. Smather's West did have to speak to the students twice and get them to focus on Jordan's lesson as they were becoming a little distracted.  He had handouts of the tale for each student, of which there were about 24. The second section of the tale was about sex which did keep the students engaged (sex sells!). Jordan decided to modify the reading the second time he did the lesson to keep it more interesting so he just explained the missing/skipped sections.  He would point out sections that would be good to cite when answering the homework questions.  Jordan then explained Chaucer's motivations for certain sentence structure, imagery, and tone.  The homework was assigned after the lesson and was already attached to the packet.  Jordan was very effective and engaging.  He definitely had a smoother session the second time because he was able to work the kinks out.  It was a good lesson that used multiple scaffolding techniques and forms of varied instruction.

Field Experience Reflection

In terms of inclusion and culturally responsive teaching, the best example was the visit I had

where the history teacher Mr. Morris taught a lesson to Mrs. Smathers-West’s class on life for
African-Americans during the Reconstruction period. He showed political cartoons and videos
about the KKK and sharecropping and also had the students attempt a Louisiana literacy test for
voting to show how unfair and confusing they were even for literate people. The students were
to write a paper that would apply in both classes. Booker T. Washington is mostly black and
Hispanic so the topic was appropriate and spoke to the classroom culture. As far as inclusion,
this area is my one point of contention with Mrs. Smathers-West, she has one student that was
diagnosed with ADHD but is no longer taking medication. He was generally no more disruptive
than any of the other students I observed yet she would constantly single him out by making him
sit next to her desk, away from his classmates, and was more prone to use proximity and direct
intervention to try to curb his behavior. I just felt that because she knew his diagnosis that she
was over-disciplining him and it seemed a bit biased and unnecessary.

Field Experience #5

I’m very glad that I’ve been able to attend so many school assemblies at Booker T. because it has given me a lot of insight into the school environment and the pressing issues.  Mr. Aristide has only been principal for 4 years and feels a special connection because the seniors will be his first graduating class.  It seems Mr. Aristide has a zero tolerance approach to discipline as he opened his speech by telling the seniors that if they are not trying to graduate that they do not need to be at Booker T.  I had mixed feelings about this because that kind of response to academic and behavioral issues may further alienate certain students and actually influence them to drop-out as opposed to motivate them to apply themselves or work through their issues.  I think Mr. Aristide and the other teachers that spoke were trying to ignite the upperclassmen’s intrinsic motivation by reminding them that Booker T. provides a lot of opportunities and has many networks of support in place for students including night school.  The PBS (Positive Support Behavior) coach reiterated the old adage that “kids don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”  This statement definitely speaks to my teaching doctrine which will always seek to nurture the student-teacher relationship in order to encourage intrinsic motivation.

Field Experience #4

Today I learned the importance of a holistic approach to education that focuses on the complete student.  The meeting for the boys was powerful.  The principle had men from Omega Psi Phi fraternity come and speak about manhood, scholarship, and resisting negative influences to overcome their social conditions.  Although this visit had less in-classroom observation, I learned a lot by witnessing the principle Mr. Aristide’s passion for the success of his students.  The most poignant part of his speech was that although you may be from a troubled neighborhood and witness negative role models daily, “it doesn’t have to be you.”  One of the speakers went to juvenile detention for a gun charge but because he had a mentor in high school who really supported and encouraged him, he went to FAU and is now completing medical school.  The meeting in the auditorium really spoke to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.  These young boys bring their lives to school with them every day and they have to be encouraged, supported, and mentored in order to achieve. When I spoke to the 4^th block class about my college experience I stressed the fact that it doesn’t matter the path you take to acquire a degree, whether you go to junior college and then transfer, take a break from school and return, as long as you graduate.  Olivia shared that you may not know your major when you begin college or may change it during and that’s ok.