11/21/11
As part of the Johns Hopkins University School of Education partnership with NAF, the interns get a close working relationship with observation and practice with one mentor/lead teacher but also shadow many employees from all across the school so as to have a complete view of what is necessary to run a school in general. Today, I observed the Foreign Language, Gym, and English for Speakers of Other Languages (or ESOL/ESL) and I will list my impressions below. All of these classes are outside of the typical core curriculum. Two, foreign language and gym, are electives and ESOL is a supplementary class built to reinforce and encourage students who do not have as strong of a background in English.
Mr. Barnes, the French instructor in NAF high school, runs a strict and very engaging class. I visited his class first period. Although it was early, which usually means lower attendance, the room was over half full at the beginning of the period. Students who came in late mostly joined right into the conversation of the class. Mr. Barnes began with a drill which he displayed for the class on a board at the front. He used the techniques of "No Opt Out" and "Cold Calling" to engage his students. He had a very high expectation for pronunciation which he almost turned into a joke with his humorous mood. He spoke mostly in French and when a student made a mistake, he demanded the phrase or word be repeated correctly. If it was a bigger problem, he had the entire class join into the repetition. He also set expectations and encouraged students before giving an activity, which let them know what to expect and reinforced the fact that they could complete it. He had a great line which I couldn't help but write down: "Empty wagons make a lot of noise." With this line, he told his students, if you don't know anything, you will have a lot to say and disturb my class. With this line and every other behavior, Mr. Barnes demanded attention, participation, and effort. He even had/has me learning a bit of French asking "comment êtes-vous?"
Next up was Mr. Hines, coach of multiple NAF sports and the Gym teacher. The class built on skills taught in earlier classes (scaffolding) to prepare the students for the fun activity, Knockout!, which they were then able to take part in with all their content practice. Immediately upon entering the gym, I remember being surprised by how many students did not change. Why was this? Did they forget clothes to change into? Did they not have the right clothes? Did they not like the unit (basketball)? Was there any real consequence for not participating? When Mr. Hines arrived, one student got a stiff reprimand. This student was on the basketball team. After another day of not changing his clothes, Mr. Hines announced the student would not be able to go to practice until he changed (his clothes and his behavior) and participated in gym class. I viewed this as a great approach. I am all for extra curricular clubs or sports and believe they are necessary for students to fully reach their potential and fully understand themselves. However, I also believe it is ridiculous for a student to fail a class ever, but especially when in an extra curricular club or sport. When I was in high school, the cross country team never had a problem with grades, but later I joined the wrestling team, which was fraught with academic problems.
Finally, came Ms. Suniewick's class for ESOL, ELL, and ESL students. The classroom was one which immersed students in words. Most every object around the classroom had been labeled with its English name. This having an immediate identification of everyday objects is so important in learning a language. This approach is useful for any subject, though. Students need to be immersed in a separate world which has been completely devoted to the subject. If the class is Post-WWII America, every decoration in the room should point towards that topic. If the course is Algebra, there should be examples of Algebra being used throughout the room. The teacher just adds to this even more. Which is why the teacher should be completely invested in their subject and in their content, all the better to underline its importance. This can be taken a step further with another big technique which Ms. Suniewick used: relating content to student's experience. How does Engineering, Technology, Law, and Biology relate to a student's life? Making those connections is key to engaging the student in the classroom.
There will be more shadowing to come.
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