Lisa Hook
History 411
Professor Pollard
4/15/04
Classroom Observation
“Seminar” Seventh Grade World History Class Observation
Upon entering Ms. Anne Gramm's seventh grade class, I was overwhelmed by the energy being emitted throughout the class. The first class that I observed in is called “seminar.” This is a term coined to students who are high achievers, but have not been classified GATE (Gifted and Talented Education). The students were learning about China and the Zhou, the Sui and the Tang Dynasties. Ms. Gramm first went over the names of the dynasties and how to pronounce them in addition to spelling them. She was very energetic and her voice fluctuates to keep the attention of the students. After explaining a few terms that the students would encounter in their reading, she had each student take a text book from a stack of books in the center of the desks. She gave the students about ten minutes to start reading the chapter eight on China. The name of the textbook is Across the Centuries by the Houghton Mifflin Company.
She only allowed ten minutes of individual reading and then moved on to the next activity. The name of the activity was “Challenges of Imperial Rule.” She captivated the students by first having certain students put the books away and having the rest of the class clear their desks of everything. She then made an announcement that the class is very lucky because they have a visitor in their class today, Emperor Beetle! Emperor Beetle is a student named Jeffrey. On each group of desks she placed a table tent that said “Province” and a letter a-e. She had everyone leave their seats and gather around Emperor Beetle who was sitting on his throne in the front of the class. Emperor Beetle was given a sheet of paper with a script on it of what he was to say and do. He called the group to order and appointed five chancellors of the different provinces. Ms. Gramm gave the rest of the class a sheet of paper with their script on it. There were three groups of people under the chancellors. They were either wealthy people, relatives of the Emperor, or scholars. He then gave the chancellors their task. They were to hear each of the three groups' arguments on why they would be the best group to rule under the Emperor. There was a wealthy person, a relative, and a scholar for each province. Ms. Gramm interrupted at this point to further explain their assignment. She mentioned that each of the wealthy, scholars and relatives were to present their arguments (on the paper) for why they would be the best group for the job. After hearing their arguments, the chancellors were to report back to the Emperor on who they thought would be the best suited for the job. After hearing the arguments, the chancellors reported back to the Emperor, all felt that the scholars were best suited for the job. Emperor Beetle then made a proclamation that the scholars would be the group to rule. After the activity was over, Ms. Gramm had the students return to their seats to write in their interactive notebook. They were to answer a series of debriefing questions based on the activity. This is where she could check for comprehension. A few questions were: 1.How did it feel to be ? (what ever role they were) 2. How did the Emperor choose the chancellors? 3. What were the arguments for the scholars? The wealthy? The relatives? 4. How did you feel about the Emperor's decision? 5. In your own opinion, who do you think should have been chosen? 6. Under what circumstances do you think that choosing would be better? 7. How was this activity not accurate? These questions were intended to have the students reflect on what they just experienced and to show their comprehension.
Ms. Gramm then had Julie Wade (also observing in the same class) and another visitor and I grade their notebooks. We were checking for comprehension and complete, grammatical sentences. Through reading these notebooks, I was astonished at the content that was in these journals. The sentences were not only complete, but eloquently written. Even though Ms. Gramm briefly went over the answers to the questions before having the students answer them, only a few children wrote verbatim what Ms. Gramm said. Most of the students incorporated their own flair and opinion into their responses.
My overall impression of the first class that I watched was that I was impressed! I was impressed by the enthusiasm for history, the energy the students possessed as well as the teachers. In addition, I was impressed with the amount of understanding and learning taking place in Ms. Gramm's class. She inspires the students to become historians.
“Gifted” Seventh Grade World History Class Observation
During the passing period, Ms. Gramm was commenting on her next class, “These kids will drive you crazy!” I was not sure exactly what she meant when she first said that, but then I recalled that the second class I was to observe in was for the gifted and talented (GATE) children. Ms. Gramm then informed me that these children scored in the 99 percentile on their standardized tests. I then knew exactly what Ms. Gramm was saying; these children are the cream of the crop and will amaze me with their intelligence.
I learned this very rapidly as the students all filed in the classroom taking their appropriate seats. The conversations these children were having about Copernicus and the effects of economy in Western Europe during the Renaissance period were amazing. AS they sat in their seats, they already knew what they were to be doing, getting their research out and their assignment packet. The way they knew to do this was through Ms. Gramm's weekly work strips. This is an agenda that they put in their notebooks that has what they will be doing in class every day, as well as their homework. Ms. Gramm called for their attention, which was immediately granted to her. Then she explained that in order to be true historians, when conducting research, they must cite everything exactly the way that Chicago style says to. She sounded just like Professor Pollard at that moment! She first explained that she wanted their research on notecards, explaining that this in effective way to have all of the research in one place and that they can rearrange the order of their research (or discard) very easily. Then she explained what kind of sources they can have: primary (which are the best), secondary, and tertiary. After explaining that, she left them with a rule of thumb about quoting sources, “for every line of a quote, write two of your own lines.” She then showed them books that they could be using for their research paper and let them loose to do their research.
During this time, I took the opportunity to look at all of the student work on the walls. For each project on the wall, in the middle of all the projects was a brightly colored laminated paper with the content standard that the project fulfilled. This way the students know what they are to be getting out of the assignment, and it helps her cover all the areas that she is supposed to by law. Ms. Gramm told us that when students ask what they are going to be tested on, she tells them to look at the standards because the test will be about that information. During this time, I also asked a few children what their topics were. One response was: How the pirates affected the economy of Western Europe. Another was about Copernicus and his basic exploration in astronomy. I also asked one girl about her internet sources (many of them were using). I asked if they have learned how to find a credible internet source. She told me that they learned that in sixth grade (last year).
This project is a project they have been working on for a couple days already and still have two weeks before it is due. They are to ultimately write a five page research paper about the topic they have chosen. After giving the students twenty minutes of research, she had them all take their seats.
She then explained that they would be going on a walking tour of Florence, Italy. This was an interactive, group activity. Around the room there were different stations set up where the groups would have to complete a certain activity before moving on to the next. There were about eight centers. Each student had a packet with a map of Florence on it. They were to trace their route through the town by marking where they went on their map. I observed one group read cards that were for that assignment and then answer questions about what they read. This was about Dante's Inferno. The card talked about the different writings of the time. On the worksheet in their packet, they were to match the quote from one of the writings of the time, to what they learned about the different writings. Then I watched another group work on the sculpture of David. They were to draw in their packets the two different perceptions of David from two different artists.
This assignment is one that they do for each area they study. It seemed to me that they were learning a civilization by civilization way in one sense, but then they seemed to be multitasking by doing other projects at the same time. The students really enjoyed the walking tours because it gave them an opportunity to discover things they did not know and to act as if they were actually in that country (looking at the map). They were learning, but not straight out of a textbook, which engages them more than solely reading.
I really benefited from observing in Ms. Gramms classes because I saw what Professor Pollard has always said to us about creating an environment that is friendly for all different kinds of learners. She also incorporated the content standards and the skill standards in her class by providing many different opportunities to learn.