Observation # 3

When I went for my third observation, it was of a Spanish II level classroom and the activity for the day was to do activities on the computer on a website that was associated with the textbook. When the students entered the room, each of them sat at a computer and waited for further instructions from their teacher. The class began, and the teacher directed the students to the website they would be using. It is a website they have previously used, so they know what to expect. The problems that this class faced, is that right away the computers were slow and not able to upload the activities on the website. This problem ended up wasting a lot of time in the beginning of the class, when the students should have already been working on their own on the computer. This frustrated the teacher, but she is used to it and tells me that this school doesn’t value technology and doesn’t want to use their budget money for it. This lack of modern technology is the cause of these types of issues.

            Once the computers started to work and load the activities the students got started on the task at hand. They had to be quieted down quite a few times, because the noise level started to increase. The teacher walked around to see if anyone needed help and many students had trouble staying on task. I found that many of the students did not read the assignment sheet and were doing completely different activities, which were then corrected by the teacher. Overall half the class seemed to be on task and the other half seemed to be lost or not doing the assignment. The students who were doing the assignment correctly, were praised by the teacher. Then towards the end of the class the teacher gave them their homework for the next class and the students left when class ended.

            I think that the lack of classroom management was on the part of the students and computers, and not so much the teacher. The teacher had the assignment planned, but the problems with technology held the class back a little. It seemed that this group of children had trouble staying on task as well, and that puts them at a disadvantage because they are responsible for their own work and completing the activities online in the time they are given.