Howdy everyone!
I want to share with you what I observed at Monnet International School today.
I didn’t have any luck today! As usual, I boarded a bus and sat comfortably because I was confident I would arrive at school on time. My smartphone with turned-on GPS and Google Maps is always in my hands because Warsaw is a large metropolis. I checked the phone to make sure I was going in the right direction, and guess what, I was! But, the bus abruptly altered its course and never returned to its original one. I got off the bus as soon as I noticed it! I had to walk for 13 minutes to get to the right bus station, according to my updated route calculations on Google Maps. I had to take an Uber, which I did, in order to arrive on time. The Uber driver had to change his course twice due to maintenance on the road, and the second time, the road was closed. Eventually, I was forced to exit the Uber and walk all the way to school due to a traffic jam.
The first class that I observed was 1A. There were 13 students. The class was about the History of Things. The teacher performed very well and she really impressed me! She started with a warm-up and asked the students if they are ready to start the class or not. During the warm-up part, she triggered students’ minds to the last class by asking some reasonable questions and preparing them for the new lesson. After getting everything ready, and setting the students on the right path, she started an activity and made up groups in order to introduce her lesson. Throughout the activity, she was walking around them and cooperated with the students. The activity’s instruction was clear enough and I noticed everyone understood her. After the deadline she had set for the activity, she revises the outcome using the board. After the introduction, she moved to the lesson presentation part. She started another group activity with well-explained instructions, in the course of it, she was supportive and cooperative, moreover, she checked the answers of all the students individually and the result of the tasks that groups were assigned. She ended her class with another activity. I could see that the activity’s aims were to get feedback from the students and evaluate them.
Overall, I can say the teacher was supportive and helpful, and she explained every element in detail and tried to repeat and provide more explanations to low-level students. The aims of the class were to let the students being able to understand that things need to be developed and they have stages. %95 of the communication was in the English language, meanwhile, she used some Polish too. In terms of students’ engagement, they were well engaged. Concerning scaffolding and differentiation, almost the same for all of the students except for more explanation for some students. To wrap up this class’s observation, I am letting you know that the element of assessment was Self-assessment.
The second class that I visited was 3A. There were 14 students. The teacher wanted to explain time and teach the students how to ask and answer about time. She started the class with greetings and asked about their feelings, but I think it was not necessary since it was not her first class with them and she lost some time! To deliver the message of the lesson, she started drawing a clock on the board and explained the lesson. Basically, she explained everything concerning time. Her explanations were enough and clear, also she provided many examples. Throughout her presentation, she tried to engage the students in the presentation part by asking them questions. After that, she started an activity using cards for practicing the topic. She gathered the students and made a seated circle. In the course of the activity, she encouraged the students to participate and be active. She was supportive and fruitful. I have to admit that she did her best with the students but overall, she was not successful in delivering that class. She had no control over the class and could manage the time and students, and I believe it happened because of the students. The students were very naughty and did not care about the class, the teacher, and even the administration. Moreover, their English language proficiency level was not good enough. To get control back, she tried to inform them if they keep going like that, she will inform the administration, then they should deal with them, but they did not care at all. The class’s aim was telling time. She communicated in English language only but the students’ level was good enough to comprehend and receive the signals. As I mentioned before, the engagement rate was not enough and I can say it was 4 out of 10. Regarding scaffolding, there was nothing at all excluding different and more explanations for students. In terms of elements of assessment, I could not notice!
That was all about today’s observation and my story reaching the school! I wish you have enjoyed the post.
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