My teacher has the respect of many of his students. It seems that they generally enjoy working with him and listening to him, so classroom management isn’t really too much of a problem. Once in awhile he will have a bunch of students who are talking or generally are unruly, but he doesn’t have an issue quieting them down. All he has to do is tell them to be quiet and they listen. Cell phone use is continually a problem for most of the students in this class and generally in this school, probably high schools in general. My teacher has genuinely earned their respect, and we don’t see too much of it while the teachers are speaking.
Who talks?
While teaching in ICT, my teacher is generally quiet, offering anecdotes here and there according to the specific curriculum that is being studied. When he teaches alone, he speak a lot. Going off powerpoint slides, he explains each bullet point in detail as the students are writing. Before introducing a new bullet, he poses a questions to the students to have them become engaged in the learning process. He calls on students who raise their hands as well as those who don’t. He makes sure that everyone has a voice and often accepts multiple answers for the same question. He doesn’t stop when he gets the right answer.
Expectations for learning?
Students are expecting to engage in class discussions and are encouraged to do so. My teacher always tells them that there is no right or wrong answer as long as they can back up what they say. This makes for interesting discussions between the students, furthering along their learning.
Criteria for success?
Students are expected to be able to answer a few regents questions based on the lesson they learned prior. They also are expected to answer document based questions, further establishing their inquiry and reasoning. Writing skills are also strengthened with the help of the teacher. He always encourages students to ask questions and is always willing to help. He always says there is no such thing as a stupid question.
Pacing?
The first ten minutes of class are pretty hectic, as there is no time in between periods. Students are expected to sit and complete a “Do Now” activity, usually some documents from the day before or another question that connects to the lesson. Sometimes there is a writing activity based on the previous day's lesson. The teacher then goes over that activity and ties it into the powerpoint lesson on the board. How he discusses bullet points was pointed out above in a previous prompt. There are questions posed to the students before every component of the lesson.
