YUZON, Danna Mae T.

Final Class
Observation Critique
EDL 231 Prof. Romylyn Metila

Class and Teachers Observed: 9 - Iron / Willian Joy Lim and Ynah Valerie Walde
Time: 1:30 3:00 PM
Lesson Outline:
I. Motivation: Students were given their own flight boarding pass. The teacher
says that the students are about to embark on a journey as they go through the
lesson. They were then asked to complete a statement: It would be ____________
to live ____________ in a world with no adults because ____________.
II. Motivation Question: What will it be like to live in a world with no adults?
III. Activating Prior Knowledge / Pre- reading: A tree graphic organizer was
posted and there was a review on some major characters and events in their
novel The Lord of the Flies. Sample sentences were lifted from the information on
the graphic organizer. Students identified the signal words used in those
sentences then they were asked to get more signal words under their chairs and
post them on the board under their correct headings / labels (informal, neutral or
formal).
IV. Presentation of Grammar Form / While reading: Students were asked to
read two paragraphs about the novel and for each paragraph, they identified
what specific way of developing a cause and effect paragraph is used (through
fill-in-the-blanks).
V. Post Reading / Free Practice: The group activity was given. For each group,
there is a pair of pictures which they need to interpret then they will write a cause
and effect paragraph on it using an appropriate way of writing it (either
sequential or graded value) and also signal words. After the time allotment given,
the groups presented and the teachers alternately processed the each groups
work by asking question/s which reflect a major theme in the novel.
VI. Assignment: The students were asked to write a cause and effect paragraph on
the motivation question that was initially given in class.
VII. Wrapping Up: The students shared what they learned and afterwards, a quote
which generalizes the value objectives of the lesson was read.

Trades that make a Teacher: A Class Observation

Critique for 9-Iron
When a person knows how to do many things but cannot specialize on just
one, it may be
common to hear that he / she is a jack of all trades, master of none. But for
teachers, this is not always true since aside from the fact that they can do a lot of
things or take different roles, they also make sure that they do those with utmost
dedication and expertise. They manage to do so because they are able to organize
well or plan how they will be utilizing their skills and resources to maximize the
time, effort, and energy that they spend. Literally speaking, this kind of managing
thingsof becoming a master of various thingscan also be seen much in a regular
class when the teacher teaches and her / his students learn. And without the
capacity to organize and plan things well, it would indeed be hard to manage the
many different things that happen in just one class period. This is why teachers who
can skillfully speak, listen, read, write, think, relate, interact, entertain and many
more all at once in a single class period is definitely becoming not just a jack, but a
master of the unique trades that exist in a class. The good thing is teachers like
those are real and the ones I observed, Ms. Walde and Ms. Lim in 9-Iron class have
exhibited those qualities naturally as they taught the students how to develop a
cause and effect paragraph using the novel Lord of the Flies.

The first aspect that shows their expertise is on the preparation and
utilization of instructional materials. Clearly seen in their table set-up, whiteboard,
and TV monitor, everything has been well prepared and there were no technical
glitches throughout the flow of the lesson. The visual aids which include the
Powerpoint presentation, tree graphic organizer and signal words (strips of paper)
are all presentable and visible to the whole class. There were no typographical
errors. The flight boarding pass was already catchy as they started their lesson
because it really looks like a ticket and one could get the kind of feeling that he /
she is going to travel somewhere as the lesson ensues. The tree graphic organizer
served as a good starting point to not just activate the schema of the students on
the novel but also foreshadow what the lesson will be about (since apparently, in
the group activity, one of the graphic organizers used was also a tree graphic
organizer). Students clearly see the connection between and among their answers
which the teacher writes on the tree since towards the end, they confirmed that the
one written on the roots correspond to the causes and the fruits are the effects. It
was easy to remind them about the meaning of result and reason or cause and
effect. From there, the teachers were able to further maximize the visual and the
answers as they also asked students to give sentences about it. Although no one
answered, the teacher still eagerly gave her own sample sentence and the students
were asked to identify the signal word used to show the cause and effect
relationship in the sentence. It was also a plus factor that the signal words were
under the chairs of the students because it made them move and somehow stirred
their energy. However, the signal words could have had different colors for one
category. Although the teachers may have a reason why they were color coded
(perhaps to save time), still, in order to maximize the opportunity, they could not
have been color coded. In that way, the students will really think about the answers.
When the teacher checks and some answers will be wrong, it is another opportunity
to make the students realize the correct answer. Nevertheless, the signal words
were definitely given distinctions and the lesson progressed from there. Its helpful
too that the way the teachers write on the board is organized (from left to right) and
each of the Powerpoint slides correspond to a particular part of the lesson. Students
therefore can follow the pace of the lesson well.

Another trade they were able to master is their classroom

management. Both teachers were able to implement their lesson smoothly despite
the not so active participation of the students. Ms. Walde managed to elicit answers
from a (quite) passive class. Simple questions like Are you still listening 9-Iron?
rather than clich imperatives like Keep quiet do affect them more. Also, instead
of directly telling them to keep quiet, Ms. Walde asks the other side (the noisy one)
if they heard what their classmate from the other side of the class said. It was a
brief question and answer way of reminding them to listen and participate in the
class discussion. I find it as an apt and useful technique for their grade level
because they are already in the upper year. The statements and questions are quite
indirect so when they decode what it means, it somehow works. Its like conveying a
message that if you are an intellectual, you will understand what this means so you
will listen / participate. Students tend to behave like this when its already time for
group presentations. It seems like only half of the class actually listened to the
presenters, but still, with the consistent reminders of the teacher, that part was
made productive. The teachers alternately processed the work of each group. If I
were a student in 9 Iron class, I would have been so eager to answer the questions
which the teacher/s posed in class. The questions themselves are interesting and
they really make one think and reflect about certain issues in life which remain
unanswered. The questions really challenge ones way of thinking about the text
and reality or the world too. The teachers are able to construct simple questions
which can be easily understood but quite challenging and motivating to answer.
Students have no excuse about not being able to answer because the pictures
assigned for each group are flashed on screen and the main question / theme per
group is also shown. There were just certain instances when the teacher, Ms. Lim
could have maximized the use of space when it is her turn to process the
presentation of a group. At one point, she just stayed in front (right side) of the
room the whole time she was trying to draw answers. I do not mean to say that she
must roam around but at least, she could have moved a little or closer to the middle
part of the room or to the other side at times to further invite students to
participate. For a good reason, proxemics works in class set-ups like that when the
seating arrangement is U-like. When a teacher is near to the students and she
encourages them to join the discussion at hand, they would most likely respond.

But since teachers like her is spontaneously good at all the other trades in
class which include turn-taking and the teachers personality (among others), the
lesson objectives were achieved. Firstly, the whole flow of the lesson is very
organized. The transitions were clear and there was just enough emphasis for each
part. There is also an active coordination between the two of them as partner
teachers. Lastly, because of their professionally pleasing, friendly personality and
confidence to interact with their students, they were respected. They were able to
end the lesson properly and with the same level of creativity (by presenting a
striking quote) which they showed in the beginning (by giving flight boarding
passes). Of course they did and other true teachers will also do. After all, teachers
are jacks and masters of different teaching-learning trades in their own classrooms.