Science Teacher Observation

Observing A Biology Class Just After Lunch

I chose a science teacher to observe that I had the opportunity to have lunch with in the faculty room during my time at Dover. The teacher taught biology and anatomy classes. During 3rd period I would be able to observe her biology course just after they got back from lunch. This provided a great opportunity to see her classroom management.

The teacher was energetic, and loud, very similar to my teaching style. I got the opportunity to see which students were feeding off of her energy and which students were pushed away from it. Her class began with a bell ringer on study island, new content on genetic engineering with guided notes, and finished up with a worksheet assignment on schoology.

I was saddened when I discussed with her that the school had asked for labs to be pushed off until after the keystones to meet all of the anchors on the test prior to the testing window. Additionally, she cut content that was relevant to biology but not included on the keystone exams. She mentioned that she felt rigid in what she could and could not do based solely off of the keystone. 

Despite this worry, I could tell she retains her passion to be a positive influence on her students. This was evident in her discussions with them and how she chose to discipline her students for break rules or not focusing without being overbearing. 

I wish I had the time to observe her 4th period anatomy course because she mentioned she had the space to be more creative with her content and assessments to aid her students in learning. I found an example of one of her student's projects on the anatomy of the human brain! I hope to use these idea in animal anatomy in the future!