Journal #4-Domain #4-Teaching and Instruction

Describe different ways (strategies) the teacher presents material to the students.

When Ms. Sorensen likes the students to understand where things came from so they don’t just understand what it is, but they also understand the history behind it. For example, their one vocabulary word is gyp. So she looked up and informed the class how gyp sounds like Gypsy and how in 16th century England, Gypsies were known for tricking people out of money.

Also, when she assigns or presents something she always tries to make it relatable to the students. For example, weeks ago when the earthquake in Haiti occurred which suffered the loss of a about a couple hundred thousand people. Ms. Sorensen had was trying to get the students to understand just how large of a loss it was, but they weren’t understanding the analogies she was using. So I jumped in and related it to where most of the children live which is Park Ridge. I said that there are about 36,000 people in Park Ridge; therefore, it is about 6 cities of Park Ridge that would be lost and then it clicked and they were like “Oh wow!” I feel it was easy for me to be able to make that comparison because I had been watching Ms. Sorensen make each lesson relatable to the students.

She also always has a hand out. Giving the students a handout is a good strategy because the handouts allow the students to be able to look back and check if they forgot. She has them store the handouts usually in their binders or composition notebooks to look back at for future reference.


What type of student groupings does the teacher use? (one-on-one, pairs, small groups, whole class?)

Ms. Sorensen uses a variety of different groupings. She often has the students work in small groups at their table. Each table has three to four students. However, she often has students work as a whole class. The only time she works one-on-one with the students is when she discusses their goals for their reading logs every other Friday.

Ms. Sorensen says that she likes having the classroom set up with four students at a table because then she can have assigned seats and have them working in small groups without them having to get up and form groups which they most likely would form with their friends. I have noticed that by having the students work with the kids at their table, the assignments get done faster.


What techniques are used to assess and evaluate learning? Describe any assessment technique you have observed.

I have seen many assessments. Ms. Sorensen has given out quizzes, homework, reading logs, and journal entries. Some of the assessments are graded were as other assignments are just checked off to see if they’re completed. For example, the journal entries are sometimes graded with a point scale; however, other times she just checks off if they wrote something.


What are you learning about this age group?

From observing I have learned that these 7th graders are very concerned about minor details. For example, if they forget something in their locker, they are very concerned and need to run out to their lockers right away. I think that is interesting because Ms. Sorensen is very relaxed and always allows the students to go in the hall to get something they forgot.
Also, I learned that kids are very concerned about their friends. I have observed several cliques and some kids who are more loners. When I asked them what they like to do outside of school all of them said hang out with friends. Also, one student Gary said one of the main reasons he likes coming to school is because he gets to see his friends. Furthermore, I thought it was interesting that some of the students have been caught texting in class, and some of the students have talked about how they are on Facebook. I feel like they should be too young to be texting their friends and too young to be on Facebook. I guess I just have to accept that times are changing as technology advances!


What do students enjoy and dislike most?

When I went around interviewing students the majority of them said that overall they like English class, but they don’t like everything about it. They really like to read and tell the class about the outside books they’re reading. Michelle said that she likes to read because of the reading logs assessment. She said that she probably wouldn’t read as much as she does if it wasn’t for the reading logs. They dislike the vocabulary quizzes and some of the journal entries. This girl Alex said she finds the quizzes and journals to be overwhelming. “Sometimes Ms. Sorensen assigns too many words and it’s hard to remember all of them. And then she also has us do journal entries and it’s just really overwhelming,” said Alex.

Outside of class students have a variety of activities they enjoy doing. One girl Michelle is on the volleyball team. Another boy Tim just got the lead part in the school play.


Do you see technology being used in the classroom?

No, since I started observing I haven’t seen Ms. Sorensen use technology at all. Emerson is a very fortunate school with a lot of technology. Like I said in my first journal, the classroom has computers, television, and projectors. Therefore, I feel that in a way it is disappointing that Ms. Sorensen hasn’t incorporated any technology into her lessons. Even the whiteboards and chalkboards aren’t ever used. Her lessons are very basic and very routine. She often has handouts that the she or the students then go over aloud.



From observing in Ms. Sorensen’s room I have learned a lot about teaching and the instruction. Ms. Sorensen has a lot of teaching experience and knows a lot. She has great lesson plans that are well prepared. When I went around the room talking to students all of them had good things to say. None of them said they felt completely lost or confused. All of them believed the lessons were planned well and that they felt like they were prepared for a test, project, or even just a simple homework assignment. When I talked with Ms. Sorensen about how she is able to achieve this I understood that it all relates to how she teaches her class. I have observed and learned that she does a lot of what Maniates discusses in the text Teach our children well: Essential strategies for the urban classroom. First of all, Ms. Sorensen keeps the student’s engaged. Like I stated previously, she makes the assignments or discussions relatable to the students. Maniates’ writes: “Children’s interests and need to know motivate learning and their lived daily experiences and natural curiosity give the teachers open avenues for making classroom work meaningful” (83). Furthermore, Ms. Sorensen asks “probing questions” (87). When working on D.O.L if a student has trouble she doesn’t just give up on the student after the first try. She continues to ask them questions about it or questions that will give answers that will help to solve the problem. Furthermore, when other students try to chime in and give the answer, she reassures the class and the student that is having trouble that she believes in them and that they can do it on their own.