Middle School Observation
By John Arma III
Middle School Observation
My observing at Hamilton Middle was nothing like I was expecting to be. Compared to my elementary observation it was boring as all heck, I disliked the middle school scene. Who's to say if all middle schools are like that, but I do not want to be the one to find out. Every class I attended was set up the same way, taught the same way,and seem to have the same type of kids in each class. This report will probably seem boring to an outgoing, fun, exuberant person such as yourself, but i'll try.
Mr. Liss's Class
On my first day I spent time in Mr. John Liss's classroom. He teaches Social Studies to all grades and has been teaching for 4 years. He actually took your Intro class at Butler. As I observed through a few of his classes they all were doing the same assignment, which was working on their DBQ's (document based questions) with one main question being, "was the US justified in going to war with Mexico?" All he did was stand in front of the class lecture and ask question. It was sad because none of the kids were answering or asking questions, none really looked engaged, and none really seem to want to learn. It was so uneventful I almost feel asleep. The room had as much energy as a funeral. I had one interaction with a student, and it was to ask me if I was John's dad. I even tried to engaged, but the kids looked at me like I speaking alien. It was a very disappointing start to my day.
Mrs. Brooks Class
After spending 3 boring hours in social studies I was really looking forward to going to Mrs. Brooks 8th grade math class. Boy was I wrong it was just as bad as Mr. Liss's class maybe worse. Mrs. Brooks is a retired sergeant in the Air Force, and I believed that she would have a well behaved class. Wrong again. Her kids talked out of turn were up walking around the class it was complete chaos.
As for Mrs.Brooks teaching it was same as Mr. Liss. It must be a Hamilton guide line to stand at the front, or sit, and teach a few things then let the kids try and answer. I tried to ask if I could help, but was told I was there to observe. She did let the kids pair up and work together when working on problems. They were working on slope-intercept formula something I enjoy and know about. Towards the end of my time in her class Mrs. Brooks was called to the office and I did have a few kids come ask me some questions about the work. That was my most enjoyable part of my time there so far.
Mr. Allen's Class
I was really looking forward to a new day, new class, and new environment, because my first day was not at all enjoyable. Mr. Allen has been teaching for 10 years and is teaching 8th grade Literacy Tier II Intervention. As i walked into the class the chairs were lined all around the walls with the middle wide open. This was because this class usually works on computers, but the day I observed the school was doing assessment testing and had to borrow their computers. Instead of the kids working on their computers each of the class periods I was in got to listen to book on tape. BORING!!! During the first class I was in must have been the class for all the bad kids, due to the fact there were two fights and multiple PBR's (public behavior report) wrote up. One student in the class kept saying the teacher was racist to Mexicans which was not true at all by what I seen. The same kid kept saying he was Mexican American, so I sat down with him and tried to explain to him that if he was born in America, which he was, that makes him an American Mexican not the other way around. After a bit he started to come around and said he understood. It was nice to talk to a student that was not well behaved and seem to influence him for the better. Out of my 10 hours at Hamilton Mr.Allen's class was by far the least boring, don't get me wrong it was not even close to being as enjoyable as observing at Muller elementary.
MY TIME AT HAMILTON
My overall experience at Hamilton was extremely not enjoyable, and this was very sad to me because I went to Hamilton for 3 years and really enjoyed it. I asked if the teachers had a set way they had to teach and they said no. It was crazy how each of the teachers taught alike. I will not make a decision on teaching at the middle school level by this experience, i'm sure I would make it fun wherever I go.