Observations

What:

I observed many things during my three observations in two different ninth grade United States History one classes at Central Falls High School. I could go on and on about important details like class size, activities that were done in class, how the room was set up, and so on. However, the “what” that stuck out to me the most during my observations was that during each class there was always at least one or more students that were not doing and refused to do their work.  This is something I also struggled with while teaching my two lessons. There are many questions that can be asked of the student who does not want to do their work.

So What:

            This is an important issue that needs to be discussed because it is something that I’m sure every teacher has to deal with at some point in his or her career. There will always be students who do not want to and refuse to do their work. There are many questions to ask here. Why is this student not doing their work? Do they not understand what is being asked? Are they not proficient enough to complete the work? Do they need extra help or differentiation to complete the work? Do they simply not want to do the work because it is not fun? There are endless questions than can be asked on why a student may not want to complete their work. So how can we address these questions and get the student or students who do not want to complete their work to become interested and engaged?

Now What:

            How can these students who are not willing to participate and are being overlooked be motivated? This is something I struggled with when I was teaching my two lessons. There were a few students each time that would not do their work. I was going around to each student to make sure they understood what they were doing, had everything they needed, and answer any questions. Whenever I got to one of these students I would ask them, “Why aren’t you doing your work?” Some students didn’t have a pen so I got them a pen. Still they wouldn’t do their work. I would ask them to try their best and do as much as they could before the end of the period. Still, they would not do their work. I realized at this point that I was not really sure how to deal with a student who refused to do their work.

It was extremely difficult for me to get these students motivated. I was trying my best but they still would not cooperate. Also, since I only had two lessons to get to know these students and get them engaged this was an extremely difficult task. Had I been able to spend more time with these students and teach more than two lessons to them I would have tried different class activities with them to try and get them more interested and excited about learning. I would have loved to try some type of cooperative learning lesson with them. Perhaps this would have gotten them excited about learning and motivated. I think that building relationships with students is also an important part of student engagement. I would try to set up a safer classroom environment. Students need to feel as though they are in a safe environment where they can take risks and I’m not sure if these students felt that way in the classroom that I observed and taught in. Overall, I think that this is a common and difficult problem that all teachers including myself will need to address at some point in their career. In my future career as a teacher I never want to let students like this go unnoticed and I will try my best to make sure that all students are actively engaged, participating, and doing their work.