4.2 Middle School Observation 3

This past month I had the wonderful opportunity to observe Mrs.Hartzell fourth grade science class for one last time. Sadly, this was my last observation in Southside Middle School. As I reflect back on my time in Middle School, I have realized that I learned so many new things that I didn't know before. Observing has always brought new insights to what my future is going to look like, so I have always enjoyed the opportunities that this class has offered me.

Mrs. Hartzell, as always, did an amazing job involving different resources within her curriculum. During this observation she involved writing journals about what the students learned during this lesson. I thought that this was a great way to evaluate whether or not the students understand what was taught. This writing assignment was on a closed Google Form, which I always love when teachers involve technology in their classroom. This also helps the students practice their typing skills, and writing skills, which goes hand-in-hand with English and typing classes. Mrs.Hartzell involved reading passages about the weather that had questions, she read the article, answered two of the questions as a class, worked one with their table tops, and answered the rest on their own. This was a great example of teacher example, group work, and then independent work. In my Education Technology class we learn that it is very important to involve these aspects in every lesson that you teach.

My greatest takeaway from this observation, was having multiple things for the students to work on and not focusing on one thing the whole time. The kids in that class are young so it is important to involve multiple things in a lesson so the class stays focused. I have been taught that you only hold a kid's attention for the number of minutes to their age. So if a student is 10 you will only hold that kids attention for about 10 minutes. Mrs.Hartzel made sure that she was switching things up to keep her students attention. 

In conclusion, I had a wonderful time observing this class. While my time of observations has come to an end, I have thoroughly enjoyed my time that I have gotten. I have had the chance to observe wonderful teachers, and amazing classes. These observations definitely help with my future. I loved getting to observe Mrs.Hartzell, and I will forever be thankful for getting to change to observe her class.