Instructor: April Melody-Tan

Site: Heady 0272, Iowa State University

Class observed: English 150

Date: September 14th, 2018        

Time:1:10 – 2:10 pm

Lesson topic(s): Mission statements, Fallacies of an essay, key components of Assignment 3, MLA citations, plagiarism and paraphrasing texts.  

Peer: Shamini Shetye

Principles taught in the class

The class focussed on overviewing the mission and vision of Iowa State University(ISU), analyzing an essay to understand the purpose and audience, describing the requirements of Assignment 3, and taking steps to avoid plagiarism. The rationale for teaching these principles at this point in the semester was since Assignment #3: Exploring Campus Program or Organization was going to be a research-based assignment, it was important to introduce learning research techniques. Moreover, since they had to choose a campus program or organization whose mission and goals aligned with those of ISU’s, it was crucial for them to have a clear understanding of the mission, vision, and goals of ISU.

Methods/Materials used to teach the concepts and curricular coherence

To help students understand that an essay should cater to a particular audience with a specific purpose, April distributed copies of a sample essay and divided the class to work in small groups of three (or at times four) to identify: the purpose, the audience and the elements of the essay that distracted the audience’s attention. Guiding students to pinpoint the fallacies of an essay, in my perspective was a remarkable strategy to aid them to avoid repeating the mistakes they identified. This methodology of citing key factors lacking in an essay was something that I felt was worth exploring in my own classroom. Pointing out the elements of a weak essay could help students grasp concepts effectively as compared to providing examples of best essays. 

Coupled with that strategy, allowing students to work in small groups proved beneficial to involve every student in a critical thinking task and it seemed easier to monitor these small groups. In my class, I had divided students into groups of five or six, and the limitation to having bigger groups is that some students shy away from participating and from providing their opinions. Certainly, after observing her class, I thought small group size mostly of three students and not exceeding four worked well for a class with approximately 24 students and students felt less intimidated to share their insights. 

Besides the handouts(copies of a sample essay), April used powerpoint slides to teach the basics of MLA citations and to address the prompt of Assignment 3. Considering the large physical space of the room, the use of a Powerpoint presentation even to explain the criteria of the assignment helped students to focus on the big projector screen. Slides with a colorful theme and visuals added another dimension and effectively retained students’ attention for a long period. The powerpoints could also be saved and used later to reiterate some concepts taught. Consequently, using powerpoints slides to explain even basic concepts is something that  I thought would benefit my early morning classroom too because students seem to have a limited attention span at that hour of the day.

Additionally, the instructor used an innovative way to captivate students’ attention at the beginning of the class. After enthusing students with lively music to commence the class, a question: “If you were the ruler of the world what would be your goal/mission?” displayed on a projector screen captivated students’ attention and made them think about the prompt for a minute or so. The students then volunteered taking turns to answer the question. Students were later given a moment to see how it would tie in with ISU’s mission statement. For homework assignments, students also had to work with the thesis for Assignment #3, and explain how their campus organizations’ goals would align with the goals of ISU. The coherence of the lesson was clearly evident when the instructor was able to show a connection to students while transitioning from each activity to the subsequent one. Thus observing April’s lesson plan offered another way of asking questions to make connections between activities, and I can adopt her style as well since I felt mine was too feeble.  

Classroom dynamics and ways the instructor dealt with problems

To my amazement, I found the classroom very lively and energetic, compared to the quiet and serious atmosphere in my classroom. Before the class commenced, the instructor played some light music suggested by students. The instructor took attendance as each student answered the prompt to the question posed on the screen. If students entered late, the focus was drawn on them and they had to answer the question on the spot. Overall, the classroom setting appeared informal and students seemed to be interacting with each other in a jovial way. 

Notwithstanding some of the successful methods and ways the instructor employed to elicit students’ attention to her teaching, there were some issues that April had to deal with. There were a few students who seemed to be bashful and not willing to volunteer to answer the first question that April had posed to the class. April in an enthusiastic tone called out their names and encouraged them by providing a few pointers like: “What conditions in the third world countries impact you the most, and what would you do to improve their situation?”  to elicit responses from them.  Another interesting aspect was that while students worked in small groups, April involved me as a member of one of the groups, and made my presence a benefit to the classroom than having me just idle and observe the classroom. Deciding where students should conglomerate for their small-group discussion was another strategic factor to allow quiet students to be sitting in the front of the class where she could monitor them and encourage them to talk. I have already been assigning strategic seating as per Dr. Tremmel’s advice but also having the observer participate would involve another set of radar eyes of to know if there would be any problems that the instructor does not notice. 

Post-observation discussion and implementation of effective strategies in my classroom

Observing April’s class paved a way and turned out to be a monumental step to change the dynamics of my classroom. After the class, an immediate discussion with April about why she incorporated some methods or techniques revealed a deeper understanding of students’ learning styles. Her explanation that students need to have some fun moments and should be able to perceive the classroom material as something that they can relate to in their daily lives was convincing. By posing questions that would make them step in the shoes of a real leader, instrumental in changing the world, would actually motivate them to think and choose an organization whose goals would align with the mission and vision of Iowa State University. Thus adapting to their styles and adopting techniques to make them participate in learning would result in bringing forth their creative and sincere efforts in the tasks they accomplish.

A need to change my mindset about my students’ learning styles was the first thought that struck me after I observed April’s teaching. I definitely needed to think outside the box and nurture their styles and creativity in a way that would be innovative yet pertinent to the assignments of English 150. Students belonging to this new era need enrichment or different styles to challenge their ways of learning and thinking. After learning from April that students need to enjoy the learning process, I included some games in my lesson plans that would engage them in the classroom. Introducing competitive games in small groups brought life in my early morning classroom that seemed dead for so long. Students looked forward to participating and volunteering than they had ever shown before in the classroom. Having small groups compete with lively discussions and debates about why the thesis of one group is clear and succinct and also helped them understand them to grasp certain fundamentals more deeply. Their smiles and laughs reassured that they enjoyed this kind of learning activity.

Creating a friendlier and invigorating atmosphere was something that was certainly needed in my classroom. My class in the initial few weeks seemed so quiet and tense, that cultivating students’ interests in learning and inculcating a sense of belonging transformed classroom dynamics to a great extent. Adopting April’s style of adding some music/jokes that could relate to them was another successful and effective technique that helped enthuse students. Students were not afraid to raise questions in a jovial way. Posing intriguing questions and giving them authority over some aspects of material allowed their creativity to proliferate and bonded them to their peers. An intergroup brochure/poster competition(conducted among small groups) exemplified the way students interact with each other in a jovial yet competitive way(using the fundamental techniques learned in the classroom to create brochures/posters) and seemed to be the best one that students enjoyed.

Overall, observing April’s class was very productive for me and instrumental for orchestrating different strategies for my class, mirroring on some tasks that seemed beneficial in her classroom. Knowing that students learn from techniques that reflect the styles of their generation was the first and the foremost step in awakening my classroom from a deep slumber and creating an invigorating and exciting classroom enriched with learning activities that still incorporated the essential learning elements yet in a lively way. Incorporating powerpoint presentations helped to convey my points and students stayed attuned to what I had to explain. Other minor implementations of April’s teaching methods like dividing students into groups of three made a difference, changed the classroom dynamics to a certain extent.