2nd Grade Observation

Yesterday I had the opportunity to observe a second grade classroom in the afternoon. The moment I walked in, I felt calm and relaxed. The teacher had music playing while the students were transitioning to the carpet which allowed the students to know how long they had (because they knew how long the song was) and gave them something to hum to while they were moving. Once the students got to the carpet, they were so well behaved and engaged in what they were doing.

The students were participating in reading workshop where they had just finished reading a book of their choice. Next, they were coming to the carpet to share what they had learned. Not only was it a "share time" but the students were sharing things that related to what they were learning. The students were making connections to texts and were explaining these connections and how they related to the story. They were also talking about what an author said and what the author meant by what they said. The students started the sentence off by "The author said..." and followed by "The author meant...". It was really incredible to see their minds at work through this lesson.

The students then transitioned to social studies (which was a fast and efficient transition!!) where they were in a rectangle on the class rug. They worked together to read through a pamphlet on the state of Georgia, sharing materials and taking turns reading. There wasn't an issue where the students were impatient or mad that someone else read. I am interested to talk to this teacher outside of the classroom to figure out how she did these things!!

All in all, I was very impressed by this classroom I visited. I have witnessed that different things work for different teachers, and I am learning from each teacher that I observe. I have formed really great ideas based upon what I have witnessed and I have also learned some amazing behavior management ideas!! One thing I really loved about this second grade teacher was the fact that she allowed the students to finish their thoughts, regardless if the thoughts related to what they were talking about. For example, one student made a text-to-self connection that really did not make sense or pertain to what they were talking about, however, she allowed him to finish his thoughts without cutting him off. This shows the other children that everyone's thoughts are important, which I think is a great thing to teach these students!!