Reflective Journal Focus Questions / Secondary
The Midtier program offers you a prime opportunity to put into practice some of the skills and theory you have learned and are learning in your college classes, but we want you to see the bigger picture—to get a sense for how decisions and actions influence the learning experiences of your students. The journals are a means for you to record your experiences/observations and reflect their significance in the bigger picture of learning and teaching. These questions are intended to guide your observations and experiences in the classroom and to focus your journal writing. Please follow the weekly focus topics as you reflect on your classroom experience. These reflective writings are to be done outside of the host classroom and not done while you are actually in the host classroom. Your completed journal should be brought to your host teacher the following week for his/her signature and optional comments.
Journal Focus - Visit One-Learning Environment -- Use of physical space for teaching
| Observe how the teacher uses the physical space of the classroom to conduct instruction. |
| Where does teaching generally occur? |
| Does this differ depending on the lesson? How? Describe how the room supports or hinders the teachers' ability to instruct. (Look at things like visibility between students and teacher, access to the teacher, and access to materials.) |
Journal Focus - Visit Two-Learning Environment -- Use of physical space for classroom management
| How does the teacher use classroom space to assist in classroom management? |
| What parts of the room are used for a particular purpose? Why? |
| Observe how the desks are arranged. How does this help the teacher instruct and manage behavior at the same time? |
| Where are materials located that are used most? What procedures allow easy access to them? To other materials? How does this promote efficient use of time? |
Journal Focus - Visit Three -- Classroom procedures
| Observe and describe the techniques the teacher uses to get and keep students' attention. |
| What does he/she SAY and DO when starting the day? When moving from one activity to another? |
| What does the teacher do to regain students' attention if he/she loses it? |
| Do techniques differ depending on the lesson? The size of the group? |
Journal Focus - Visit Four -- Classroom procedures
| Observe what the teacher SAYS and DOES to help students transition smoothly. |
| How does the teacher manage time at those junctures? Does he/she verbally set a time limit? What does he/she say? Other techniques that are used? |
| How does the teacher manage the use of materials at those times? |
Journal Focus - Visit Five -- Asking questions
(You may use this in reference to your own lesson)
| Listen to the questions the teacher asks during a lesson. What is the level of difficulty? What kinds of information are being sought? |
| How did the students respond? How many students were involved? What strategies did the teacher demonstrate to help students answer the questions? |
| What questions did the students themselves pose during this lesson? Were they engaged and interested? |
| What is the role of questioning in facilitating learning? |
Journal Focus - Visit Six -- Student characteristics
(You may use this in reference to your own lesson)
| What do you observe about the students in your class? How would you describe them in terms of their socio-emotional development? (Ability to attend, follow directions, share with each other?) |
| What do they do when they don't know an answer? |
| How do they interact with each other? How does that affect their learning? |
| What do you notice about their behavior with regard to time of day? Examples: morning/afternoon, after lunch/end of day. |
Journal Focus - Visit Seven -- Planning instruction: Tapping prior knowledge
| When starting a lesson, what does the teacher do to tap into prior knowledge? |
| What techniques are used to help students make the connections between old and new material? (Listen for questions, review of past material or any other means of connecting.) |
| How can you determine the level of students' prior knowledge? |
Journal Focus - Visit Eight -- Lesson Planning
| How do you determine what content to present in a lesson? |
| How important are good lesson plans to your daily teaching? |
| What form of lesson plan structure do you feel is best? Why? |
Journal Focus - Visit Nine -- Managing problem behaviors
| Observe and describe one or two problem behaviors that happen most frequently in your room. |
| What strategies does the teacher use to handle these problems? What does he/she do or say? |
| What do you observe the students' reaction to those classmates? How do they react to the teacher's interventions? |
Choose one of the two listed topics below for your final week:
Journal Focus - Visit Ten -- Students with special needs
| Describe what you observe about students with special needs in your classroom. |
| How does the teacher adapt lessons to accommodate their needs? |
| How are these students incorporated into classroom activities? How do the other students react? |
Journal Focus - Visit Ten -- Managing groups/centers
| Observe how groups are used in your classroom. How are the students placed in groups? For what instructional purposes are students put into groups? |
| Observe and describe how students interact when in their groups. |
| If groups aren't used, how might you incorporate group work? |
| If your classroom uses centers, describe how they are set up. What are the rules for using the centers? For moving from one to another? |