Students in the Classroom

The classroom I observe is pretty much arranged the only way it can be; so that all the students can view the board. I wasn't there when seats were assigned but I'm guessing my cooperating teacher let them choose where they wanted to sit; it has not been changed since I've been there. When groups are created it's usually only two people working together on homework or an assignment; groups do not happen often. I definitely notice some students raise their hands often and some students never ever raise their hands. The teacher tries to get everyone involved as much as possible and let everyone have a chance to answer. Males seem to dominate more in the classroom; they usually are the most outspoken in pre-algebra, but I notice in geometry girls seem to dominate more. Students usually pay attention for about 15-20 minutes; the lessons usually last about 30 minutes. The students do listen to each other but do not really talk academically about it. When the students get to talk, they usually talk about their friends or things going on. There is one girl in geometry that is a total attention getter. My cooperating teacher does not really do anything about it; he pays a lot of attention to her and is fine with giving her a lot of attention. Students mostly ask the teacher for help; occasionally they will ask another student but it usually results in them asking the teacher anyways.