OBSERVATION: CLASSROOM ENVIRONMENT

 

                                                                                         

Date: Friday, 25^th March 2022

 

OBSERVATION: CLASSROOM ENVIRONMENT

 

This observation focused on the classroom environment in grade 7, in a class of 17 students. They are 12-13 years old, and they have the English language 3 times a week. I observed 2 lessons that day;

a) one on grammar structure, the use of “ing” in the conditional form:

-Would you mind if I…+ past tense

- Do you mind if…+ present tense

-would you/do you mind + “ing” verb

b) the other lesson was a task where the aim was to prepare how to use and what to do with a device. The teacher asked the students to write instructions on how to use a device, and the activity was to get each group of students to guess the instruments concerned after reading the instructions.

The teacher had prepared some sentences printed on pieces of paper, which the students were randomly required to read.

About the classroom setting, first of all, this school, Smart Non-Public Bilingual Primary School, is located on the outskirts of Warsaw. I think it is important to note this because the first thing that caught my attention was how spacious the classroom was. In some schools, this would have been enough for 2 academically decent classrooms. I guess the fact that it is situated in a sparsely populated area somehow contributed to this. Adjacent to this classroom was another large one, both separated by a wall that had a large glass window, such that you could see inside the other classroom. It made the class look even bigger. I found it original and cool. There were 2 other windows, but this time they opened into the outside, which make the class well-aerated, gay and bright. of course, there was also a heating system to keep the students warm and comfortable in cold weather. The whole place was clean and well-organized

On the walls were a lot of working materials, posters, and large cart boards where the students could pin their writings and drawings. There were also exotic sculptures which resembled craftwork from Africa. There were paintings, project reports, with all human races represented. I saw a framed picture that looked like a gift from another school in Australia. From the variety of pictures and artwork, (including the textbooks, and the staff) one could clearly see that this school encourages and Actively promotes an inclusive classroom with best practices for diverse and multicultural education. This is very important in a school because this is the only place where any child acquires knowledge. Not only about his or her immediate environment, but also about the whole world, that has become a global village. Teaching such awareness in school helps the students to acquire a strong self-identity and pride, although I would have preferred that the beautifully framed picture on the wall with an African child would talk of something happier than HIV/AIDS. That same week, we watched a video during one of our courses, where a black man almost died out of negligence because the white doctor was busy testing and searching only for HIV/AIDS, a disease considered at the time to be the black man’s disease. I felt like history should not repeat itself.

The classroom was equipped with a projector fixed to the ceiling, with all the accessories. There was a large shelve for students’ materials, but they prefer to keep some in their bags and on the floor beside them, to have them within reach. There was also a fire extinguisher inside the classroom. It showed that the school administration really has the student's and staff’s security at heart. In most cases, the extinguisher is somewhere outside, along the corridor, or at an angle. there were plants on the windows, and a clean trash can at an angle near the door.

Talking about the seating position, the first thing that stroke me was the isolated desk at the far back end of the hall, in what was aimed to be an orderly row arrangement of desks. I learned from my inquiries that the occupier is a student who doesn’t like to mingle with others, and might have a particular type of person he wanted to avoid. When I asked him privately, the student in question said “I don’t like the class”. This was a clear instance of the learner’s autonomy. He was granted the freedom to seat as he thought fit and comfortable, so long as it enabled him to concentrate and facilitate his learning process. The rest of the class was seated in a conventional manner, with the teacher in front, and all the students facing the board, 2 columns, and 3 rows. In between, is a wide gap. Sure, this setting could be rearranged, because as I earlier mentioned, the classroom was very large. But since the chairs were separate from the table, they could be moved from one place to another when necessary, depending on the nature of the group tasks. It was either the chairs were moved to another place, or the student moved to other chairs.

In conclusion, the classroom environment was a very conducive one, and greatly enhanced effective and efficient teaching and learning. There was room for enough mobility in the class, visuals on the walls, and adequate working tools. I felt very happy and at ease in such an environment. It is worth mentioning that the amazing, welcoming, and friendly staff I met greatly contributed to these wonderful emotions. The 

things I was taught in school were being implemented here. The students looked and I would say, were actually comfortable.