Admission Ticket Part 1 Emma Lively

Emma Lively

EDUC 600- The Teacher as Researcher

Admission Ticket 2014-02

September 14, 2011

Part I

Observation is a major aspect of effective teaching. “...we observe in order to learn and to participate in our world.” This simple statement from Ethnographic Eyes by Carolyn Frank clearly explains what observation is. It is important to understand what observation is without the clutter and distortion of preconceptions and beliefs. Chapter one of Ethnographic Eyes discusses how observation is very important and must be done through “ethnographic eyes” to get a clearer, basic understanding of how things work, the responses initiated, how things are learned, different ways of expressing ideas, and many more teaching strategies and useful information. Teachers must be able to observe their students without their own preconceived notions and expectations. They must be able to start with a blank slate just as their students are in order to see from the students’ perspectives.

The students in a classroom may come from various backgrounds. Some students’ ethnicity, race, or religion may be one that the teacher has not much experience with. Students’ cognitive and literacy levels may vary drastically. Home lives and socioeconomic status may also differ. A teacher will not be able to observe through all these angles and prior knowledge or lack of knowledge on certain topics. Without being able to observe clearly and recognize all aspects of a lesson or activity, a teacher will not be able to adjust and assess lessons in a way that the students will understand. A teacher may see many things when observing with clear lenses or perspectives they are not familiar with. An example in Frank’s Ethnographic Eyes of how things can have different perspectives without realizing it, is with a statement from a fifth grader. The fifth grader discusses the language and terms that they regularly use in the classroom and how an outsider would not know any of the terms. The fifth grader also explains that even if the terms are explained as to what they are referring to, the outsider would still not know what is expected and how things are to be done. This is because their actions and terms have become routine. They have developed their own understanding and ideas of terms in a way that culture, race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, religion, and many other situations can create.

In my experience at a local day care, I have observed things that I never realized were important and really needed observing. It was unknown to me that books for children at such young ages could really be grouped, but I have observed which books belong in which category and how students react to each. I have observed ways to get students’ attention in ways that I still cannot believe actually work. I have also come to understand the important aspects of a young child’s day by observing with an unbiased perspective.

Note taking and Note making are important in teaching. Note taking is described as descriptive, detailed field notes made simply on observation rather than the ideas made from the observations. Note making is the ideas or interpretations of what the teacher observes. Note making can have a more bias or specific perspective, but can also show where the teacher is coming from and changed to be from perspectives teachers are not as familiar with. It is important to use note taking to gather information and further observe things that may have been overlooked. Note making is just as important to show teachers when they are making assumptions and preconceived notions and also to allow teachers to expand on what they gather from their observations and branch out to multiple ideas and reasonings.

I will avoid jumping to judgment in the classroom by taking my time with each student and lesson. I will also prepare my lesson plans ahead of time with the mindset of the students. I will not create a lesson plan based entirely on assumptions and what I expect. Another helpful technique to avoid jumping judgment is to assess the class on a topic before creating the lesson plan to better understand the class level of understanding on the subject and the parts of the subject that the class is interested in.