Math Classroom Observation

I observed two of Mrs. Moening’s 7th grade math classes at St. Mike’s school in Findlay. Many aspects of the private school contradicted the atmosphere of a public school. In particular, Mrs. Moening’s classroom had more bible verses and inspirational quotes on the walls than math references. As the students came into the classroom, I noticed their attire was very different from a public school. Every student wore uniforms that consisted of a polo with khaki shorts, pants, or a plaid skirt. I also noticed the student’s behavior in the classroom was exceptional. Every student followed the teacher’s directions with minimal distraction. Even when the students were told to work in groups, all discussions between the students was math related. The first class that I observed was a seventh grade math classroom that consisted of 24 students. At the beginning of the class, Mrs. Moening went over the homework from the previous night. For the students to check their answers, Mrs. Moening placed notecards around the room with not only the answers, but the correct work necessary to figure out the problem. The students went around the room with a partner to the various notecards. The students were allowed to help one another or ask the teacher for an explanation on how to solve …show more content…
The class was designed to meet the needs of children who are accelerated in math. Ironically, the class recently took a test that they did not score very well on. Although not one student in the class received an A or F, the scores were still able to be represented through a bell-shaped curve. Mrs. Moening was happy to see this type of distribution of the grades, but was disappointed that the class didn’t receive better grades overall. As the students were looking over their tests, they asked many thought provoking questions that sparked great discussions over the test