Booya!

So I've never truly taught a class before coming out here. I'm as fresh as they come, and when I had my formal evaluation scheduled for this week (only about 5 weeks into my teaching career) I was shitting a brick. Both the principal (who is cool as hell) and the curriculum director for the school were going to be there. I had it scheduled for my best class, a 5th grade class that I see everyday so I'm extremely familiar with them. However, both the principal AND the curriculum director failed to show. So, the next morning, the curriculum director came and apologized for missing the eval and we scheduled a make-up. My make-up class? 4C. Holy shit. The recipe for disaster was huge. They were coming second to last period on a Thursday (the work week here is Sun-Thurs) so the kids by default would be wound for the weekend, 4C is hands down my largest class, they are the second to worst class out of all 8 classes, they were coming to my class from an Arabic class (where there is ZERO discipline), and I only have this class twice a week so I know very few of their names. This could have been the end of my career. But... it went perfectly!! I wasn't sure how they were going to appreciate my teaching style--which I would consider slightly unorthodox--and braced for the worst. But they loved it! The curriculum director even thanked me for ending her week on a positive note as she was leaving. The principal said "There is so much to know and learn, then relearn, about the profession. You are clearly miles above the norm, even for experienced educator." Here's a copy of one of the two reviews...

Modern Knowledge Schools

Kingdom of Bahrain

Teacher Observation

Teacher: Byron Gunter Grade: 4C

Observer: Janet N. Haley, M.Ed.

Date: October 5, 2006

Time: 12:10-12:40

Classroom Setting:

Upon entering the class, Mr. Bryon advised me that this was not the class that he would have selected for an observation. The class has just come from a less structured class; he feared their ability to transition effectively.

The classroom is decorated by multiple maps, both local and world as well as flags.

Lesson Objective:

To demonstrate and understand characteristics of both climate and resource maps.

(Our Country. Silver Burdett Ginn, 1995)

The class began quickly with a welcoming from Mr. Byron. He was alive and animated asking questions about latitude, longitude, prime meridian, hemispheres, etc.

What doe a political map show? A physical map? The responses were often accurate and complete with their first response. Hands were eagerly raised, student eager to share. Clearly the students have developed a relationship with Byron in just the few weeks prior.

When a student responded incorrectly, Byron worked his student’s minds to help reach the desired information.

After the introduction students were asked to open to page 20, section C.

With no encouragement, student began to read aloud. It was most interesting to see that all students were on task, using their finders as a guide. The student’s voices could be heard, the lack of acoustics was not a problem.

The text, an American text, displayed a US map showing precipitation levels. Bryon shared that he was from Ohio (“OH”). The students were directed to find OH on the map. They located the precipitation on the map. Bryon concluded that his homeland got a whole lot more than they got here (Bahrain)! This activity was continued as the class found their teacher’s homeland state’s precipitation. They were asked to compare precipitation levels using the terms “more,” “less,” and Bahrain.

The same techniques were used for the map displaying US Average Temperatures. Again, students had an opportunity to compare the homelands of their teachers. Again, they found this enjoyable with 100% of the students eagerly following along.

Twenty minutes into the lesson, Byron paced himself to review section D. Section D covered natural resources. After reading a paragraph, Byron responded to the student who just read with a positive affirmation, “Excellent!” Again, the use of affirmations was repeated with the following student.

Byron asked for the students to give examples of natural resources outside the book discussion. Life in Bahrain was well integrated asking what natural resources were here? One student suggested hot air. Eventually, after cuing, they knew he was thinking about oil. Byron continued the lesson to integrate natural resources found in the United States and then encouraged students to know what the production use of the natural resource was.

Byron made an inference to reading a map key. While the term, map key, was never used he moved throughout the class and cued students into the reading of maps. When he feared that the topic had not been mastered he quickly transitioned to review the skills again.

When they had completed the lesson, Mr. Byron gained the support of his students when he told them they would play……

Beat Mr. Byron

(Mr. Byron vs. Class)

The rules were clear. If they (the students responding) were right then the class would get the point. If they were wrong, then Byron would gain the point. Students could not respond more than once. All students quickly stayed with their classmates to earn the desired points in this teacher challenge!

Comments/Recommendations:

Byron entered the MSK educational system with no background in educational methods. He did however, clearly, hold mastery of his subject matter. Combined with his desire to achieve, Byron has quickly gained the instructional skills that lead to a successful classroom experience:

knowledge + respect + desire = success

It would benefit Byron’s instructional practices to think about building a classroom vocabulary wall. Each time a new word is introduced (i.e. precipitation, landforms, climate, etc.) the term could then be placed on a placard and hung for daily reference. When students have a specific location to have repeated reinforcement of vocabulary, the vocabulary become part of their long-term memory.

In conclusion, it was my pleasure to observe this young educator and know that our students at MKS are able to experience his love for learning! Byron Gunter holds that personal love for teaching young learners that cannot be taught in a methods class…effective teacher’s are naturals. We can teach the skills, but we cannot make someone love their job. Welcome to MKS, Mr. Byron Gunther.