[Intentional Focused Observation] IFO6 (Made 2024 Fall Semester)

When I engage with students in small groups they are usually students who sit near each other and have a certain rapport that I can count on. Them being together is also usually why I am engaging with them the way I am since they often are talking with each other or goofing off and I am engaging with them to get them to stop. This allows me to engage them directly and figure out what is squaring with them and allows me to get them to behave better, which squares with my personal understandings of education. When you have troubles, you should engage with the students involved and figure things out one on one or in a group depending on the situation, and I have had that confirmed for me in class.

I have had absolutely no experiences with the families of the students in Mr. Earle’s class. I want to know what the childrens’ families are like, how that affects them, how that should affect my teaching, but sadly due to my position and the limited time I spend with these children, I don’t get to find those things out and feel it would be improper in my position to try to anyway.

It does not so much relate to small groups as one on one instruction but there is one girl in class, Abby, who I want to talk to one on one and see if I can figure out a way forward with. People need to be talked to, to be understood, so moving forward I want to try to understand her and the other people in Mr. Earle’s classroom better.

HERE’S WHAT? What did I notice in the classroom?	SO WHAT? Implications for my teaching practice and the learning of my students?	NOW WHAT? What are my next steps? Next Day / Next Week / Next Month
I noticed that working in small groups is efficient but without supervision can lead to inefficiency.	I should be mindful of which students are working together and ensure that I am keeping them in line while giving them enough rope to make something with.	I will engage with students in small groups more often and keep closer watch of them both up close and from afar in order to adjust my presence as is needed to ensure they are at their most efficient and enjoying themselves as much as possible.