Kayla Kimball

Student Teacher Observation

Geiger Elementary School
Lewiston, Maine
April 17, 2015
On April 17, 2015 Ms. Kayla Kimball was observed teaching a mathematics lesson to a first
grade class at the Geiger Elementary School in Lewiston, Maine.
The class began with the students in a circle on the floor listening to Ms. Kimball reading from a
book related to the math lesson. Upon finishing the book, the students are instructed to return to
their seats. She instructs them from the board and has them respond to the questions. A very
good tactic that was used was to repeat each students answer. This allows all students to hear
the response especially when there are students who do not speak very loudly.
The related math activity involves the students to work at their desks, while others play a math
game with a partner, and a third group of students meet with Ms. Kimball to go over a lesson
dealing with telling time. She went over the procedure with the students and made sure that they
knew what the consequences were for not behaving during this phase of the lesson.
While she was at the table with about six or seven students, she continually watched the class to
make sure that everybody was on task. Because she was along in the class with about fifteen
students there were some challenges to the order of the activity. One student was sent away from
the group, a second student was told to put up a yellow warning card for her behavior. Although
Ms. Kimball had to admonish the students, she never raised her voice and most importantly did
not make a scene with the students. The rest of the class was not disturbed by these actions and
continued to work.
The lesson was evidence that Ms. Kimball has a good sense of the classroom environment and
can make decisions quickly on keeping the atmosphere positive and supportive. She has a
pleasant voice and demeanor about her that allows the student to be safe. The transitions during
the lessons, especially when the three groups switch activities, were effective. She is aware of
the students movement and interactions with each other even while she is working with a group
of students. All of these attributes prepare Ms. Kimball to teach in her own classroom setting.