inquiry project paper

7/28/2019 Inquiry Project Paper

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Jarvik Joshi

English 1102

April 8, 2013

The New Teacher

Characters (in the order of appearance):

Mr. Joshi- The new teacher at South Oak High School.

Mrs. DaltonThe teacher who teaches AP Biology.

Mr. ZahorikThe teacher who teaches AP English.

Mr. Borich - The teacher who teaches Sociology.

Mrs. Allison - The teacher who teaches AP World History.

Mr. BrightThe teacher who teaches Calculus.

Setting:It is a beautiful Wednesday afternoon with the temperature of high sixties with light

breeze. It is lunch time at South Oak High School and you see most of the students outside the

cafeteria enjoying the beautiful weather while in the teachers lounge, the smell of chicken

parmesan spreads as Mrs. Allison, the world history teacher, opens the microwave door. The

chatter is heard in the background of teacher fussing over their class and how students are

unbearable. Just as Mrs. Allison sits down with her cooked meal, Mr. Joshi enters the teachers

lounge for the first time.

Mr. Joshi (thinks to himself): What would be everyone thinking of me? I hope everyone is nice

over here!

As Mr. Joshi is sitting down, Mrs. Dalton notices him and approaches him

Mrs. Dalton: Oh hello Mr. Joshi, how do you think of our school? Has everyone been treating

you well? How was your experience with the students?


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Mr. Joshi: It has been nice so far. I know first day is usually hectic but I am getting used to it. I

am sorry but are you Mrs. Dalton, the AP Biology teacher?

Mrs. Dalton: You guessed it right Mr. Joshi! Not bad for the first day here! Let me introduce you

to everyone.

Mr. Joshi and Mrs. Dalton walk towards the group of teachers who are having some sort of

discussion. There they notice Mr. Zahorik who is talking to everyone in a very loud voice and in

an aggressive manner.

Mr. Zahorik: I am telling you guys, having small class sizes really helps you teach students

better. I have firsthand experience. Last semester I had thirty five kids to teach, and let me tell

you, it wasnt fun. I wasnt able to focus on everyone. Now that I have a smaller class size, it

makes a lot of difference.

Mr. Borich: Oh really? So how do you teach them differently now?

Mr. Zahorik: Oh it is simple, first I give them clear cut directions on what they are doing and

then explain them what the assignment is all about. To help them out, I model the procedures and

have class practices to make students understand the assignment better. Finally, I give them a

feedback. Since I have less students now, I can personally give feedback to every single student.

Mr. Borich: I totally agree with you Mr. Zahorik. One of the key factors that determine whether

student understands the material or not is whether the information is presented them in a proper

way. If you teach with a high degree of clarity, you will spend less time going over material.

Your questions will be answered correctly the first time, allowing more time for instructions.


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Mrs. Dalton: I wish I had less students. My class is always full. I try to make everything clear for

them just like you do Mr. Zahorik. Thing is, that I am a more of a hands on teachers where I like

students to actually experience the material. I believe that we should design instructional

activities that are meaningful to students and help them connect and apply their learning to home

and community, and advance student understanding to more complex levels by relating to their

real-life experience. I have a perfect example to share, the other day we were going over the

internal organs of the frog so to demonstrate it, I had everybody cut open a dead frog in their lab

so that they can see it with their own eyes.

Everyone made that ewwwwww face since everyone was disgusted

Mrs. Allison: That is so disgusting!! How does someone not puke? Anyways, it is easy to have

stuff like that for your class since it is Biology. What about my class? I have so many different

people with diverse background, I am pretty sure cutting open a frog will offend them. I have a

different approach to being hands on. Since it is very tough for me tobring Roman artifacts, I

usually show them the pictures or videos. Talking about videos, thank God for the History

channel. I show the students documentaries and show clips all the time. It provides a great visual

for the students and makes it easier for the students to understand the material plus the students

love to watch those video. Of course, I also have those questions to answer just to make sure they

are paying attention.

Mr. Joshi: Talking about understanding the material better, do you guys group them or what? I

have tried to group students but sometime it works out and sometime it doesnt!

Mrs. Dalton: Mr. Joshi, I usually arrange the classroom to accommodate conversations between

me and a small group of students on a regular and frequent schedule. Not only that, I make sure


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that students communicate with each otherand not just sit there. If students dont talk then I

guide the conversation with questions. I have found that to be the most useful way making sure

that students have learned the lesson.

Mrs. Dalton: I usually have them sit in groups or pairs depending on the particular lesson.

Sometimes I arrange the classroom for logistical, hygiene, and other purposes, such as having

simultaneous activities take place in separate areas of the classroom. I would have one group do

one problem and other group do a different problem. Once they are done, they would switch and

do the previous problem.

Mrs. Allison: I have them sit in pairs of two and I make sure that they dont have similar

personalities and background. Since I have a diverse group of students, I believe mixing those

students together helps them learn about each other as well as the material. When native English

speaking students are paired with English Language learners, they become teachers and

resources for each other, often relating better to each other than they would to me. Since some of

my students dont speaks English, it is easier for them understand the material since it engages

different senses and help reinforce key ideas. Sometimes I would give a lesson only few students

would understand it. If I group them, the ones that did would be able to explain that lesson to

others who didnt. That way I dont have to repeat myself.

Mr. Borich: I try to do little bit of everything that you guys just said. I try to come up with a

lesson plan that reflects most relevant features of the curriculum guide or adopted text and select

the most appropriate instructional model for the objective being taught. Now to teach them this I

usually start off with a challenging questions to grab their attentions. To clarify any aspects, I

have visuals and real life examples so that the students can relate to them.


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Mr. Joshi: It is amazing how you guys are able to manage teaching this way while adhering to

the curriculum. The way I see it, the curriculum restricts me on doing these kinds of things.

Mr. Bright: Youre a novice. This is your first day so dont worry about that. Initially it is hard

but then you get used to it and start coming up with different ideas to educate your students. I

believe the most important part of the classroom is us. I was just reading about a research done

and in there it said that the most import factor contributing to student success is the effectiveness

of instructions.

Mr. Joshi: While I was doing my bachelors, we went over critical thinking or complex thinking

part of teaching several times. It was hammered in our brains that we need to have students think

critically. How do you guys do that?

Mrs. Dalton: You bring up a very important point. In the past, students were expected to

memorize facts. If students in a geography class could name the capital of New York and the

rivers that border Missouri, schools felt they had done a good job. But times have changed, and

its not enough just to know facts and figures. We need teach people how to interpret data and

solve problems. And Im not just referring to the whiz kids in the class, the ones who will go to

Harvard. Every child can be taught to think, and our job is to do just that. Even when youre

teaching Jack and the Beanstalk to very small children, you can ask them exercise their minds:

Was it right for Jack to steal the goose? Why or why not? And you can ask the same kinds of

questions with twelfth gradersonly now youre talking about Stephen Crane or Shakespeare.

Mr. Joshi: It is great to hear all these ideas especially since I am new here and it would help me a

lot. It was nice to meet you guys but I have to go talk to principal about something so you guys

carry on. I will see you guys later.


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Mr. Joshi left and the chatter continued

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