Science Classroom Observation

On Thursday January 21st, 2016 I visited Mrs. Welch’s 2nd and 3rd Period Chemistry classes at Athens Area High School. Mrs. Welch has been teaching for many years and has taught physics, mathematics, chemistry, and physical science in the past. The lesson I observed was on chemical reactions. The students reviewed their homework, and then completed a short lab experiment on precipitate reactions. The homework certainly took me back to Chem 110 at PSU! [Aluminum iodide + mercury (II) chloride à aluminum chloride + mercury (II) iodide … and then also writing out and balancing the chemical formulas.] Boy oh boy! Here are some of my observations from my time with Mrs. Welch and her students:

Students completing a lab on chemical reactions.

Observations:

- Very personable
- Does work WITH students versus just showing correct answer
- Clear expectations: describes what will or will not be on future exams or homework
- Asks many questions and has great wait time! Students are given many opportunities to ask questions
- Marks or initials student’s labs before allowing them to proceed to the next portion
- Very calm and understanding of spill! Explains procedure for washing off and assures student they are fine
- Reminder of Lab Safety:
o Chemical Goggles
o Chemical contamination if drop liquids too close to end of dropper
o How to properly wash plate and hands after lab


Mrs. Welch has a great classroom environment! I was really impressed that her students all felt very comfortable with her and with completing labs etc. She told me that she has many students with IEP's or that might be re-taking the course, and it w as evident that the students felt they could ask questions or for help!

Effective Classroom Management, Mrs. Welch had all the lab stations prepped for the students!

The students completed a pretty neat lab where they combined two chemicals and wrote down in their observations whether or not the resulting liquid was cloudy (indicating their was a precipitate.) Mrs. Welch told me that the next period the students would be learning about solubility and discussing precipitate reactions. Therefore, when delving through the theoretical reactions on paper etc., students can think back to their lab and recall when reactions produced a precipitate!

Below are my observations from our conversations before, in between, and after the periods that I observed.

General Conversation:

- 40 min labs can be hard, has some two or three day labs
- Reflecting on problems and labs is VERY important:
o Activity/ Lab might inherently be interesting, but do students know or understand WHY we did it?
- Difficult to adjust to some students working faster than others
- Need to be observant in lab settings
-  Struggle sometimes to ensure have goggles and chemical apron on during class time

It was interesting that we have some of the same problems, like some students getting done before others or troubles with students keeping the safety goggles on. It was really nice for me to interact with Mrs. Welch on a professional level and be able to talk to her about classroom management and lab management etc. I am very excited that I could go to her in the future with additional questions.

Best

Sarabeth

PS! Highlight of observation was seeing one of the students that I struggle with the most in our Ag Mech II class working as a lab partner with a student with special needs in Mrs. Welch's chemistry class. She told me later that they have been lab partners all year and that he diligently and patiently works with him through labs... I was floored and so happy to be able to see this different side of this particular student!

Students complete the precipitate lab... Chemistry at it's finest in the lab setting.