7/28/2019 Penn Mentor Observation Notes_01.24.13

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1/24/13 Notes - 8th Grade English, 9:30-10:45

* = my questions and comments

Poe trial continues, Ms. S asks students to take their seats as they enter, desks arranged like a courtroom

Some males wear ties, two are in judges robes

9:40 - Ms. S, "Alright, Mr. Poe, are you ready?"

Students continue to prep, teachers are patient, Ms.S informs them of green book test tomorrow

"Are we ready to go, Ramsey?", male in skeleton apron up front is the bailiff, he swears everyone in

* How were the parts distributed? How did information about the students inform the role assignments?

* What types of differentiation are at work in the trial itself?Ms.S, "Your honor, will you give us a quick recap of yesterday?", Jason, in blue robe, recaps, ms.S asks defense and

prosecuting attorneys to restate their arguments

Pros: "Poe should be banned from school", evil language, bad ideas

Def: "Poe should not be banned"

Female witness called, def. faces her, "Are you by chance the author?", she responds yes

Def says the stories are elegant and nice, though why does he write dark and depressed stories, Poe says people

close to him died, def. mentions freedom of speech

9:50 - Pros rises and addresses Poe, refers to death, angels doing bad things, consequences of killing,Telltale Heart

as example, message of escape possible

Another Pros comes forward, suggests Poe was waiting for money, "Did you ever think about the word 'hell' and

children being exposed to that word?"Exchange about language ensues, and Def lawyer raises objection to discussion of 'hell', Pros. continues to say it's a

problem for young children

Pros persists with the writing for money theme, Def says "We're talking about his stories, not his personal life"

Judge, "Ramsey, down!", bailiff chimes in

Yasmine takes stand, says stories never affect her in negative way

Outspoken Pros talks about violence in stories, will show trailer for "The Raven"

10:00-10:05 - silence in classroom during lockdown

Trial continues, delay because bulb is needed in projector

Ms. S, "You're doing a great job", she gives some pointers about procedures (overruled and sustained)

Pros run video, images are frightening, violent, foreboding

10:11 - Man enters ad takes 3 males in hall to talk

Def objects to trailer, judge says "Order in the court"

Ms. S reminds them of time, 10 minutes to finish, Dr. M called to stand, she says "This is a surprise witness"Def asks questions about whether a student could turn to drugs after reading Poe, Dr. M says intelligence spikes

after reading Poe, that students will remember words, stories into high school, she recommends they read Poe

Pros to Dr. M, she says students can follow plot, use dictionary, pros pursues question of students using drugs

Def, "Student could have already been doing drugs"

Judge, "Sustained"

Pros calls Poe to stand, female with balck mustache takes seat, "Thank you, Dr. M"

Pros. asks about drinking heavily, why he wrote stories for entertainment

* It is very impressive that the students are able to carry the trial so long without teacher interjection. Such

independence reflects vigorous scaffolding and student engagement.Pros asks again about making money and entering contests to win

10:22 - judge announces closing statements

Def refers to deep, dark, elegant, vocabulary for people wth sophisticated minds, freedom of speech, language will

help enrich people, vocabularly importantPros says Poe could have sold books for murderers and madmen, maybe for drugs, his abilities may not be

trustworthy (drug addict/alchoholic), he wrote stories for money, his statements could be false, Poe should be

banned for SDof Philadelphia

Ms. S, "Your honor, you have to tell the jury to recess"

Dr. M, "The bailiff has to usher them out"

6 students proceed in line to hall, Dr. M to jury, "Shut the door and stay out there"

10:28 - jury and bailiff return

Ms. S instructs judges what to do, foreman will announce verdict, she models what to say

Female, "We, the ladies and gentlemen of the jury, find the defendant not guilty"

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Claps and hoots, Ms. S goes to front, "Thank you all, including Dr. M, the surprise witness", she commends all

students on the roles they played, "I'm so relieved we can teach Poe again next year"

* Great comment!

10:34 - Ms. S instructs students to write 1/2 page reflection on what they thought of the trial, Dr. M says "Sit down

and get this writing done"

Screen: What stood out to you about the trial? (exit ticket)

Students chat a bit, most write quietly

10:44 - Ms. S compliments students again for their participation today, reminds them to be good going to lunch,

moves to door to collect reflections

* Ms. S demonstrates a consistently positive and generous spirit with her students, though she is completely

comfortable correcting their behavior when necessary.

* Teacher at the door offers a good opportunity for closure with individuals vs. the collective whole. Some

teachers also choose to greet students individually when they enter for class.

* Trial activity provided a rich learning and teaching moment. Success was shared, a commitment to process

was evident, and the larger objective of examining Poe's writing remained at the center of the proceedings.