First she wrote the day's agenda, and then she took roll. I noticed that she engaged every student as she confirmed they were present, asking how they were doing or making some sort of small talk with them. When she discovered that someone hadn't shown up to class, she asked the others if they knew of the student's whereabouts. Apparently, she will commonly telephone students when they are absent and attempt to rouse them from their slumber. It seems like a playful way to guilt students into attending class.
After taking roll, we delved into the day's reading: the conclusion of a short story by Willa Cather called "Paul's Case". The students followed along as Felicia read aloud. The story centers around one boy's quest to rise above his humble beginnings and live a life of luxury, only to find that money does not buy him happiness. It was truly a topic that diverse audiences could relate to. After finishing the story, we broke into groups and collectively answered comprehension questions that accompanied the text. One thing I noticed was that Felicia let the class determine who was in what group, and it seemed like the more loquacious students clustered into one group and the quieter ones in another. I would have probably had each student count off (i.e. the first student says "one", their neighbor says "two", the next kid says "one", and so on), so that the kids who normally sit together would be forced to interact with different people than they normally do. Other than that I felt that Felicia had great classroom management skills, and promoted an enriching discussion that would have continued much longer if we had had more time.
I agree Jules, Felicia is a great teacher! The fact that she contacts the students that did not show up for the class is hilarious/ a good deterrent to purposely miss class. I might just have to implement that in my future classes :)
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