Professor Kamellia Keo's GTCH 2003 is a combination of GTCH 1001’s Inquiry Approaches to Teaching and GTCH 1002’s Inquiry-based Lesson Design. In order to gain teaching experience, students in Professor Keo’s class first observe the workings of a middle school classroom, then take those observations and apply them to the creation of a lesson plan. These lesson plans are then utilized in the classroom, with GTCH 2003 students engaging in instruction using the plans and procedures informed by their observations.
For information about Community Engaged Scholarship at GW: https://go.gwu.edu/cesc
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Fall 2023
Professor: Kamellia Keo
Students Reporting: 21
Time Reported: 505.55
This semester, students in Professor Keo’s GTCH 2003 utilized their hands-on teaching experiences at McKinley Middle School with their in-classroom learning to create STEM inquiry based lesson plans for middle school students. What students learned:
- Classroom relationships
- Lesson plan creation and editing
- Teaching in a classroom
- How to actively engage students
Student Comments:
"Awesome time teaching for the first time! Scary but worth it! Definitely feel more prepared for the rest of the semester." - Student helping out at McKinley Middle School
"Gave me a better understanding of the classroom dynamic for this specific class and how to proceed when it comes to teaching the class our lesson." - Student helping out at McKinley Middle School
"It was a very enjoyable and educational experience where I got used to a classroom setting as an observer." - Student helping out at McKinley Middle School
Professor: Meghan Hollibaugh Baker
Students Reporting: 28
Time Reported: 631.19
This semester students in Prof. Baker's class served at 4 Washington DC middle schools: Hardy Middle School, Jefferson Academy Middle School, McKinley Middle School, and Oyster-Adams Bilingual School. At each of these schools, students had to perform observations of classroom functions, then combine the findings of those observations and what they learned in the GW Teach classroom, to create a lesson plan. These student-created lesson plans were then implemented at the partner middle schools in STEM lessons, and led by the students.
What students learned:
• Lesson planning and preparation
• Execution of lessons in the classroom
• Data collection
• Classroom dynamics including student-teacher interactions
• Classroom management
• How kids absorb information
• Creating inclusive classroom environments
Community Partners:
| Community Partner | # of students at the site |
| Hardy Middle School | 7 |
| Jefferson Academy Middle School | 9 |
| McKinley Middle School | 6 |
| Oyster-Adams Bilingual School | 9 |
Student Comments:
“Observing [the teacher] has been really great for learning classroom management and how to empower students to be engaged and dedicated learners” - Student who observed a classroom at Jefferson Academy Middle School
“Sitting in on a classroom was very informative as to how public secondary education looks post-covid. It's really cool to see teachers continue to engage children and uplift young voices through compassionate and meaningful learning strategies.” - Student who observed a classroom at Jefferson Academy Middle School
