Introduction and Assertion:

Throughout the case study, Mrs. Boggs used her varied experience to create a well-managed, yet
autonomous classroom. Explanations and evidence to support our assertions regarding Mrs.
Boggs teaching style are as follows:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Boggs did not devote a lot of time to behavior management.

Boggs has a great rapport with the students.
Boggs heavily emphasized independent student work.
Boggs varied her teaching to cater to the different styles of learning.
Boggs facilitates opportunities for struggling students to gain credit through high order
thinking questions.
6. Boggs class expectations and procedures were well established and upheld.
Assertion and Evidence:
Throughout the case study, Mrs. Boggs did not devote a lot of time to behavior
management. We saw evidence of this on the very first day. As class began she was lecturing on
the differences between observations, inferences, and predictions to her Honors Biology
students, and Kalep walked in late. She did not let his tardiness affect the pace of her teaching,
and continued her lecture without acknowledging him. Kalep took his seat, and Mrs. Boggs
never checked in with him to correct his behavior.
This was further exemplified in her second period (9/14) when students were charged
with self-work, but didnt enforce the behavioral expectation to complete the assignment. This
hands-off approach led to many students using this time to chat or do other work. Beside these
specific examples, students would walk about the classroom for any number of reasons without
any repercussions from Ms. Boggs. While some students followed the procedure for the using
bathroom pass, other students like David Hines would simply saunter about the class.
Though this may have seemed like an initial lack of classroom management techniques,
Ms. Boggs did have a threshold for class disruption. Once class volume reached a certain limit,
she assertively reigned in the focus of the class. She used phrases like, Guys, quiet down. This
is the opposite of what I wanted you to do, and If I can hear you, you are too loud, to reassert
her power and maintain control.
Phrases like that worked well with the class because Ms. Boggs had a good rapport with
her students. On our third day (9/16) she played country music while the students were
completing the study guide. The fact that the students asked to listen to music during the activity
coupled with her acceptance of this request exemplified her good relationship with her students.
She fostered this relationship by tapping into their frames of reference by using local examples
while lecturing. For example when she emphasized an online assignment with a Friday due date,
she said, and dont come to me with a problem at 2:46 PM on Friday because you guys know
where Ill be. Thats right. At 2:45 Im gone and going to Frozen Berry and Ill be gone. She

used a local yoghurt shop to establish a connection using preexisting knowledge that the local
students would have.
Ms. Boggs used this rapport to further strengthen her relationship through comical means.
For example, when working with the cootie-catchier assignment she said, cut this strip (of
paper) offyou can use it as a love note for your sweetheart. Her clear and precise instruction
did not create distance the relationship, but offered an opportunity to enjoy the assignment along
with the students. In return, the students were comfortable enough to joke with her as well.
This collaborative trust built through rapport allowed Ms. Boggs to shift responsibility on
the student, having them use the class-time for independent student work without the presence of
an overbearing teacher. This technique was well utilized with the first period honors course.
They maintained a collective pace of learning, seen in our field notes. For example, on 9/16
during the cootie-catcher assignment, the honor class conversed with each other about various
topics but every student was actively working on the foldable note assignment. While this
strategy worked for the honors class, the foundation of trust and rapport were not enough to keep
the second period Bio 1 class on task. On day two (9/15), we noted towards the end of the class
that around 75% of students hadnt completed the first question on the activity. Our field notes
support that this strategy is effective for motivated students, as in the honors class. Parallel to this
success are the drawbacks when the same strategy is applied to non-motivated or struggling
students.
Though her independent work strategy was ineffective at times, she made up for it in
varying her teaching styles to cater to different methods of learning. Ms. Boggs gave herself
many opportunities for lecturing, but was always using new and creative methods to rephrase the
information. One example was on the first day where she had students get into groups and order
the scientific method with pre-made paper slips which explained one step in an experiment. She
also coupled this with the actual verb-age used in the textbook to put examples side by side with
the information. She also used the cootie catcher as a means to connect the macromolecules to
self-rendered pictures that the students chose. The paper fold model helped remind the students
of the information through their own references. On Thursday of our teaching observation she
showed a movie (Lorenzo Oil) to demonstrate a real life experience with lipids. The movie
was about a boy who had a genetic disease which made it impossible for him to properly process
lipids on his own. This was an effective way of attaching the science curriculum to the students
lives. Ms. Boggs cast a wide net of teaching styles to include every student on some level to the
information she required them to retain.
With many struggling students in her second period Biology course, Ms. Boggs made
sure that she facilitated opportunities for struggling students to gain credit through high order
thinking questions. This was seen on our first day of teaching when we were asked to create a
jeopardy game to prepare students for their test on macromolecules on Tuesday. Ms. Boggs gave
us answer tickets to give to the team who won the jeopardy game. The tickets entitled the

student to one free answer if they got one wrong on the test, otherwise it was worth two points.
Since it was a collaborative effort for the students, we were able to provide this added help to the
students who needed it. After grading the test Tuesday evening, we found the average grade of
the second period class was around 60. Ms. Boggs gave a take home test to the kids that would
be worth extra points as a way for every student to receive at least a passing grade for the
assessment. Showing a sharp mind on the students future in their education was proof of her
commitment to the kids and their overall future.