The purpose of this blog posting is for you to post your second field experience observation. Remember, you must complete the observation and post to this blog before Monday, Sept. 20th.
Post your dicussion about your second field experience observation here. Be sure to identify if this post is for the observation in 5-6 grade or 7-8 grade. If your first observation was in 5-6 grade, this one has to be in 7-8 grade OR vice versa.
5th Grade
ReplyDeleteI observed Ms. Bornemann’s 5th grade classroom. In the afternoon they have Reading Core. Only half of the class was there and the other half went with the teacher aid. It was a very big class of twenty-four students. The students were very energetic in class. They participated very well when the teacher would point to a word and have the class repeat it. After that the teacher had the group pair up in groups to work on an assignment. As the students were working on an assignment she would have the students one by one come back to her desk to read a story to her. There were three groups of three; two groups of girls and one group of boys. One of the girl groups I observed worked very well with each other and quietly worked. The other girl group of them would always run over to the boy group and pick on them or have to talk to them about something. The boy group; one boy was working on the assignment, the other boy was making things out of paper and the other boy would talk the whole time. I would see a lot of boys and girls interacting in this class. The desks of the students were in rows and pushed together with no space in between them played a factor in them interacting more with each other. The other group of students came back to the classroom. The teacher still had to do some more one on one reading. While the students were waiting they were laying on desks, crawling on the floor, stepping on each other’s feet, making jokes, moving desks, and visiting with each other. They had to go for a hearing screen. The teacher lined them up and walked outside to the next building. There was one girl who was talking back so she had to go to the back of the line. The boys were pushing each other into other students. Some of the girls and boys were playing tag with each other. The teacher had sent half of the group back to the classroom because they weren’t listening. My next visit I got to observe Math core. The students participated very well in Math class. There was one boy who kept talking through her teachings. He just wanted to tell his stories or input whether or not it was math related or not. They worked on story problems together. She gave them time to do their assignment after class. They worked quietly but still wanting to talk to each other at the same time. I observed that this class is very social. They try to interact with each other any second that they could get. When the teacher is in front or using the smart board for the lesson they cooperate and participate with her very well.
Grade 8 Observation #2
ReplyDeleteThere are 7 students present for class today. There are two girls and five boys. Two students will be counted as late today. There were ten student until one moved away. The classroom consists of one large and open aired space that is simply divided in half by cubicle walls. Instruction is hindered by the competing voices of the teachers with the eighth grade class situated next door.
One girl has her head down on the table and is snoozing as the class reviews calendar math. Oddly enough, every student, boys and girls, are dressed exactly the same. Each are adorned with skate shoes, jeans, and hooded sweaters.
Students are regrouped with the next class and Core math lessons begin. This school is classified as Response to Intervention (RTI) and the students are leveled for the math and reading subjects. As the lesson proceeds, the teacher repeatedly asks more than one student to pick their heads up off of the desks. They look like a sleepy crowd. The teacher realizes this and begins to “energize” her tone and instruction style. She even asks a student to, “Go outside, get a breath of fresh air, and grab a drink of water on your way back. Because we cannot learn math through osmosis, can we?” in a loving tone. She is doing her best to work with their need for more rest and maintain a chipper attitude. However, it cannot be easy for her considering the stifling conditions of the classroom. No windows, lack of resources, and poor air circulation are part of the environment. Boo!
The sleep issue is an ongoing topic. When asked how many of the students have eaten breakfast, one of the seven children answers. She reminds the students of the option of eating the free breakfast that is provided by the cafeteria in the mornings. The teacher even plays the radio lightly to motivate the students.
I had a chance to speak with the teacher while the children worked on independent work. She mentioned how most teachers don’t prefer to teach seventh and eighth grade because, “…with all of the changes that they are going through at this age, they don’t even like themselves right now.” She even further explained how she thinks that the stigma of teaching this age group of students, with their physiological changes, has now shifted to the fifth and sixth grades. The teacher assures me that she would not rather teach any other group of children.
The next section of instruction is Intervention. The students are somewhat refreshed by the break of subject matter. The desks are situated rather far apart. The room is spacious and there is not a need for many desks. There does not seem to be any student interaction as of yet. Not even a peep. This group of students does not seem to interact in a “playful” manner.
As the student complete intervention instruction, they are excited by the upcoming “Dice Game” that they will play. The students voluntarily pair up with others for the game. The boys pair up together as do the girls. As the games begin, the mood lightens and the student are interacting more with laughter and conversation. The students complete the game and intervention instruction resumes.
The teacher turns the radio on to help the students focus on their tasks. She mentions to me that it helps the students block out the competing noise levels from the other class. The students seem to focus more while the music is playing. They are more relaxed and are actually singing and tapping along while finishing their work.
This was a great experience and a nice observation. I had great discussions with the teacher about her views on adolescent learning and other subjects. She was also very open and I was able to ask her many questions.
I observed Mrs. Stevens 8th grade class. The first thing I noticed when I walked in the room was that it was not really a clasroom. It was just a huge room that was divided by partitions. Math was the lesson being taught and there were 7 students present,6 boys and 1 girl. The Math groups were leveled, so some of her regular students went to another room during this time and a few others came in. Mrs. Stevens was teaching her lesson when she noticed a couple students dozing off. She stopped the lesson and had every one get up and stretch and get a drink of water. This seemed to help for a little while.
ReplyDeleteThe students were then handed their worksheet and they had 30 minutes to finish it and when they were done they were to catch up on anything that wasn't done. This grade had more independent work time that the 5th grades I recently observed. They were able to manage their time better. The teacher turned on the radio while the students worked. This seemed helpful and it somewhat blocked the classroom noise next door, even if it was Phill Collins. There seemed to be alot of bathroom breaks at this time. The teacher let them go as long as the pass was available. Alot of the students seemed restless and I found myself wanting to go take a short break too.
After the half hour of work time. The students were asked to pair up and there would be one group of 3. The teacher gave them the option to pick their own partners. No one picked their own partner so she matched them herself. The boy that was partnered with the girl got teased and he tried to change the subject. All while the game was being played, I could clearly hear the other class and their lesson. I thought that this must be a bit of a distraction for the students but the teacher credits them for having to adjust to their temporary classroom. She shared that they have been in their for 2 years and maybe because it's not your ordinary classroom, that it works for them. The 8th grade had their lunch time quite early. I guess it is because of the cafeteria size and they figure that the little ones eat breakfast so they can wait for lunch a little longer, and the older students just roll out of bed and go straight to school with out breakfast. On the way over to the lunch room, there was this boy and this girl fake hitting each other and they wouldnt quite until the teacher called attention to it, then they got embarassed and quit. Once again the lunch time conversation was quite interesting. The girls talked about their clothes and one girl brought up that she wanted her shirt back that had black sequins, she wanted it back because she got some black new shiny shoes. On the other end of the table, the boys were daring each other to put tobasco sauce on their orange and eat it. This all seemed like typical behavior. After lunch the students went right back to class. They did not get a recess of any kind. The students pulled out their story books and the teacher put on the audio for it. It was Island of The Blue Dolphins. I remember this book! Well, I dont remember the book really, but I remember it was one we had to read. My observation ended during this.
I am starting to realize that maybe teaching an older grade wouldn't be that bad. I never had the opportunity to observe the older grades.