Wednesday, December 9, 2015

Day 1 - Observation


Boulevard Elementary School in Shaker Heights is where I spent my ten hours observing.  Shaker Heights is an IB school.  Instead of pulling gifted students from the class, an IB teacher comes into the class to assist.  I spent my time with Mrs. Fagan's third grade class.  I really enjoyed my stay and observing just confirmed that third grade is the grade I would like to teach.  On my first day of observation, I stayed six hours.  Staying start to finish allowed me to really see what life is like for a third grade teacher.   

The first thing that Mrs. Fagan and I did in the morning was go outside to greet all 23 of her students.  They were standing in a single-file line.  One by one, Mrs. Fagan shook each students' hand and said hello.  Some of the students hugged her.  One student in line looked really upset.  She noticed it instantly and, concerned, pulled him to the side to talk to him.

Once Mrs. Fagan and I brought the students to the classroom, the kids instantly knew what to do.  They put their backpacks, lunches and coats away in the coatroom, handed their homework in, put their books away in the proper bins and sat at their desk and read in silence until they were given the next steps.  The books they read were books of their choice.  Mrs. Fagan has been teaching for a little over ten years.  Her classroom is organized and well structured.  She times everything- each lesson, each assignment.  There were countdowns for everything, especially when she wanted the students back at their desk.  She has a poster board for class jobs, such as: line leader and ender, book organizer, paper passer, floor cleaner, messengers and library books.  Mrs. Fagan has many rules in her classroom, but still likes to joke around with her students.  She always addressed her students as, "friends."  Some of the rules were putting their pencils down when she talks.  If another student is speaking, all hands must be down.  It is obvious that she is well respected in her classroom.  There are sticks with each student’s name on it that Mrs. Fagan uses, to determine which student she will call on next.

Behavior coupons kept the students organized, quiet and on their best behavior.  If Mrs. Fagan noticed this behavior, the student could put their name on a coupon, which gets thrown into a bucket.  Every two weeks names are drawn to have lunch with her.  The more coupons the student has, the better the chances they have at winning lunch with the teacher.  While Mrs. Fagan’s students were at lunch and recess, I sat with another teacher, who was having lunch with a few of her students.  This teacher also utilizes the behavior coupons in her class.   There was a chapter about finding allies.  Mrs. Fagan and this teacher are friends and supporters of each other. 


 Just outside of Mrs. Fagan's classroom are pictures of each student.  The theme of Mrs. Fagan's classroom is, "How we organize ourselves."  It is an inquiry into the structure and functions of organizations.  The central idea of this theme is that individuals within the organization desire and seek out leadership.  There were shelves and shelves of books.  She had bins for classwork, bell work and homework.  Each student had their own mailbox, where Mrs. Fagan puts their graded homework assignments.  There were shelves of games, blocks, puzzles and crafts.  Along with the student's artwork and classwork, encouraging words and posters with quotes were hung up on the wall.  Some of the words included: "Challenge yourself," "respect," and "responsibility."  "Winners exceed expectations" is just one of the many posters on the classroom wall.  There is a coatroom off to the side.  In addition to two large computers, there was also a table with six mini computers, where students play math and reading games.    


The desks are grouped together in four groups of six.  Mrs. Fagan said she arranges the desks in this way because the students are all at different levels.  Groups are easier for the children to learn, rather than sitting individually, because the students could help each other out.  I learned from Ayers that a teacher’s classroom sends a message as soon as one walks through the door.  I liked that the desks were not in rows, facing the front, like a mini lecture hall.


Mrs. Fagan taught all subjects: social studies, language art and math.  All of the subjects were integrated together.  While I was there, the students completed an eight-minute math test, with dividers to prevent cheating.  I think tests are okay to see where a student is doing well and where a student needs more work, but I do not think it should be graded.  Mrs. Fagan went over a lesson on addition, subtraction and multiplication.  The students would solve problems with a variety of strategies, including: writing a number sentence, using counter chips and drawing a picture.  The students would be called on to go to the board and explain how they got the answer they did.  Whiteboards and markers were used to solve the problems.   

Next, the students worked in small groups on the laptops.  The students looked up historical figures, such as: Abraham Lincoln, Anne Frank, Albert Einstein, Amelia Earhart, Helen Keller, Pei Lei, Cleopatra and Bill Clinton.  They researched characteristics and what made these people leaders.  The students completed a worksheet and filled out the figure’s attributes.  The solar system, presidents on coins and trees in the amazon are just some of the other topics of worksheets the students had worked on.  


  

The kids had recess and lunch.  Later, the students had library time.  Each student got to pick a couple of books to take home and read.  The librarian talked to the students about books and an author, Candace Fleming, who will be coming to Boulevard in April.  I got to know a lot of the students by spending the entire day with them.  

No comments:

Post a Comment