I am performing my service at an elementary school where i work with fourth graders. On my first day volunteering I was a little bit nervous but more anxious and excited to begin my first teaching experience. While im walking down the street to the school i can see the big building from a distance away. It is right off of a main road and is located in a very hectic area of town. As I pull up to the school I see dozens of students energetically running around the playground enjoying their brief time at recess. I walk into the building and sign in at the main office then I got a brief lesson by the literacy coach on exactly what activities and learning exercises I would be doing with my very own students. As I walk to the classroom I see lines of students waiting to use the restroom, which reminds me of my childhood days when the teachers would escort me and my fellow classmates to the bathroom. As I walk down the halls i notice that the school is generally very dark and dimly lit. There are posters and banners hung up all over the walls that promote following your dreams, respect, and the value of education. This immediately tells me that the school makes an effort to enforce the importance of learning and the repsect towards others. I was surprised when several young students held the door for me and clearly showed an interest to me being in the school. Once I reached my classroom I took a look around at all the decorations on the wall, piles of textbooks, and closets of backpacks and coats. At first I just observed the teacher and paid special attention to how she would interact and try to relate to the children. I finally got one on one time with my students and was glad to see that they were at the appropriate reading levels and did not seem to be struggling too much. Both of the kids scored 100 percent on their sight word evaluation and could easily read through the poems that we read together. I got to spend time with other children and am concerned on how behind they are and the significant lack of motivation. I realize that if the students who are behind do not get individualized attention early on then they will most likely struggling their whole lives and that I have the opportunity has the ability to change that around within a few months.
Since I have been in catholic private schools my whole life I was a little nervous about the behavior of public school children and had a view of them being slightly rebellious. However, I’ve have come to find out that the children were extremely polite and attentive to everything I had to say and teach them. I got to know a little bit more about them and their interests and have formed somewhat of a bond with them. The teacher keeps them in line and will firmly tell the students if they are misbehaving or going against the rules. At first I was surprised and disapproved of how frequently and sternly the teacher would yell at the students. However, as I spent more time with them I realized that if you do not raise your voice and let them know who’s in charge then they will walk all over you and pay little to no attention to their schoolwork.
The school environment seemed very structured and organized, which gave me a content and safe feeling about my surroundings. Just by spending two hours in the classroom I could already come to the conclusion that respect, hard work, and motivation are extremely valued in the classroom as well as the school. There is no time spent fooling around and every minute is consisted of reading or listening to the teachers lesson. I believe that this classroom needs to be slightly less structured and allow more time for participation and open discussions. Whenever a child raises their hand they are allowed to speak briefly and are then silenced by the teacher. Theorist Ira Shor would challenge the ideals of this classroom and would urge the teacher to allow more time for creativity and participation. Through active learning students are able to truly grasp the meaning of education and students from different backgrounds are more likely to learn at similar levels. The school environment provides structure in a way that creates a safe learning environment but also hinders the students from effectively learning all the materials that are being taught.
Hi Rachel,
ReplyDeleteI love your connection to Ira Shor--I do think he would want the children to participate and to actually shape the curriculum.
I would like you to reconsider the value of a teacher's raising her voice. Many teachers find that whispering works better--students quiet down to hear.
Keep looking at the classroom through the eyes of the theorists. I look forward to your observations.
Dr. August
Hi Rachel,
ReplyDeleteAs I was reading your blog I came across three points you made which I as well mentioned a few of them in my blog. I strongly agree with you that for the students who do well on their school work and focus in school are the ones who have parents who care for them and help them with their school work outside of school. These parents or guardians also read to them, teach them how to spell, count, write, etc. The individuals that do not pass their school work or complete it are the students that don’t have parents outside of school encouraging them to do well and telling them that to succeed in life you have to study and accomplish something in school. These children have parents that don’t care for them and just depend on the teacher to teach them. Parents must help their child with their outside school work and help them develop their “learning skills” so that way their child can move on and be successful in the future. I have definitely recognized this in my classroom with some students.
Another point you mentioned was about the teacher yelling at the students and how this is the only way she can get the students attention. I also have the same opinion as you here. During my first few visits the teacher raised her voice at the students. I really thought that was the wrong thing to do and I felt bad for the children. But as a few weeks went by and I went twice a week, I started to realize this was really the only way the teacher could get her students to cooperate, listen to her and do their work. The students are never focused or chit-chatting with their neighbor sitting next to them, get distracted by something around them, you name it and their not doing their work. Each time I go I watch the children and there are only so many individuals completing their work and following directions while the others are just sitting there looking at something else. I know raising you voice is not the best task to do but if the teacher does not yell at her students then they are not going to get anywhere and will not be able to move on, she has to let them know that there is someone encharge of them at school. I feel that the reason why the students are distracted is because first of all there young but also because they don’t have parents that don’t give them a lot of attention. Parents’ contribution in a child’s life is definitely a big part of them on how well they behave. Now, this does not go for all students but there are certain children out there that this does apply to which is very sad.
The last point I recognized in your post is what you say about Ira Shor. Yes, it is totally true that a teacher should allow more time for creativity and participation. In my class room I realize that the teacher does most of the talking which is usually a true fact in most classrooms. Ira Shor argues and describes that education is a socializing activity and social experience. He believes that students should participate and it is an important value because its most important place for a student to begin and the student is getting involved. This engages students to gain knowledge and to develop their intelligence. He points out and explains that in order for a teacher to put together an “empowering classroom and program” there must be participatory and affective values that are foundations for teacher-student collaboration. This is very factual and this why I agree with Shor.