Blog Post #2

Throughout my observations in my field experience class, I have concluded that she is simply depositing information to her students and has not established a relationship whatsoever with her students. I would not describe the teacher as an effective facilitator by any means. There is a blatant disregard of culturally responsive teaching and learning within her classroom and also within the school itself. Also, her classroom severely lacks literacy tools in order to sustain her students’ interactions.

The students are responsible for coming to class prepared with pencils, erasers, crayons, etc. If a student fails to adhere to this “rule,” the teacher does not supply any extras out, leaving it for the student to somehow find what they need. There is only one electric pencil sharpener in the classroom, located on the teachers desk, and can only be used when given permission. The teacher hardly ever allows her students to use the electric pencil sharpener and since only a hand full of students come to class with their own pencil sharpeners, there is a constant frustration over who needs a pencil and if it’s not pencils it’s erasers. There is a substandard number of literacy tools present in the classroom. Many of the literacy tools are not taken care of such as the computers. There are a total number of six computers but only half of the headphones actually work. Yet, the teacher still enables her students to complete their i-Ready assessments on loud volumes to distract others.

Although the classroom has a library, there is nothing engaging about it and ineffective. There is only a small area rug which is extremely dirty and this is the only space allotted for students to sit or lay to read their chosen book. As a whole, the classroom atmosphere is dull and uninviting with no student work displayed and nothing captivating for the viewer’s/parent(s) eye. The teacher never takes advantage of her Promethean Interactive Board or globe and simply uses the same three measly 8.5" x 11"dryerase boards for each of the groups the students are divided into. It is evident that literacy is not deemed as a respected target within the classroom.

There are no clear classroom rules or expectations displayed anywhere in the classroom. There is a monthly calendar but it is located in the back corner of the room and cannot be clearly noticeable to each student depending on where they are seated. The class schedule is typed and posted by the teacher and can be found on the right side of the wall when you first walk in. This schedule is by no means noticeable or reinforced –it is also typed in 12 point font on the standard 8.5 inch by 11 inch paper making it even more difficult to find and read.

I don’t really have many strengths to support within my observations in this classroom as far as literacy tools. There are no colors to be stimulated by or to help her students learn. The only “strength” I can seem to find is that the teacher includes “Star of the Week” in her classroom. The “Star of the Week” should get students thinking about themselves and create a community within the classroom from all of the sharing and learning from one another. It should also be interactive while the students find out information about their classmates so they can connect with them. It should be a core of setting up the year so that each student can be successful and can help each other learn. Unfortunately, all the teacher did was write the students name in the center of a poster board, write four qualities and left it at that. There is no picture, artwork, or labels of any kind. Another strength is that the textbook used in class, McGraw-Hill Wonders Literature Anthology 1.4, provides a plethora of genres for the students.

I would suggest that the teacher makeover her classroom and develop a theme. She should create a welcome center-the place where the students turn in their homework, library books, check their cubbies, leave a note for her, etc. I would label everything with fun, bright colors, letters and words. I would build a writing wall with the words ‘Radical Writers!’ across with each individual students’ name and writing displayed for all to see. Instead of having the calendar in the back of the classroom, I would bring it to the forefront, make a calendar wall and label it ‘Calendar’ and add decorative postings. For the library, she should want it to be a place where the students can feel comfortable while reading. I would suggest adding in an author’s chair, a large decorative rug and a music section to the library.

Since I am a huge fan of labeling items, I would advise the teacher to clearly mark and categorize the library so the students are not confused with such a large assortment. For example, I would class (in bins) guided reading books on the top shelf, seasonal/holiday books on the middle shelf, and listening centers on the bottom shelf. In order to maximize classroom space, I would hang some sort of thread or rope high above with clothing pins to hang more student work since wall space is limited.

          Another suggestion I would make in order to improve the literacy environment is to hang motivational/encouraging quotes all around the classroom. For example, “Every child is an artist.” – Pablo Picasso and "The more that you read, the more things that you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go." -Dr. Seuss. I think classrooms reflect our personalities and can tell a lot about us. A clean, smartly spaced and visually stimulating classroom can help students learn better and it might even increase their engagement and boost their motivation. My final suggestion would be to add color! Colors and patterns are an extremely powerful tool for teaching students and helping students learn, especially in first grade. I would also suggest making “Star of the Week” a fun activity for the students to do at home such as creating a collage of themselves with pictures and then bring into class and share.

As far as non-verbal communication skills, I feel as though the teacher is too rough at times and is always nasty with her words. I have never heard her say a positive reinforcement to any of her students-not one! She is never engaging with her students and always seeks to threaten (silent lunch, call their parent, etc.) them whenever something goes awry and yells to embarrass them. I feel as though this teacher has lost all passion for teaching and simply does not care to put forth any extra effort in order to create a warm, positive classroom environment. I question why she is still in this profession along with a few other "teachers" at Ludlam. 

Below is a link of a video that demonstrates culturally responsive teaching and learning. The video also presents a brief lesson example on how to use CRT techniques within the classroom. I hope you all enjoy it!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_uOncGZWxDc

Blog Post #2 Samantha Rader

Being in a kindergarten classroom, it's not at all what I expected. What I expected was a lot nurturing,  reading stories on the carpet, learning the sounds and letters of the alphabet, and maybe even some reading and writing of they own. Instead, every day the students are constantly forced to write sentences that they don't know how to read and that they don't even understand. This creates a stressful environment for both Ms. Jay and the students. Her biggest concern is that they can read, but some kids can't even identify all the letters. In fact, some kids are still trying to learn English. This stress is seen in Ms. Jay's non-verbal communication skills.

You can tell instantly when Ms. Jay is upset with a student. Before she even opens to mouth to speak (or in some cases yell), she has a very specific look that she gives the student she's upset with. That look alone usually stops the student from whatever he or she was doing in the first the place. Ms. Jay will still express her disappointment or frustration with them after. This frequently occurred walking to and from lunch, but in the classroom as well if the student weren't do what they were supposed to be.

Another non-verbal Ms. Jay does is lower the lights in the classroom when the kids get back from lunch. I asked her why she did that and she said that by lowering the lights she felt like it calmed them down and set a tone for relaxation. Another thing Ms. Jay does is bang her hand on the table next to them before she yells if she's really frustrated with a student. While I was there, a student who I previously mentioned, who was pretty new to the classroom, was drawing under the desk and Ms. Jambu had noticed. The first thing she had done was smack her hand on the table and then proceed to yell at him asking why he had done that. She then looked over at me and said that, "This is what happens when a student has never been to school before, they don't know classroom manners!" I wasn't really sure how to reply.

I've noticed that there is a lot of "shushing" done by Ms. Jay when the students are supposed to be quiet. I don't know if I would consider this a non-verbal action but there aren't any words expressed here when she does that. It's usually when a student is answering a question and other kids who she didn't call on are replying or when she's sitting at the computer trying to fill out paper work and needs them to quiet down. The most important nonverbal communication she does is making eye contact with her students ever time she is speaking to them. Whether it's when she's mad or happy or just listening. Making eye contact with them lets them know that she's speaking with them and either they are being heard or she wants them to hear her.

Blog #2

In my field experience, I have not witnessed too much non-verbal communication between my teacher and her students.  Due to the fact that testing is currently happening, while I was in my classroom I really only witnessed my teacher doing practice tests with her students.  Because of this, when someone was doing something wrong, she used her voice to let that person know that they were disrupting the class, their neighbors, and her.  When doing this, the student would then put their head on their desk as instructed to symbolize that they were finished with their work.

Throughout the practice tests, Mrs. Brown would walk around the classroom to make sure that the students were doing what they were supposed to be working on.  When she came across someone who wasn't, she would kneel down and ask them why they didn't do the assignment properly or why they stopped working before the assignment was completed.  However, from where I was sitting I didn't see many students doing their work.  There was a lot of side conversation and fidgeting with things in their desk.  

Throughout their test taking, Mrs. Brown would come and sit with me and talk to me about the class.  She was helpful due to the fact that she was informing me about ELL students, telling me about the test and its preparations, and talking to me about different students disabilities, but this was very distracting for the class.  All of them would look over at us when they heard their names and she would tell them to focus on what they were doing not on us.  

When it was time for lunch, Mrs. Brown dismissed the students one by one.  She looked to see if the students were sitting properly, if they cleaned up their desks, and if they were being quiet.  When these things were accomplished she would call out a name and they would get their things for lunch and art (they went straight from lunch to art).  When walking through the hallway to the cafeteria, Mrs. Brown makes the kids stop at all the corners in the hallway before going on.  She says that she does this so she can keep count of everyone and make sure nobody gets too far ahead.  

Walking through the hallway was one of the only times I saw non-verbal communication.  I noticed it when we were outside of a classroom, and the students were being too loud she would stand next to that student.  Just by walking next to the student, they realized that they needed to be quieter when walking through the hallway.  

In the end, there wasn't much non-verbal communication for me to notice due to the fact that the students have only been taking practice tests when I am with them and I haven't really seen them during a lesson.  

Blog Post 2: Observation with a Focus

Before responding to your prompt for this second blog post, I want to update you on my current placement situation. I am now with Ms. Margarite Depaola, a Hispanic woman in her 40s, who has worked at Coral Gables Senior High as a teacher for over 13 years now. She also had an internship and began as a counselor at CGSH for several years. Her clear passion for the school itself and for the kids who attend it are inspiring and she has been not only welcoming but extremely helpful in the gathering of my field experience observations/assignments. I really feel like I am visiting in an entirely different school since leaving my initial placement with Ms. Munnerlyn. After sitting in on her class for over 17 hours thus far, I believe I am in a position that I can gather beneficial advice and lessons from in my continuous growth as a future teacher! So, for this second post, you asked us to focus on a single aspect of our observed instructor's teaching approach. I'd like to share my observations about Ms. Depaola's facilitation of her lesson in one of her classes, specifically her inclusive, general education 11th grade English course.
She, above all else, placed emphasis on her students' reading comprehension. She did this through several student-oriented techniques. Students were asked to take notes on their own paper of the plot, characters, and new vocabulary. She constantly scaffolding her students'  learning by telling them specific information to note and providing her own personal examples that would relate back to the characters or the plot in the text. Students were fully aware of what info was important and what they should be taking away while reading. This was something I observed to be very different from my experience in AP English classes at my previous high school. We were expected, as independent thinkers, to recognize on our own what information was worth noting and what wasn't. Teachers provided little aid in this regard.
Ms. Depaola also prompted them to answer text dependent questions. She would often probe for answers to both recall questions (questions they could find answers to in the book) as well as inference questions (questions they had to draw on previous knowledge for). This was a great approach because it allowed for the students to tie their background knowledge to the reading so that they could better relate to the information given and further understand it!
I must point out that throughout this lesson, Ms. Depaola read aloud to her class. Usually, I believe that having students read different parts is more conducive to active participation and improved comprehension, but in the case it might have been a smarter choice. It was a wise decision considering many of her student's reading level is moderate to poor and would have not only slowed down the pace of the class, but might have confused their fellow classmates. She is also very expressive and could provide individual "personalities" for each of the characters. Her students seemed more engaged the more expressive she became, especially as her volume and tone fluctuated between characters.
I noticed that most students remained engaged throughout the entire reading of the first chapter. I think this might be because she focused little on what we typically think of as academic English. Grammar and structure of her students notes and comments were deemed of little importance. As long as they got the gist of the text, she was happy. In fact, she would sometimes supplement new information with Spanish commentary to students who spoke Spanish. I don't recommend this style of teaching because it can negatively affect the kids in the classroom who do not speak Spanish. Yet,it made the atmosphere feel very relaxed and did aid in her instruction of the lesson to those particular students. But like I said, I would avoid doing this for most classes!
The first thing Ms. Depaola said to me when I entered her classroom one morning was, "I might not be the best teacher, but I love these kids." Her approach to teaching really proved that to me. She very clearly emphasized comfort and an appreciation for learning and for one another. Although this approach was not necessarily the most academically driven, she got her point across and the kids seemed to absorb the content within the text, which was her main objective. I'm excited to continue to observe her as she continues to make an impact on these children!

Post #1 Samantha Rader

I have been assigned to a kindergarten classroom at Kinloch Park Elementary School with Ms. Jay. My first experience there wasn't a good one when I was initially turned away. When I went back a second time I was able to get into the classroom and meet the teacher. Ms. Jay seemed great and very excited to have me there.While she was very involved in helping me and getting to know me, she was not that involved with her students. While we were talking she mentioned numerous times how "exhausting" teaching was, understandable in a kindergarten classroom, but maybe shouldn't have said it in front of the kids. She kept asking me if I was sure this was what I really wanted to do, alluding to switching my major. The whole an hour and a half I was there that day she didn't teach any form of lesson, just had them repeatedly write sentences on that were on the board.

She had told me that in kindergarten they need to know how to read and write, otherwise they were to be held back. She told me she was planning on holding five back. The classroom is an inclusion classroom with 5 ESE students of 18. She told me that they either have ADHD, speech disabilities, or are developmentally delayed. I wasn't able to tell the first time I was there, but the second time it became more clear. Those students did not receive any specific accommodations, in fact no lesson at all was even being taught. I went on a day where there retention and referrals forms were due, so Ms. Jay was on the computer the whole time doing that. While we were talking a student who was new to her classroom the day before came up to talk to her. While he was speaking she told me he was going to need to be referred or retained as well because "you can just tell" in front of him. I don't think she assessed his situation well, she had only known him one day and when I asked where he moved from she had no idea.

I noticed that Ms. Jay seemed overwhelmed the second time I went. I kept asking if there was anything I could do to help and most of the time she kept saying, "No, I'm sorry, it's never usually like this." She had the kids playing with blocks and eventually they got bored of it, after an hour. At that point I suggested to Ms. Jay that I should read them a story so they weren't as loud so she could get her work done. She agreed so I picked a book and came up with an activity to do when they were done. During the activity she had left me alone in the room with them for around fifteen minutes. I didn't notice at first and didn't think it was an issue. Then once the kids started finishing the activity they wanted to know what they should do next, I just kept making things up for them to do. Unfortunately, there was a severe language barrier between the kids and I. Many of them don't speak a word of English and unfortunately for me, I don't speak a word of Spanish. I couldn't understand what the kids were asking and I would ask them if they spoke English and they would shake their heads no. At that point, a student who spoke both English and Spanish would jump in and translate. By the time Ms. Jay came back all the kids were done with the initial activity and she threw in a video.

In conclusion, I believe that Ms. Jay does really seem to care about the kids, she tells them all that they need to show "Miss Sami" (me) how smart she knows they are, but she is unfortunately burnt out. She mentioned a few times that this was not how it was when she started teaching and all these kids do is test. I understand her frustration, but I think maybe if she made more of an effort with her lesson plans she would be getting the results she needs. Hopefully next time won't be as hectic and there will be more learning involved, if not I'll be prepared with a story and an activity for them instead!

Post 1 - Ana Teresa Moreno

I was placed in South Side elementary for my field experience. When I entered the school, kids were just coming out of their lunch time. The kids were trying to make a line to go to their classrooms in an organized manner, and most teachers were yelling "Get in here!", "Stay in line!". I heard this from the inside of the office in which I was waiting to see where my placement teacher was. I was placed with Ms. Rodriguez, who teaches math and science in a rotating class.

The math class has a 40 minute duration. For that day's class, they had to write a long assignment for the next day and go over a test review. The teacher started copying the assignment quickly, most of the kids fell behind because of how long it was, and there was a part in which they had to copy seven sentences, five times each. Then, the teacher gave out the test review which she went through rapidly and they were making at the same time. In my opinion, there was not a lot of time organization in the class. Forty minutes is not a lot, but the kids should be learning things accurately rather than speedily. When the switch came, there were about five students who had not finished copying the homework, but the teacher made them go to their next class.

The students for science class came in, and they had a quiz so I didn't see much teaching in that class. They had had a homework for they day before, which they could take out for the quiz. Some of them didn't do the homework, so the teacher told them that they were probably going to fail while she gave cookies to the ones who did the homework.