Individual Field Blog Post

For the individual field experience I chose to go back to my old alma mater.  I attended Saint Ignatius High School and observed classes over the period of two days.  The days were long because of the packed time and between 8 am and 2:50 pm I only had one lunch break, so I was busy pretty much all day.  Though both days were physically and mentally draining I believe the experience was well worth it because I was able to observe a total of 8 history classes each day.  For a total of 14 hours of observation I was able to learn and pick up a lot on the similarities and differences I saw in the teachers throughout the day. 

What I found most interesting was actually observing the teachers as they taught the lesson.  Sitting in a class through high school, I would look at what was on the board and write that down in addition to what the teacher was saying.  This time around I did not focus on the content so much as the actions of the teacher throughout the class.  It was a real change of pace to just focus on the teacher and the way they moved and how they talked and the enthusiasm they would show for certain areas and the lack thereof for other areas.  It was an incredible experience and I had a great time sitting in on the classes both days and for the remainder of the blog I will post based on the periods I went through and what I was able to gather over the two days in each 40 minute class. 

1^st Period-  Honors World History (Freshman)-  I walk into the classroom to be greeted by a former teacher of mine who is happy to see me and have me observe him.  I take a seat in the back and take out my notebook ready to observe.  The teacher turns on the smart board and all the chit-chat and talking before class starts is now stopped.  My first reaction to this was amazement at how fast they all became quite as class was about to begin.  Students take out computers and note books and pens to take notes with (throughout the class students would play games on their computers so I don’t like the idea of those in the room).  The teacher throughout the class would walk across the front of the room to keep the students eyes forward and he would constantly ask questions about readings from the night before or previous units to keep the students engaged and to make sure they prepared for class and remember the previous units.  As the bell rang and the morning announcements came on he kept talking and even tried to talk over it to keep the lesson going.   After I left to go to a different class for period 2, his class continues and so he passed out a quiz that the students didn’t have enough time for and so let them finish on the second day I was there.  He was trying to give them advice about it as they were taking the quiz, such as “if you have to guess go with your first guess” and also “eliminate the two answers that it can’t be and take your best guess at the answer you think it is.”  It was great to watch this class because the only time the teacher would stop moving was when he would walk to a podium at the front of the room to change slides on the power point.

2^nd Period- U.S History (Sophomores)-  In this class group presentations were being done so there was not a lot I could observe from the teacher other than him standing in the back of the room this time to watch the presentation and make sure the other students were focused.  One thing I thought was interesting that he did was that he would ask questions during the presentation if the students did not cover 100% of what he was looking for and so would ask them leading questions as well as jumping off points so they could expand on his ideas as well as their own.  If the students had researched their topics then they would be fine answering them but some students were unprepared and one group was so unprepared that the teacher told them to sit down and he finished the presentation himself.  When the group presentations are done he goes up to teach a little before class is over and calls specifically on the students who appear to not be paying attention.  He would walk around and used some humor in his lecture while talking with the students which I believe can help a lot in a classroom.

3^rd Period- U.S. History (Sophomores)- In a different classroom now that is not set up like the other two in rows and columns.  In this classroom the desks are in three rows but two desks put together like a small table for two students to sit at.  The weeks work and homework is written on the board (which I believe is a great idea so just in case a student isn’t paying attention when the teacher tells them the homework they can just look up to mark it down).  The first day I am in the class, she reviews quickly what the students went over the previous week by asking the students questions and then she passes out a project they will need to work on with a partner and tells them to go over them for homework to figure out what they want to do.  After all the talking is done she decides to show a documentary on the women’s suffrage movement because that is what they are studying.  The next day the students pick their partners and their topics for their project but today the teacher decides not to show the documentary.  Students today now are grading a quiz from the previous week and she passes out red pens so they grade them for each other.   When they are done grading the quiz she puts a power point up on the board and starts the first slide with review questions.  While still moving she lectures to the class what is on the board and when she asks a question she only accepts answers from students who raise their hands which I thought was interesting because in the previous period the teacher called specifically on the students who appeared to not be paying attention.

4^th Period-lunch

5^th Period- A.P. U.S. History (Sophomores)-  The most interesting room set up that I experienced all day.  The desks were set up in a baseball diamond type way where two rows of desks were off to the left, two in the middle and two on the right and the teacher standing in the middle would be “home plate” so that all students could see him and the board.  This set up allowed for the teacher to walk around a lot for his lecture with the students.  Both days were test review days for the day following after I finished my observations.   Both days the teacher would keep a steady pace around the room and keep everyone engaged by talking directly with students when asking questions and calling on students both with their hands up and those with them down.  His hand motions and use of eye contact made sure that everyone was paying attention at all times.  He would turn the lights off when the power points were on and turn them off when he would just speak with the students.  The bullet points on the slides did not hold all the information he would talk about, these bullet points were only staring points of conversation so the students would have to make sure they were listening to take sufficient enough notes. 

6^th Period-Cleveland History (Seniors)-  The first day there was a surprise test for the students to fill out so there was not much I could do.  The test was a page just filled with lines and the students would find a partner and write a 3-4 paragraph essay on the topic of their choice from the paper.   The next day the students took notes and although it was a small class the teacher still did his best to walk around.  Each slide was just a picture that he would explain, there were no notes on any slide so the students would really have to pay attention.  If the students were talking while he was he would simply talk over them until it got to a point where just told them all to shut up and focus (in a humorous but stern way). 

7^th Period-World History (Freshman)-Same teacher as the last period so I didn’t have to move rooms.  Power point has notes on the slides this time for the Freshman.  Not only are the notes informative but some were quite funny, a lot of modern humor that the students could relate to.  Uses the notes on the board as jumping off points to talk about other issues while remaining on topic.  Each slide would relate back to a main idea that was on the first slide (and would appear again on the last one).  This teacher in particular loves to make jokes while teaching and keeps all the students engaged through humor. 

8^th Period- U.S. Government (Juniors)-  This class is set up in tables spread out across the room instead of rows and columns.  Before the class even starts the teacher passes back old papers and asks if there have been any problems with his grading which there were and some students had to come to his desk to fix it.  When class actually starts he beings with a review of class from the last week.  As he is talking to the students he draws pictures on the board to represent different things that relate to the topic.  These drawing really would help the students make associations for when a test or quiz comes up.  The next day he reviewed from the day before, and kept the students attention by randomly asking questions to each student in a random order.   The day after my observations the teacher was planning on playing a jeopardy game for bonus points, and I believe that this is a great idea before a quiz so it will help relieve stress before a test, is a good way to review, and also offer bonus points to the students who are already prepared to take the test.

9^th Period- World History (Freshman)- In the last class of the day the teacher would ask questions called “cold calls” that are questions to engage the students as soon as they walk in the room.  This teacher really walks around and keeps a good pace throughout the room and used constant hand motions.  If students were to start talking while he was lecturing he would keep going until they would just become quite again.  He would expand on all the points and questions through more slides and lecture to keep the students focused. 

The one major similarity I found with all the teachers is that no matter the size of the classroom or the amount of students in the class they would walk around.  Each teacher would keep moving to keep the students attention on them and their voices as well as what’s on the board.  Even in college I have now come to notice that teachers will move while speaking whenever possible and I believe this is a good thing to do.  A student’s eyes will be focused on the teacher and what they are saying or will be focused on the board to copy down the notes.  The combination of both of these tactics I believe works well because a student will try to focus both and give his or her attention to the teacher and the information. One other similarity that I saw was the use of humor throughout the day.  If the students could laugh a little during class then it releases tension on them so they can get back to the grind of the class in front of them.  You could tell that there was “authentic friendship” as described by William Ayers.  There is a line where the teachers would not cross and that was after making a joke or funny observation about a topic, not getting back to the information.  All of the teachers and students would laugh but then everyone knew that more work had to be done and no one had a problem with that.

Field Blog Cleveland Heights High School

My question that I formulated was "Is the approach to teaching small children the same as high school children?"  In my experience I was surprised with the results.  I was surprised because i did not expect there to be so many similarities,  Between Green Elementary and Cleveland Heights High School i was surprised at the way the teachers conducted their classrooms.  For instance some classes at Green had different desk arrangements such as tables, rows and columns and spread out completely.  When i walked into the high school classroom i expected the desks to be arranged in the rows and columns but was surprised to find them all in a circle.  This was so the teacher would be in the center talking to all of the students to make sure they could all see him and each other.  This took me by surprise because i never saw a classroom with this set up in high school but did in the elementary school.  It was interesting to me and appeared to work perfectly.  None of the students spoke out of turn and the class did not have notes on the board but was all discussion based.  The teacher would send a question around the class and hear everyone's opinion on it.  It was great because everyone got involved in it.  The teacher made class fun by talking with the students, not at them, just like the elementary school teachers i saw.

Ayers when talking about building bridges did not just mean literally but also metaphorically.  The bridge from childhood to adulthood is one that needs to be built for every person and teachers can help especially with this bridge.  Teachers are the ones students can look up to for the education they need for the rest of their lives.  Another example is the spiritual journey that Ayers son went on.  He saw a boy go through changes during a Bar mitzvah and saw him cross the bridge from childhood to adulthood.  When he takes his spiritual journey he finds in himself the steps to take to bring himself into adulthood.

If I were to plan a teaching experience I would include all of the things that i have learned through my observations as well as the readings.  At Cleveland Heights High School the teacher showed me a successful way to get the attention of a class is to set the desks up in a giant circle for discussion.  I would use tactics from the book such as "finding allies" and making "authentic friendships."  I would just want the students to respect me and be able to talk to me like one of their friends while still acknowledging that I am their teacher.  I would find allies by asking teachers what they find the best way to teach a class is and take what i think will work for me and incorporate it myself.  The best way i found in the reading is "learning from your own experience."  Through trial and error i would find what works for me and for teaching the students.  Most importantly i would incorporate films into my lecture whenever possible because like the late, great, James Skerl once said "A class without movies, is like a day without sunshine."

Blog Post 7

"What does it mean to become a teacher?"  I believe that it was best summed up through the writings of William Ayers specifically chapter four in To Teach.  His belief and use of the building bridges technique is what I believe it is all about.  Teaching is all about building bridges and making connections to the students and their lives.  He shows in the book a literal use of bridge building by helping the students find a way to build a bridge for the class pet (a turtle).  The figurative meaning of bridge building however is the real point he was trying to get across.  He explains the bridges between: conception, growth, childhood, adulthood, and death.  It is a teachers job to help build the bridge for a student between childhood and adulthood and even further give them the materials they need for the rest of their lives.  A teacher is not just a person who relays information from a textbook to a student, a teacher is a person who can make connections to the students lives and help them become the people they will be for the rest of their lives.

Blog Post 6

The post it note experiment made me pay more attention to the reading and think deeper about the subjects at hand.  When I read, sometimes I just go through the pages and let my mind wander to different things but the post it notes helped me to focus.  As i was reading through the pages of the book and making notes i noticed that i did not receive the "banking" form of education.  It seemed strange to me to read about how teachers do not care about their students and just throw information at them instead of taking the time to make sure their students understand what they are doing.  I wrote on several post it notes "Never happened in my schools" and "No teachers acted like this for me."  I did not know if the book would go over how a teacher would be able to include their students into the lessons and do more than teach but to make sure their students learned through examples and trial and error, but the following pages showed me the other type of education, like the one i received.  When I came across the pages about the education I had, i wrote a note saying "my teachers helped me to adapt" which i do believe is true.  Although there are some bad teachers i do believe there are just as many, if not more that are trying to do the right thing.  The "problem-posing" teaching is the way i was taught and i am very glad it was this way.  I feel like i learned a lot more with teachers who would help the students by giving us freedom instead of trying to take over and throw information at us.  Students learn more critically when the student no longer is seen as a student but a c-investigator, and i know this is the way i will work with my students.  

Blog Post 5

In the high school that I attended (a Catholic all boys high school) the matters of homophobia and heterosexism did not really matter.  Neither seemed to be a big problem in the school.  If you did not like someone for any reason at all you simply did not talk to them, no one ever spoke out against any group and there were no fights or anything of that nature.  If there was a problem then it was not even noticeable, people just went through their day and everything was normal.  It did not matter if you were gay or straight everyone just did their own thing and there were no problems from anyone.  

In class we discussed moving the age of a person becoming a legal adult to the age of 10 or 14 to give them more rights.  Although I think this would be a bad idea because a 14 year old and especially a 10 year old would not be able to make the decisions a 18 year old or older would be able to make but I do believe that children of this age should be able to begin to form their own opinions on different matters.  A child of this age can begin to decide how to act with homophobia and heterosexism and feel however they want to because even though they aren't 18 they still have a human right to think however they want to.  I hope that when I am a teacher all of my students get along and homophobia and heterosexism are no longer problems and I would work with students to make sure that it is not but if some students believe differently then that is their opinion and I have to respect that as well.

Blog Post #4

[Teachers] should recognize that the linguistic form a student brings to school is intimately connected with loved one’s community, and personal identity. To suggest that this form is “wrong” or, even worse, ignorant, is to suggest that something is wrong with the student and his or her family.

I agree with the message that Lisa Delpit is trying to get across.  Teachers should be able to recognize that their students have lives outside the classroom that could be drastically different from the ones that the teachers present in class.  Teachers should not hold the students responsible for the way they have learned to speak.  There is nothing wrong with a student who speaks in the way they were brought up to speak.  If a student has an accent there is no way to control this, and if a student is from a foreign country and English is not their first language then some things will be misspoken by them.  A teacher would be the ignorant one to suggest a student is wrong for not speaking in clear English.  There would be nothing wrong with the student and especially not the family.  Students are a product of their environment, students learn how to talk from their parents and loved ones and there is no way for them to control this.  If a teacher tells a student to "talk right" or "speak English" then they could potentially damage the student.  The student would think that everything that they learned from their parents would be wrong just because a teacher does not take the time to embrace their students cultures and try to adapt with them instead of forcing them to adapt for them.

Blog Post Numbah 3/ Field Blog Green Rd

The quote "We do no really see with our eyes or hear through our ears, but through our beliefs" has a real meaning when it is applied first hand.  On our trip to Boulevard Elementary, it was an experience I have never had before.  Upon entering one can see that all of the classrooms are actually connected only divided by shelves and lockers.  My elementary school had nothing close to this, with each room divided by walls as most schools tend to have.  I was skeptical about this at first mostly about the issue of noise from one class carrying over from "room to room" throughout the building but it did not appear to be a huge issue.  Each teacher was able to keep their students under control and quite in the space provided to them.  Even if one class was getting to loud, all of the students who were in the same room as us ignored them and focused on the task at hand without even looking to see what the commotion was.  

The first two rooms I observed were 3rd grade rooms but each had a different structure for the desks which I found odd.  One room had the desks arranged into rows and columns and one had them arranged into tables so the students could face each other.  I assume that this was because each teacher believed that this would be the most productive for their room and it appeared successful for both rooms for the time we had.  2nd grade teacher I observed showed incredible enthusiasm for all of her students and it was clear she was enjoying what she did with her students.  She read them a story and even let students read from the book and call on other students for questions.  She made sure to include all the students at all times and when one student could not see the book she stood up and showed him the page which really showed that she cares.  When I observed the 5th grade the students were playing a game that was extremely informative and appeared to be fun as well.  I believe that all the teachers in the school were trying hard to make sure that the students did not think of class as a chore or something they had to go to but they made each lesson informative and fun.  This belief was only enhanced by the fact that every wall was covered in fun looking posters for the students to look at.  Each one was not only motivational and informative but usually funny of creative as well.  I was not sure how the elementary school system worked outside of being a student who already went through it but, I was extremely impressed with what I saw and I believe that the best way for the students to learn and focus is to keep things fun as well as informative.