Blog Entry #3

     In my third visit to Westmore elementary I spent time in Mrs. Topham's 5th grade class. She is a young, very patient and soft spoken teacher. If I had an exceptional learner I would want him/her to be taught by this teacher. 

     Though soft spoken her techniques to  gain the attention and the respect of ALL of her students is impressive. She uses many physical and visual cues to get them to focus. They work equally well for both the normal and exceptional learners. For example, as she was getting ready to transition from one lesson to another the kids began to get a slightly more loud. Immediately without any other warning she directed them to, "touch your nose....". When she saw all of the kids had done this, she immediately transitioned to the command of, "...show me a pencil.", to which they quickly responded. She gave a final order that when completed, showed that they were ready, and she began her instructions for the next lesson. 

     She does however utilize other modifications to help some of the more exceptional students. For students who are behind in their penmanship, they are allowed to utilize computers to type their reports if they are not able to write them clearly enough yet with handwriting. 

I witnessed Mrs. Topham allow students to pair up with other students to assist in homework packets while in class. She was quick to monitor and correct them when she saw them simply copying each others' answers, directing them back towards the focus on learning from each other instead of copying answers. 

     As mentioned in my previous observation of her using physical and visual cues for self control, I see more and more of these accommodations being used throughout the entire student body in order to assist the exceptional student. The oral exam, such as the spelling test is one of them. This last visit I was allowed to administer the spelling test to the students orally-which has been a long tradition. But not only does this include the exceptional student in the learning experience but it also gives the non exceptional student a basis for learning in different modalities. So in my eyes, it's a win-win for all students. 

     The final observation I would mention is that practiced by all the 5th grade teachers I was involved with; they all allow their rooms to stay open during recess. As a 5th grader in rural Idaho I recall our school not allowing any kids to stay inside during recess unless they were sick or had a doctor's note. All kids were encouraged to go outside and play. In today's 5th grade class kids are allowed to stay indoors to work on homework of their choosing, reading a book or playing education games on the computer. This most certainly allows a beneficial outlet for all children, especially those who are exceptional learners. They (students with ADHD) can focus on either exercise to give their mind a break or others with learning disabilities can work at their own pace, with extra time during recess time. 

Blog entry #2:

     During my second visit to Westmore Elementary I was assigned to a different teacher, her name is Mrs. Draper. Mrs. Draper is an short disciplinarian, not quite as patient as Mrs. Hone or Mrs. Topham. Her room is quite cluttered and not as organized as the other instructors' rooms. Regardless, I could tell right away that she too holds true to the tried and true method of keeping the kids who have trouble concentrating or doing their work, right at the front row of the classroom. However, unlike the other two instructors, Mrs. Draper does not use the amplified microphone. She seemed to be able to keep the kids in line with her stern voice just the same.
     There was something a bit different from this class vs the other 5th grade classes. This class seemed to have a few more slower learners and attention deficit type kids. And because of this I was able to be put to work much more than the other classes. She gave them much more free time to work on various school projects and instead of taken the time to focus and get to work, most of the slow learners used it as a time to take advantage of Mrs. Draper not being at the front of the class to socialize. Several times from the back of the room as Mrs. Draper was checking and working with individual students on writing assignments, she would have to sternly admonish the kids on the front row to get to work. 

     And so because of this difficulty in concentrating I focused my time and attention on those in the front row. My presence, even though I was not in my Army uniform, seemed to quiet them, or at least focus them more on their writing assignments. Most were engaged in finishing an outline that they would be using for their essays. Thus, I quickly refreshed my writing skills involving topic sentences, catching readers' attention and thesis statements. Many a time I would have to refresh the kids on what each of these were and how their body of essay work would relate to both the introduction and closing paragraph. They were quick learners to remember what I'm sure Mrs. Draper had taught them previously. But they had much difficulty grasping the concept of how the body of each paragraph had to refer back to the topic sentence. I would take time to ask them reflective questions to help them answer their own questions. Trying to find ways to have them understand why essays were formatted certain ways. 

     It was quite difficult to gain the attention of several of the kids who I could tell suffered from attention deficit. I would ask them questions about what they wanted to write about in an effort to get them focused on their introduction paragraph and thesis and thy would answer me, only to lose focus by the movements or voice of their neighbor, who inevitably was someone with similar learning deficiencies. In my opinion putting all the hard learners in one row up front did more harm than good. I would have suggested putting one of them with a brighter, more focused student so each of them were paired. I firmly believe that we rise to the expectations and standards of those around us. And who better to give us those motivating standards than our classmates? 

Mrs. Hone's 5th grade class: Technology Difference (2.25 hours)

Wow, what a difference 34 years makes! It was that many years ago I entered my first day of formal schooling (kindergarten) at the very elementary school where I have chosen to complete my service learning classroom observation hours at Westmore Elementary. Not only do they have a newly rebuilt building but the use of technology in their application of teaching is night and day from 30 years ago. 

I requested from the principal that I be placed in a fifth grade classroom as that is the grade I would like to pursue teaching in the future. He assigned me to Mrs. Hone's 5th grade class. Though I will also be spending time in two other 5th grade classes. 

As I take time out of my normal day of being a UVU Army ROTC instructor to complete my observation hours, I am in my Army digital print uniform. So entering into the classroom for the first time was much like being Buzz Lightyear when he gets into that stuffed animal alien claw pick-up video game. You remember, the one where all the little green aliens see him and think he is some sort of god. My entrance was a distraction, more so than I thought it would be. Either way, the teacher was taking it in stride and before I could answer any of the questions blurted out by the students, the kids were quickly hushed by Mrs. Hone. Hushed may not be the correct term, because she was wearing an amplified microphone around her neck. So her order of, "...class settle down and Mr. Schultz will introduce himself..." boomed over the in-class speaker system. I wasn't used to that startling amplification and even I had a startled moment at her order. I suppose the kids get used to the amplified sound and apparently it gets their attention because it was used by all the 5th grade teachers. The mic made it easy for the teacher to keep their attention, whether she was directly in front of the class, or with her head down in the corner of the room rifling through her desk looking for the next lesson. In that way I saw the mic as a tool that allowed the auditory attention of all students, and even the hard of hearing ones, to be maintained throughout the day of instruction. During my days of elementary school the only amplification we had was from the school wide intercom system for Pledge of Allegiance and the bell for recess.If the teacher wasn't directly in front of the class or next to you, it was very difficult to hear her in the large classrooms I attended school in. Furthermore, I feel as if the amplification allows the teacher a more commanding presence, allowing the more timid voiced teachers to hold command and control of their students better. 

I sat in the back of the classroom for the first hour after my introduction simply observing. I was observing the dynamics of the social and educational standards applied to each student and even their level of learning. It was quickly discovered that Mrs. Hone has the ESL learners and those who may be a bit slower, at the front row of class. This was confirmed when after the math lesson she gave them individual time to work on equations and I jumped into action. I asked her if she minded if I helped and she told me she didn't mind at all. Half of my time was spent with the kids in the front two rows of the 4 row class, checking their problems and correcting them on small mistakes. 

Shortly after this math session began, the recess bell rang. Kids lined up at the door and were released. Other kids jumped from their desks and rushed to the back of the room to jump on one of the four computers. I stayed in her class for recess and observed there were other 5th graders from other classes who were coming into the room to work on individual assignments. I still remember the first computer in my elementary school. It was third grade in Tahlequah, Oklahoma where we moved in the middle of the school year. The new school had 1 new Apple computer. It could be used before school early in the mornings or at recess. There was always a line to use it, mostly for playing rudimentary video games. And here we were during recess with 5th graders being allowed to complete book reports and educational coursework on it.

Another interesting piece of technology which I've first seen in regular practice starting this year, was the Smart Board. Mrs. Hone and the other 5th grade teacher's class I visited had one. They also had the overhead that would project the image onto the Smart Board. Thereby allowing the teacher to show the kids the math problem she was referring to in the book, and they were able to follow along by watching the Smart Board. Great piece for the visual learners in the class. 

After recess I was introduced to the other instructors and was allowed to spend the next hour with another 5th grade teacher. It was library hour and so I accompanied them to the library where the old (Is there even such a thing as a young librarian? There never was when I was coming up.) librarian was waiting for the class at the door. She directed them to the little stepped amphitheatre like sitting area and began a book lesson using her Smart Board and digital overhead. During this lesson she not only read to them from the book, showing each page on the screen but also stopped to quiz them on how a book would be cited, if they were writing a paper or if they were trying to find the book online or in the library? Curiously enough they also still utilize the Dewey Decimal system to catalog the books. Technology, it seems has not found a better way to physical organize books. Cool. I saw the kids learn 1. How to cite and search for a book properly. 2. Be taught while the librarian utilized a visual tool (Smart Board) and auditory tool (her voice). 

Taking this all in I can determine that things haven't changed that much. Kids are still kids; they enjoy recess and science fiction and talking out loud after forgetting to raise their hands. They love the library for all the choices of books. But the difference is, technology AND the understanding that it's necessary to tailor learning to all styles of learning, has allowed students to stay on par with eachother and even foregone the use of "remedial" learning classes. Though I'll have to spend more time and see if they still do the remedial or resource classroom for kids who are having problems. More in my next blog.....