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.....
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