Field Blog #1

Beachwood Middle School

For our first class field experience, we went out to Beachwood Middle School. I had never been to the district, but I had always heard about it. Right when I stepped foot into the building, I got a feeling that the day was going to be a good one. I don't really know what it was, but the building, the principal, the students, and everything else about the school just seemed very welcoming to us. I was nervous going into the first visit, but it started off on a good note from the beginning.

The first classroom that I got to observe in was a sixth grade social studies class. The teacher described this class as different and not normal for the school, because there were only six or seven boys in it. I did not get around to asking why the class was so small or only one gender, but it was an interesting change. When I walked in, the teacher was standing at the front of the room, going through a review PowerPoint. All of the boys were at their desks and they had a whiteboard and dry erase marker in front of them. The teacher was going through the slides, reviewing the information they had already learned in the past, stopping at certain point, and asking the kids questions. When they think that they had the right answer, they would write it on their board and hold it up for the teacher to check. After the answers were given and checked, he gave them praise if they got it right and helped those who were  incorrect. He did not put the kids down for not knowing, he went into further detail about the information so that they would better understand it. At certain points in the lessons, some of the kids would raise their hands and relate the information they were learning about to their own lives. The teacher got them to think and make connections from these events that happened so long ago, into their reality. The teacher also showed different ways of getting the boys to learn. Instead of just standing at the front of class and lecturing the whole time, he played a clip from a documentary on the History Channel. Whenever something they learned about would be mentioned, he would pause the video and point it out. Something he said to me was, "I'm a visual teacher. They may tell you to not teach like this, but I do." This shows that society tries to form all educators into this perfect cookie-cutter mold, when really, everyone is different. The actual atmosphere of the classroom was nice, it wasn't overwhelming. There were posters and quotes that went along with what they were learning about, American flags, pictures of all the presidents, and so on. All of these decorations are surrounding the room, except for the very front where his desk and the whiteboard is. The area where the children's focus should be at most of the time is a non-distracting one, which helps them keep their mind from wandering. Overall, the teacher was an engaging one and it was clear that he really got his boys to think. He related the information to the present day, had them ask questions and try to answer them themselves, and really just got them thinking.

The next classroom I got to visit was a seventh grade language arts class. From the very beginning, the kids were a little rowdy and distracted. But the teacher took charge of the situation and was firm with them, telling them how they were to behave, and they respected her and followed her instructions. This classroom was very different than the one I was in before. There were three "teachers" in the room; one actual teacher, one who was around to assist in things such as passing out papers, and another who was a sign-language translator for a child in the class. It was different than any of the classes I have ever been in, but it was cool to see how they all worked together. The way in which the teacher taught the kids was the basic way people would think of. Students came up to the front of the room and shared their work to the class, she called on a variety of students for answers to the questions she asked, and so on. One of the things I liked that she did was the way in which she related the information to real life situations or examples. For example, something they were learning that day was a new set of vocab words. The word had to do with elasticity, so she took out a rubber band and stretched it all around so they could really understand. The room was well decorated, everything had a place and a meaning to it that fit along with the curriculum. It wasn't overwhelming, but it gave the students something to look at and made it feel more homey. This teacher was specifically good about helping the children out when they were incorrect. If someone answered a question wrong, she would point that out, but in the nicest way. She would explain to them why they were wrong and then give a further reasoning into why the right answer was right. Overall, the classroom was a welcoming one and I enjoyed being an observer in it.

By the end of the day, all of my nervous feelings were gone and I just wanted to either stay there or go on another visit to a different school. Even though I am unsure if I absolutely want to enter in the field of education, this field experience really helped me see what it's like from the other side, not being a student. It was interesting to really sit back and  observe the instructor and seeing in which ways they choose to teach their students. Overall, I think the visit to Beachwood Middle School went really well and I am looking forward to my next observation period!