Journal # 2- Domain # 2 and # 5

Teaching and Students / Teaching and the Profession

What is the student body diversity and how is cultural diversity recognized in the school?
There is not much diversity in the classroom that I observe. I haven’t noticed much around the school either. The school is mostly Caucasian students, but there are also Asian-American, and Hispanic students as well. Throughout the school there are pictures that have children from different races and cultures. The pictures in the classroom also show pictures of children not only of Caucasian race, but other races and ethnicities as well. Each of the students tables are diverse, the teacher said she tried to spread the students evenly throughout the room. The student do not look at each other differently, they know that they are all different in their own ways. Diversity is definitely not an issue in this school.

How are children involved in the classroom; how do they relate to one another?
The students are very involved in the classroom. They interact with each other very well and work cooperatively often. The teacher very rarely will answer a question but will keep asking the students until one of them gets it right. When asked a question, the teacher usually will answer with a follow up question so that the student figures it out on their own. The students do a great job of interacting with each other, especially when they need help. Most of the time the teacher allows them to ask a neighbor for help if they are doing independent work. When she is lecturing the class she does not allow them to converse with one another. The teacher always asks for students help on questions, and has a special helper when she is passing out papers or anything else. They are allowed to put their artwork up and the teacher lets them put it where they want. The students are very patient with each other and when they need to use something that another student has, they politely ask and wait until the student is done. I haven’t seen any conflict between students at all. Some students are chattier than others but they interact with each other very well.

How are the needs of students with exceptionalities met in the classroom and at the school?
The school has a special reading teacher for those students that need it or struggle with it. She takes them out a couple at a time and then when they come back the other students go. Most of the children in the classroom speak English well, but for the ones that don’t they have a special teacher to help them with that as well. Time is set out each day for them for them to meet with their special teacher and learn what they need. They have certain classrooms that are dedicated for children that have certain needs. There are no special education students in the classroom I observe, but they do have a special education classroom along with a set of teachers that help work with them. The classroom is set up for the needs of everyone. Everything is accessible to all students. If there were a special education student or handicapped student they would be able to access everything the other students have. There are also things set out for students that are a little more accelerated as well. Some students get advanced work if they are not challenged by the work the other students are doing. The room that I observe has some advanced reading books because some of the students read at a higher level. When going group readings the teacher has the students come over in groups based on their ability. She has books for three different levels of reading for beginners, middle and advanced. The same thing goes for math. The students that really understand the work get two or three more challenging problems to keep their mind active so they don’t finish too early and disrupt the other. The classrooms are perfect for any kind of student.


How do teachers and other school personnel work together?
The teachers meet a few times a week to discuss activities and changes in schedules. They usually meet before school and during their lunch breaks. The principal usually meets with them once a week to give them new information of go over the events for the week. If a teacher has to step out for a moment he/she will ask the teacher across the way to watch the room for a second or two. In the room that I am observing there is a room divider and when the teachers need to borrow books or supplies for each other they just open the divider and slide it through. The teachers will bounce ideas off each other for various projects and ask opinions about what they should do with certain subjects. The meeting that I sat in on, on teacher couldn’t decide what project she was going to use for a certain subject and the other teachers gave their pros and cons to help her make sure she made the right choice. I observed at other schools in the past but in this school the teachers seem a lot more connected and discuss a lot more things in their groups. They all look out for one another and try to help out as best they can. I think the closer a core group of teachers are and building good relationships will really benefit the students.


How are families and other community members involved in the school?
The families seem to be very hands on. The school has a before and after school care for the students which seems like a lot of the parents take advantage of. It helps build friendships between the students and also gets the parents familiar with the teachers. The teacher reports things back to the parents if there child is having a good or a bad day. The teacher is available through e-mail and phone, which she says the parents use a lot. Most parents want to know how their child is doing via e-mail and to keep them posted on the child’s progress. The teacher also sends monthly e-mails to the parents to let them know exactly where there child is and what they need to work on. The school also has other activities that the parents get involved in like bake sales, book drives, and other school functions as well. They are encouraged to look at their student’s artwork when they come in or when the students take them home. Parents are encouraged to contact the teacher if the need anything or have any questions.

How does the teacher keep track of student progress?
Student progress is kept in a Microsoft Excel file. She tracks the homework, test scores, and all the other projects for each other the students. It is a lot like what we did in our technology class when we had to make a mock grade book. Everything is exactly the same. She sets highs and lows and get notifications is a student drops within s certain level. I really like the way it is set up, it is really easy to take thirty students test and put them in on place. She also keeps a handheld grade book just in case technology fails but it all ends up in the computer at the end of the day.

What extra duty tasks does the teacher perform? (meetings, bus duty, etc.)
The teacher has meeting with her other core teachers throughout the week. She also organizes when they are going to meet and what topics are going to be discussed.

In the book I really liked how they did certain projects to open the children up to the different types of cultures. I think it is important for the children to be aware of the different cultures surrounding them and that they need to respect others and their culture. The more familiar the students become with different cultures, the less they notice it or make a big deal about it. They can also spread their knowledge of the subject to their own classmates so that they can become more familiar with it. As far the parental involvement goes, I think they should be highly involved. They should be able to contact the teacher about anything and know where his/her child stands at any given time. Some parents are way too over the top, but everyone gets protective of their children. I like the idea of sending a monthly update so that the parents are not left in the dark and they can focus more on what they need to work on and what their child’s strengths and weaknesses are. Keeping the student focused and on the ball is the most important thing to a good education.