Post #2

In this section of EDEL 1010 we have been learning about the history of education, mostly pertaining to the Civil Rights and Brown vs. Board of Education.  I truly enjoy reading and learning about the history of our country, the long road we have taken, but am often alarmed at those who came before us.  The horrific attitudes that were en graven in the schools and in the students during the time of segregation is appalling to me. I can't imagine treating another human being in such an appalling manner.

As I work with children in my chosen school, I honestly don't see any type of favoritism nor lack of interest in one student or another from the teacher.   Although there are some who are more rowdy, more wiggly, or more chatty, there is equal tolerance by the teacher - such a wonderful example.  

In the 4th grade, they are learning about the history of the state of Utah.  The children have been assigned to make an "alphabet book" which contains information about the state of Utah, each letter of the alphabet representing a famous person, place, or thing.  The child I have been helping during this assigned time has a difficult time with reading and writing.  Instead of being frustrated with this student, the teacher (knowing help will be in there) asked me to assist him as he comes up with words for each of the blank letters on his paper.  As I chat back and forth with him on his knowledge of "Utah", he quite often surprises me, and himself with how much he actually knows, just by discussing it out loud with someone.

By working on this project, I have come to realize more and more that not all children learn the same way, but that they each have their individual talents and unique way of learning and should not be shunned nor thrown aside just because they can't sit down, open a book, and see the answer jump off the page.   While there are some children in this class that speed ahead and have completed this particular assignment in a flash, there are those who need more (careful) time spent on this assignment, not only because they might be slower in their reading and writing skills, but possibly because they just learn differently.  I have learned that this is okay.  To have patience with these children.  As long as they are doing the best they can, that is all that matters.

More importantly.  I have learned, from my observations, that a teacher should never give students any reason to judge another student on their lack of skill in one area or another.  The classroom setting I get to participate in is very equal.  The children are there for one another.  They share when are given permission, and help their peers (friends or not) when given the chance.  It's an amazing thing to see and be a part of.

What developmental differences do you see in the children in the classroom. Blog post 1

I have been working in a 4th grade classroom of 30 children. This class has a wide range of learning levels ranging from a child who is on the lower end of the autism spectrum to children who are soon to be testing into an accelerated learning class for the 5th and 6th grades.  Although the academic range consists of a wide variety of levels, the teacher has been able to captivate the children in different aspects of learning styles.

On my first day of observing,  the teacher was just beginning the process of introducing Geometry to the students.   She wrote out and explained the geometric terms they would need to know, writing the terms down for the students to copy in their "math vocabulary" journals.  After explaining and making sure that all the students understood each vocabulary term, she insisted on 30 seconds of silence (per term) for everyone to have the chance to copy down the notes provided. Some of the children finished promptly and began being silly, but were immediately reminded of the 30 seconds of silence. Other's were a bit frustrated that this was not enough time, however were reminded that they had plenty of time later to catch up as needed.  As the note taking came to an end, the teacher explained their classwork assignment then drew names out of a can for pairing up on the assignment.

I was able to work with two boys who are on the autism spectrum, but are able to function in the normal classroom setting. One of the boys was excited about geometry and understood the concepts well, while the other giggled a lot, attempting to get all three of us off track.  We were able to bring his attention back to the homework by using visual aids in the classroom while figuring out which triangles were obtuse, acute, and right.    As I had a moment to roam the classroom, some of the "smarter" children were patiently describing different angles, using drawings, books, and other items in the classroom as examples for their partners who were struggling a little bit with the concepts.  The teacher walked around and helped as needed, however the children were paired up fairly evenly and seemed to work well together.

As the time came to an end, students returned to their desks while the teacher called them one by one to answer and show their work on the board.  When they were wrong, she didn't embarrass them nor put them down.  Instead they worked it out together while she complimented them on their hard work and great attempt, letting them know that this was a new concept which they would understand quickly.  I really appreciated the methods the teacher used to help the students understand angles and measurements.  She showed them by using pictures, associated the words with something familiar to help them remember the correct angle and term, the class wrote the different styles down, compared the angles with things in the classroom while working with a partner, and then they took turns writing these on the board.  It was a very fun and positive atmosphere to begin my observation in.