As I was driving through the side streets to my first tutoring session I was taken back by the sight of the area that the school was located in. The streets themselves were littered with trash, and there were a few people sitting on the sidewalk a few blocks from the school who appeared to have no place else to be. One man was talking to himself, while a woman was who was carrying a large plastic container stopped suddenly and sad down on the container, she didn’t have any shoes on. I noticed their clothes were tattered and they looked poorly dressed for a chilly morning in early February. It made me think of the children who attended this school I was going to, and the possibility of them having to walk through this area to get to school in the morning. I wondered if they would be scared as I would imagine someone in first grade might be, to walk by people who are less fortunate and not understand. As I pulled into the parking lot, I was a bit shocked to see that th
ey had so many spaces and yet so few were occupied considering had been in session for nearly two hours. I had gotten out of my car and was making my way to the front door when I had noticed the houses directly across the street from the school. They were not well maintained at all. One of the houses had some broken windows that had tape across them. Another house had two cars on the front lawn that did not look to be in working condition. There wasn’t one house that could have been described as being visually appealing. However turning to face the school was a refreshing sight. Nicely landscaped lawn, a smiling crossing guard, clean tinted windows and pristine white sidewalks greeted me.
Upon being buzzed in and entering the school, it was as if I entered a different world from what lay outside across the street. The walls were coated with fresh bright paint which contained small murals of beautiful artwork. The floor was highly polished marble and there was a skylight in the center of the lobby which brought in lots of natural light. There were many small wooden benches lining the hallway that were made of carved wood that resembled something you might find at an antique shop. I entered the main office where I was greeted by the principle Mr. Graham. He briefly showed me around the office including his office and the office of the reading specialist Ms. Tower. I noticed that neither of their offices contained a traditional desk. Instead both contained a small round table with four chairs of equal height. I thought about the effect this would have on a child who might be sent to Mr. Graham for discipline. How a child might feel less intimidated speaking in either of these offices.
Ms. Tower led me to the room that I would be working in and introduced me to the teacher, Miss Lemon. This was a first grade ELS classroom. This was not a diverse classroom since most of the children were Spanish with the exception of two Asian students. Immediately I took notice of there not being an official “teacher’s desk” in the room but instead in one corner of the room was another small round table which contained two chairs next to each other. I would learn later that Miss Lemon would sit side by side with each student at that table at least once by the end of the day. If someone had described this classroom set up to me, I would be confident that it would be a recipe for chaos and disorder. Instead of having desks of their own the classroom was set up in “centers”. There is reading center, math center, listening center, quiet center, writing center and science center. Each center had a correlating bookcase, and each bookcase held individual boxes that had a students name on them. Throughout the day led by a schedule the students moved through the centers and worked on their assignments. The teacher and her assistant would take time and pop in on each center every few minutes to see if anyone needed help. Students rarely misbehaved and were getting along very well. It seemed too good to be true. It seemed that the only time students needed discipline were when they were sitting idle instead of doing their work. At this time Miss Lemon only had to ask the student if they needed help getting started, and that seemed to jolt the idle student back to work.
It was my first impression that this school took pride in its appearance, and was clearly the shining star of the neighborhood. Once in the classroom it was very clear to me that it was important to Miss Lemon that the students be self reliant. I was a little concerned when I saw that the students did a lot of work on their own, but the more I thought about it, the more it made sense. The students in each center were working on the same projects. The small round table in the corner insured that she would get one on one time with each student at least once a day, something that would not be guaranteed if she were teaching to the student who were arranged in rows off desks. It seems to me that this particular class room values leadership skills, and learning to be self reliant while having the safety net of a supportive teacher there if you need help. The students were allowed to speak to the other students in their work center, so their social skills were being exercised also. I was very impressed with the set up and the way that the teacher interacted with the students. It also seems to me that they value a level ground between student and teacher. They demonstrate this by not having traditional desks but instead the smaller round table for the use of interaction between student and teacher. This also impressed me because I remember in grade school feeling intimidated having to go up to the teacher’s desk at the head of the class in front of everyone to ask for help with some work. I remember the desk seemed huge, and the teachers all seemed so intimidating. It made me smile to know that these students would never have that feeling, and because of that they would have a better learning experience.
ey had so many spaces and yet so few were occupied considering had been in session for nearly two hours. I had gotten out of my car and was making my way to the front door when I had noticed the houses directly across the street from the school. They were not well maintained at all. One of the houses had some broken windows that had tape across them. Another house had two cars on the front lawn that did not look to be in working condition. There wasn’t one house that could have been described as being visually appealing. However turning to face the school was a refreshing sight. Nicely landscaped lawn, a smiling crossing guard, clean tinted windows and pristine white sidewalks greeted me.Upon being buzzed in and entering the school, it was as if I entered a different world from what lay outside across the street. The walls were coated with fresh bright paint which contained small murals of beautiful artwork. The floor was highly polished marble and there was a skylight in the center of the lobby which brought in lots of natural light. There were many small wooden benches lining the hallway that were made of carved wood that resembled something you might find at an antique shop. I entered the main office where I was greeted by the principle Mr. Graham. He briefly showed me around the office including his office and the office of the reading specialist Ms. Tower. I noticed that neither of their offices contained a traditional desk. Instead both contained a small round table with four chairs of equal height. I thought about the effect this would have on a child who might be sent to Mr. Graham for discipline. How a child might feel less intimidated speaking in either of these offices.
Ms. Tower led me to the room that I would be working in and introduced me to the teacher, Miss Lemon. This was a first grade ELS classroom. This was not a diverse classroom since most of the children were Spanish with the exception of two Asian students. Immediately I took notice of there not being an official “teacher’s desk” in the room but instead in one corner of the room was another small round table which contained two chairs next to each other. I would learn later that Miss Lemon would sit side by side with each student at that table at least once by the end of the day. If someone had described this classroom set up to me, I would be confident that it would be a recipe for chaos and disorder. Instead of having desks of their own the classroom was set up in “centers”. There is reading center, math center, listening center, quiet center, writing center and science center. Each center had a correlating bookcase, and each bookcase held individual boxes that had a students name on them. Throughout the day led by a schedule the students moved through the centers and worked on their assignments. The teacher and her assistant would take time and pop in on each center every few minutes to see if anyone needed help. Students rarely misbehaved and were getting along very well. It seemed too good to be true. It seemed that the only time students needed discipline were when they were sitting idle instead of doing their work. At this time Miss Lemon only had to ask the student if they needed help getting started, and that seemed to jolt the idle student back to work.
It was my first impression that this school took pride in its appearance, and was clearly the shining star of the neighborhood. Once in the classroom it was very clear to me that it was important to Miss Lemon that the students be self reliant. I was a little concerned when I saw that the students did a lot of work on their own, but the more I thought about it, the more it made sense. The students in each center were working on the same projects. The small round table in the corner insured that she would get one on one time with each student at least once a day, something that would not be guaranteed if she were teaching to the student who were arranged in rows off desks. It seems to me that this particular class room values leadership skills, and learning to be self reliant while having the safety net of a supportive teacher there if you need help. The students were allowed to speak to the other students in their work center, so their social skills were being exercised also. I was very impressed with the set up and the way that the teacher interacted with the students. It also seems to me that they value a level ground between student and teacher. They demonstrate this by not having traditional desks but instead the smaller round table for the use of interaction between student and teacher. This also impressed me because I remember in grade school feeling intimidated having to go up to the teacher’s desk at the head of the class in front of everyone to ask for help with some work. I remember the desk seemed huge, and the teachers all seemed so intimidating. It made me smile to know that these students would never have that feeling, and because of that they would have a better learning experience.
I really love this schools idea of using round tables as opposed to normal desks. I like this idea because not only does it make sitting next to your teacher a more informal, comfortable experience, but it also allows room for open discussions amongst the students (even if they are only in second grade). I feel as if the use of the round tables signifies that this classroom, and maybe the school as a whole, is a school that values participation. A school that values participation looks to their students to question what they are being taught and to question what they are told, the use of the round tables makes it seem like this is something this Ms. Lemon and her school definitely value.
ReplyDelete