Friday, December 4, 2009

BLOG 1

This year I entered Ms. Jordan’s classroom at John Gregory Elementary School in Providence. The first day I went to the school the neighborhood looked like it was a good neighborhood to live in. It was next to a main street with some restaurants and a private school. It seemed like a good environment for these kids to grow up in. When entering the school for the first time, I noticed that there were three floors to the school, and it looked like it was made back in the 1950’s maybe 60’s. It reminded me of my own elementary school back when I was going through the public school system. I have only been on one floor of the floor I am on looks like it is used well. All of the higher grades 4th, 5th and 6th grade are all on the top floor. The school seems a little weird to be in, just because I am use to my old elementary schools. But overall, I feel very comfortable in the school. When I entered the classroom, I noticed that the children had all their desks set up in an island format, where there were six people to a group, and they were set in proximity to the blackboard. There were pictures all on the wall, math problems on the board, since they were doing math, and everything seemed like a classroom that I was in back in elementary school, not so much 6th grade. Most of the kids in the classroom were African American and of Spanish decent. There was about two to three children in the classroom that were white. Ms. Jordan seems to be a very good teacher, always trying to help her students in anyway. But at the same time is a little hasty with what the children have to do. This is mainly because of what curriculum she has to teach. The students do not really get much time to learn the curriculum. Its either you do learn it or you don’t, and that is not how a classroom is suppose to run, but that is what is happening. It is not Ms. Jordan’s fault, it’s the curriculum. The students seem to be behind in what they have to learn. Many students are right on par, but there are some and many which are not at or exceed the standard in learning. Mainly, hard work, honesty are valued much in this school, doing great in the classroom and just being a good student in general. They even have a rubric for the students to follow, more as a mission statement more than anything else. In the classroom though, hard work, and paying attention are things that are most valued. Many of the students have a tough time with the curriculum, so it is hard for them to be good learners and workers, and with that they do not pay attention. This seems like a good classroom to be in and Ms. Jordan looks like a good teacher to be with.

1 comment:

  1. Heyyy Jimmy,

    I definitely have to agree with you that the students do not get much time in the classroom and to learn more about the subject/category they are studying because of the curriculum. In my second grade classroom I noticed this too. The teacher, Mrs. Summer* had to follow a certain time schedule and a specific schedule to what she had to teach the students. She even quoted to me “they don’t give them enough time to learn more about the topic they are studying.” When she uses the word “they” I think she is talking about the curriculum. What do you think? I really support when you say “Its either you do learn or you don’t, and that is not how a classroom is suppose to run, but that is what is happening.” This is in fact so true because I observed and noticed this in my classroom too. Another issue you lift is that you realized how the students have a difficult time with the curriculum and for this reason it’s hard for the children to be “good learners and workers and with this they do not pay attention.” Totally agree! If the curriculum of the school is not designed well for the students to follow than obviously the students are not going to succeed in the classroom.

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