One thing I admire about my choice of schools to attend for my Master's in Education is that Mount Saint Mary College requires fieldwork for a majority of the classes. And the professors have you do more than just "go and watch"; they have you reflect on it, share about it, and truly understand the purpose of it. While they can provide us with the knowledge to apply to our future classrooms, nothing helps more than seeing or putting it into action.
For my fieldwork, I observed a friend of the family's class. Mr Kennedy teaches a fifth grade inclusion class. It is what he refers to as a 1-12-1 class, meaning there is one teacher per twelve students. He is the primary teacher in the class, and although he has his certification in Special Eduction, there is a Special Ed teacher in the class. There is also a full day teaching assistant in the class. Within the class are 11 special needs, or classified, students. Their classification needs range from Autism to ADD/ADHD to reading/writing/math deficiency to depression. Regardless of whether or not a student has an IEP (Individual Educational Plan) or not, Mr Kennedy believes in FAIR, every student get what they need.
During my visits to the class, I was able to see much of what I was learning put into action. Mr. Kennedy uses a countdown from five to get the students settled into their sets and ready to move on to the next lesson or topic. He also uses a change in the tone and/or volume of his voice to maintain attention. Mrs. Burger, the Special Ed teacher in the class, signaled for attention with "Eyes on me, seats in, feet on the floor".
Due to space constraints in the building, as well as district wide, modular classrooms have been added onto the school grounds; they call them "learning centers". Mr. Kennedy's class is located within one of these learning centers. While it helps alleviate some of the distractions that come from hallways, it also requires the teachers to be sure any materials or equipment they need is readily available. The learning centers are also smaller in classroom space, limiting the configuration possibilities for the desks. During my visits, the desks were arranged in clusters of six. However, the desks were recently changed from a row arrangement, which was required during the winter months due to district health concerns (passing of germs, colds, viruses). Mr Kennedy prefers the cluster seating because he feels it can foster friendships and accommodates collaborative projects much more.
Since he has been teaching for over ten years, he no longer creates intricate lesson plans. However, he and the Special Ed teacher meet on a weekly basis to develop the lessons plans to come. They will modify from year to year based on new information, changing out things that don't work well, and adding new, more interesting things. The school principal will review these plans from time to time to ensure they are coordinated with the Standards.
While there, I saw many things in the classroom, and techniques used by the teachers that I thought interesting and worthwhile enough to note for possible use in my own classroom. One that stood out to me most was the behavior chart. It is a hanging pocket organizer. Each pocket is labeled with a student's name, and in each pocket are four index cards. Each index card was of a different color. Green meant the student was having a good day. Yellow meant the student needed to be careful. Orange meant the student lost ten minutes of recess time. And red meant the student was having an "off" day; the student would lose ten minutes of recess and a note would go home about the behavior. Each time there was a significant behavior issue, the student would be told to "flip a card". The class has a good neighbor policy that works in conjunction with the card system. "Good Neighbors" are encouraged to help each other identify behavior problems before they are noticed by the teacher. "Good Neighbors" also help to ensure students remain focused, place their names and student numbers on the top of their papers, and assist each other on the work unless they are told the work is independent. Student numbers (ie. 1 through 25) are used for organization and anonymity.
Seeing the instruction and learning in action was wonderful. Again, each time I step into a classroom, I imagine more and more of how I want my future classroom to look, be organized, be set-up, and students to learn. As a matter of fact, I have started a collection of things to fill my classroom, from thumbtacks to books, Post-Its to books. I may need a storage unit some time soon...
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