I
pulled up to the large, imposing brick building made all the more ominous by
the dark and stormy weather with a sense of hesitance and nervousness. I didn’t
know what to expect when I got inside. Would the students be in class, or did I
come between periods, when the halls would be crowded with hundreds of
boisterous, excitable teenagers? Would the staff at the front desk be
welcoming? Would I be mistaken for a student? I took a deep breath and got out
of my car, bag slung over my shoulder. Only one way to find out…
My fears were immediately quelled as
the woman at the monitor’s desk greeted me warmly and asked where I was headed.
I told her and she gave me a visitor’s pass and sent me on my way. I thanked
her and headed off to my assigned classroom.
As I stepped into the classroom, I
noticed it was like the rest of the school: old, sparsely decorated, and
overall rather drab. Some posters and student work decorated the walls, but for
the most part, it was a smallish room with beige walls and little decoration.
The student desks were arranged in concentric horseshoes, with one teacher desk
located at the front of the room and off to the side. A second teacher desk was
located along the center of the back wall. This is where I sat. As in most
classrooms, the teacher was at the front of the room, lecturing off of a
PowerPoint presentation.
The classroom seemed to be a
microcosm of the school itself. It was bland, boring, and a little
intimidating. The atmosphere within the room was certainly more casual than the
one that permeated the hallways of the school, but as far as aesthetics were
concerned, they were almost identical in they image they portrayed.
Doing a quick count, I noticed that
there were fifteen students in the room, but also that there were a lot of
empty desks. The teacher later informed me that there are usually about thirty
students in the class, and that so many were missing probably due to the
weather. I noticed there were eight girls and seven boys. Only about four or
five of the students were Caucasian, with the remainder being either black or
Hispanic. In terms of ethnic background, therefore, it appeared to be a rather
diverse classroom, though this was not too surprising given the community in
which the school is located.
The students themselves participated
in a lot of idle chitchat and were not focused very closely on their work at
all. They all appeared to be actually doing the work, but some were more
invested in it than others. It is difficult to say whether or not these students
were meeting the expectations and standards of the school, though it is likely
that their lack of ability or willingness to stay on task would not be
considered up to standards.
It was unclear as to where power was
vested in the classroom. Of course the teacher was recognizable as a teacher,
but her frequent joking with the class made it questionable as to whether or
not the students respected her as a teacher or if she had real control over the
class. When things did get out of hand, however, the teacher was able to get
the class back under control, though perhaps not as quickly or effectively as
one would hope.
It seems like students that really
want to learn and are hard working might find it difficult to be in this class
because of the almost constant and inescapable distractions. Students who learn
in nontraditional ways may also find this class difficult to be in because the
teacher seems to use very traditional methods of teaching that may not reach or
hold the interest of students with learning needs that cannot be met in
traditional ways.
I left the classroom with my
curiosity piqued. The teacher was nice and seemed to get along well with the
students. But I was left wondering if they respect her or if they see her as
more of a friend than a teacher. If so, how does this affect the dynamics of
the classroom and how or even if the students are learning? I hoped to get some
answers to these questions in my future visits.
No comments:
Post a Comment