It was a
bright and very early Friday morning when I headed off to Warwick for my day of
observations. I was a little nervous as
I entered the school, as I had set it up so that I would observe four different
English classes in one day. I wasn’t
sure how it would go, but by the end, I was glad that I had the opportunity to
do it that way. I was able to see how
the majority of a school day progressed in this high school, and four very
different classrooms, which I think was a beneficial experience for me. I arrived a little before the school day
started. The main office was bustling,
but I was greeted by a pleasant secretary who got me signed in, and directed me
to the classroom of the first teacher I was to observe.
As I moved through the halls, I
couldn’t help but feel reminded of the two high schools I attended some ten
years ago. The school population is
predominantly white and middle class, as mine had been, and which was reflected
in each of the classes I observed. The
school was likely built in the 70s, and combined with the murals and awards on
the walls, display cases with student projects and other things, and the
students moving in the halls (some in football jerseys), it wound up feeling
somehow familiar even though I had never been.
The teacher was warm and welcoming,
and I entered just as she was setting up an LCD projector that she was
borrowing from another teacher in the department. The teacher she was borrowing it from was in
the room and introduced herself, and her class was going to be the next that I
observed. As they set up the projector
they explained that not everyone has one so they share on occasion. I noticed throughout the day that while each
classroom was equipped with a single computer for the teacher, as well as a
traditional overhead projector, technology was largely absent. In fact, each room still had chalkboards (I’m
so used to seeing whiteboards!). At a
point later in the day, I was shown the computer lab, where teacher have to
sign up for time slots to be able to bring their classes in. In the corner of the computer lab was a cart
of laptops, like the ones in HB at RIC.
The teachers had a chuckle as they told me the computers were new, but
remained in the cart, because the school is not equipped for wi-fi.
The first class I observed was a 9th
grade Honors class, which proved to be an interesting way to start the day, as
I compared the rest of the classes to it.
As they began to file in, they collected their journals from a crate by
the door and began chatting with each other and the teacher about their
thoughts on the end of Animal Farm,
which they had completed the night before.
Before the bell even rang. This
proved to be an indicator for how the rest of this class would go, as it wound
up being the most energetic and engaged class I observed. Whether it was because they were 9th
graders, or because it was an Honors class, or because of the teacher’s style,
or the make-up of the group of students… or some combination of these factors,
it was interesting when compared to the rest of the day. This also wound up being the largest class of
the four—25 students, though only 7 of them were boys. The rest of the classes averaged around 15,
with a pretty even split between genders.
I chose to use my observation of
that 9th grade class for the 2nd observation assignment
though, so for this one I will focus on the next class I observed. As I mentioned, I had already had the chance
to meet this teacher before school began, which made entering her room much
more comfortable. She directed me to a
seat at a large table off to the side. The
students’ desks were arranged in a horseshoe around the three sides of the
room, facing forward. This was the same
set-up I saw in three of the four classes.
The teacher stood at the podium as she took attendance and checked off
who had completed the homework assignment.
There were the usual posters you might imagine when you think of an
English classroom (grammar and such), as well as some student-created posters
on themes from Of Mice and Men, which
they must have finished recently as it was not the current unit.
As she checked off the homework, it
became clear that at least half of them had not done the assignment. “See now, you’ve messed up my lesson!” She exclaimed. But she moved a student desk to the center of
the horseshoe and sat down, getting the conversation going by asking to refresh
everyone’s memories of what some of the issues were that they had discussed the
previous day. She asked leading
questions and was great at wait time, and eventually someone would volunteer an
answer each time. This was much
different from the energy of the first class I had observed. These seniors were much more subdued, quietly
clutching iced coffees. They then began
discussing the homework assignment, which was to briefly research a global
issue. She called on each student who
had finished the assignment, asking them to share. The last one to share had looked into the
typhoon in the Philippines, and the teacher used this topic to begin asking
probing questions like, “Besides death and illness, how else will the people of
the typhoon be affected?” and “What
other global issues will this result in?”
She was guiding the discussion towards poverty, and how the poor will be
even poorer in the wake of the destruction.
The students’ answers led her there.
While I listened, I was trying to
figure out where this was leading. A
research paper? Something else? After the discussion, the teacher handed out
worksheets, instructing the students to pair up and answer the questions based
on what they know, have heard, or think they know. She encouraged them to think and talk it out,
and as the students moved into pairs, she brought me a copy of the
worksheet. It was on Poverty in the
World, with questions like, “At least 80% of the world’s population lives on
less that $_________ a day.” I listened
as the students began to liven up, chatting and making guesses as what the
answers could or might be. The teacher
moved through the room to keep them on task and ask probing questions. As they worked, she came over to chat with
me. She explained that she was getting
them to think about poverty and what stems from poverty. They were then going to get into human
trafficking, including here in the US and in RI, which was ultimately leading
into the novel Sold. She explained that she was actually borrowing
this unit from the first teacher I observed.
It was nice to see that they share lesson and unit ideas, as well as
their technology, to support each other.
The students were engaged in the
worksheet and curious to know what the answers were as they began to
share. Many of them were way off in
their guesses, and were surprised by the answers. She then gave out a second worksheet for
homework (and told them it would count twice, so don’t blow it off like the
last one!). This assignment was an
exercise in cost-of-living expenses, so they had to sit down with a parent or
guardian or someone who pays bills to get an idea of what a
monthly/weekly/daily budget might look like.
From these assignments and from what she explained to me of how the unit
was going to go, I think it’s a great way to get the students to think
about real world issues, and understand the effects even close to home in the US
and RI, before launching into a novel about such issues as they happen
somewhere far away in the world. From
the students’ interest in the worksheets that got them to liven up, I think
they will wind up finding it to be interesting too.
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