Teaching Space

These past few teaching days actually took place outside. Because of that, I wasn't able to take direct pictures of the children in the classroom. However, I was able to find pictures of my students uploaded to a site that I could use. Here are some pictures from their field day.


Initial Impression of School: When I first walked into the school, it reminded me of an old school I visited when I first started doing observations. It reminded me of Dawson Elementary, a school that's in central Austin. I could tell that it was one of the older schools in the city because of the way it was built. I saw pipes along the ceiling in the hallways. I saw a lot of student art work on the walls with posters about bullies. I thought it was sort of diverse. There seemed to be a lot of parental involvement. I saw a lot parents and this made me believe that they have strong parental support.

Math Class: She pulls out students for math instruction. Because it was so early in the semester when I observed the teacher, she hadn't established a system for what/when she would be working on math. She explained to me that one thing that they liked to do last year was something called 'fast math' or 'minute math'. This is something that she had began to do with the kids earlier during that previous week. 'Fast Math' is when she gives them a sheet with addition math problems and they have one minute to work out as many problems as possible. When they are done, she grades them on the spot and gives them an opportunity to correct their mistakes. This is something that is helping them become more comfortable with math at the beginning of the year. Also, she told me that the children see it as more of fun challenge than anything else.

Teacher's beliefs: After talking to my teacher, I have learned that she really enjoys working with her kids. She believes that with the child's full, undivided attention, they are a lot more productive. This is the reason why she has arranged her groups and my groups the way that they are grouped. For example, we have two sets of twins. Last year, when the brothers were in the same class, my cooperative teacher and their general education teacher report having a lot of problems with the student's behavior. They realized that they reacted to each others actions a lot of times. This wasn't helpful when trying to keep them engaged. As a result, they have put the brothers in two different classrooms and they are also pulled into two different groups at two different times of the day. My cooperative teacher has told me that they have made a lot behavioral improvements. As a result, they are getting more work done.

Me as a teacher: Being in this classroom is really important to me. This is the first time I am working in a resource room. I plan on teaching a resource room, but I have always leaned towards high school aged children. Being in this classroom, in this elementary school, is really starting to change my mind. They are not too mature to appreciate the special handshakes and not too young to have productive conversations. I like how they like a lot things, but are slowly transitioning to more 'teenage' things. This is important to me because I plan to use their interests to setup incentives for the students, especially for those with a BIP. This is also the first time I am working with so many Black students who share a similar household background with myself. This is the most important because by sharing a similar background, I hope this will help me build repor with the students in such a short time. Being that I plan to work with children who have similar background, I look forward to being the 'teacher' for the first time and learning everything I can.