Katie+Good

Site A: Jones Elementary On our first visit to Jones, we got a bit lost and this did not give us that much time for observations. I visited Ms. Bynum in the music room. I arrived and left during the same class of fourth graders, which gave me no time to talk to her. The classroom was quite chaotic and out of control, but I dismissed it as excitement from Valentine’s day excitement and a possible sugar overload. Ms. Bynum seemed very tired and stressed. There were two special education students in this class with a separate teacher. I noticed in all of the classes there were more boys than girls, and there were about 17 students in each class. The classroom contained many bright and typical posters on the walls (such as "do the right thing even if it isn't easy"), and quite a few instruments, but only 3 or 4 chairs. I thought this was a bit odd. They were talking about music math, and adding notes to make a measure.

For our second visit, I returned to Ms. Bynum’s room. On this day, I arrived during a class of third graders, and left during a class of fourth graders, which gave me a chance to talk to her in between. This week, the third grade students were playing a simple rhythm they had composed on the xylophone, taking turns, but also playing out of turn. One girl had frequent outbursts of frustration at not being picked, though she had had her turn. After their class, the teacher told me that each time she tries to "put out one fire, another starts." She said sometimes all she can do is count the minutes until it is over. She seemed very tired and stressed (both visits.) I also learned she plays piano. The fourth graders received a test upon their arrival. She said it was to test what they had learned in the last two weeks but it was not being graded. It looked like only one girl really knew what she was doing, and most other students tried to cheat from her. She tried to discourage this by separating them, but didn't really encourage any students to think independently or to hide their work.

On the third visit to Jones I was surprised by the teacher. I think I observed a different personality every day we were there. On this day, she was very buddy-buddy with the students. One of them asked if he had seen her at the pool the past night, and she said yes, and they talked about the pool for a while and she gave him lots of hugs. It was interesting. The class was doing testing again. Ms. Bynum passed out the pencils, she told me this is because they will injure each other by throwing them, but allowed a student to pass out books to use as a table and then the test itself. I thought it was interesting that though probably all of the answers were in the music books they were writing on, only one student had even opened a book, and she had completely set her test aside and was just looking through the book. I found it odd that most of the students really didn't seem to care about the test at all, and scribbled a few things (or didn't write anything) and then decided they were done. Ms. Bynum said they had been going over the material for a few weeks but still they did not know what they were doing. I think that would be enough to frustrate anyone.

Today, February 28, we adventured to Francine Delaney. I was surprised at what it looks like, a few buildings that look like homes converted into a school. I found it adorable. I sat in on Melissa Murphy's first and second grade class, with 8 kids in each grade. There were two other teachers helping her. I looked for some sort of disciplinary chart (with clothespins) but found nothing except the alphabet and a lot of numbers, and a lot of artwork that looked like it was done by the kids. One one wall was a list of rules that all the kids had signed (respect each other and learning, be polite, and such), and there were books everywhere. I was slightly overwhelmed by the amount of books found in the room, all carefully categorized. There was a dry erase board that had their agenda on it and some information about today. Overall, the entire room was overwhelmingly covered in information. From 1-2:00 the students were doing math, counting little plastic chips in and out of cups to make 10. One girl just chewed on her cup. The other group was making number sentences, and I thought it was really interesting that the teacher was asking what 14 +12 is, and to make it easier she started with 14+10, and then added the 2, and it helped. The groups switched teachers after awhile, and the plastic & cups kids then counted different colored crayons, the number sentence kids went to another teacher to work on making times on clocks, and the other teacher kept one girl aside to work with her specifically on adding. I also observed a (very) young romance... a little boy that was working with a little girl kept kissing her head and holding her hand and grabbing her waist, and she just kind of giggled. I was wondering if the teacher noticed, or if it is just normal behavior for them. Overall, it seemed like a very nice environment. There was no kind of security, we just walked into the office and someone lead us to rooms. There were no identification stickers, no sign ins. I liked this a lot.

Response: Katie, that school sounds great but all those books and three teachers seems like they may be lacking some space. I guess it's good though to have such convenient access to all that literature. I feel a sense of a casual atmosphere with in the school, I think that would seem to relax the kids better. I know in my schools they make kids a little too fearful talking about intruders all the time, and it sort of leaves negativity in the air. It seems for having too grades they were pretty well under control, maybe that's where the other two teachers played their role. Her method in counting chips really seems like a logical idea, and it seems that their stations went well. I think your observation of the romance is pretty cute, do you think the teacher would have mind? - Claire Winship

On March 7th we went to Delaney again. This time I took a notebook and wrote down their rule list. "In our class, we agree to Be nice to others and the school, Take care of things and the School Use good Manners Respect learning, and Follow the Rules." On this day I got to talk to the teacher. I noticed the students called her by her first name. I liked this. Melissa told me that starting in kindergarten, the students have a three way conference with their parent(s) and teachers, led by the student, and they make a book to show their parent(s) what they are proud of and what they have been up to the past few months. She told me that her classroom is called a multi-age classroom because it is first and second grade, and that the two classes are separate for most subjects because the curriculum is different, but they all still help each other. She said she likes this system because she gets to see the students for two years so she knows exactly where they are and really gets a chance to know them. They have a journal for math, science, and reading, but have folders for writing that they can put their writing into. Overall, it seems very organized. I talked to a girl named Emma, who told me that there are two Emmas in her class, so they use their last names, and she wanted to know if I knew someone named Molly who taught at warren wilson a few years ago but had left because she didn't like it. I told her I didn't think so. I looked around a bit and noticed that they have an evacuation plan on the wall, which seemed a bit silly because there are only two classrooms in each building, and I wouldn't think there would be much panic, but I suppose there always must be a plan. I also noticed there are two computers and an overhead projector, that seemed slightly out of place in the cozy classroom. There also is an aquarium in the middle of the classroom with a few fish in it. I noticed that when Melissa told students where to go she used the color of the tables (for example, telling someone to leave the red table and sit at the green table.) It seemed like a good idea to me. I noticed that on the dry erase board with the agenda, there was a puzzle of the day that they had all solved. I also noticed wheels on the bottoms of a few chairs which seemed like a bad idea because the few students in those chairs were rolling all over the place (but probably not as far as they could have been.) It seemed to me that for the most part, this class was very respectful of the teacher and each other, and everyone seemed to get along and help each other with their work. They were making "thousand books," which meant writing out numbers from one to one thousand (100 numbers on each page.) Melissa said this is very labor intensive, but it helps them see how much one thousand actually is. The other group was working on telling time. One student would make a time on a little clock, and everyone else would mimic it and then the one who had started it would write down the time on a dry erase board.

Site C: The first visit to Oakley, I was supposed to visit the music class, but the music teacher was out, so I sat in on a third grade class. The first thing I observed was the silence of the class. Not one student talked when they were not supposed to. It seemed like the teacher is very strict. On the wall is a poster with 5 categories on it, "I am an example to others," "I am making wise choices," "I am responsible," "oops," and "I need to think about my choices." Clothespins with the students' names on them lined each side. Most resided in "Responsible" when we arrived, and before we left, most had been moved to "Making wise choices." The teacher told us about table points, how the desks were arranged into tables, and each group of kids at a table got points as a team for things such as finishing first, all being to class on time, and getting homework done. She said this helps the kids learn responsibility, and helps them encourage each other to do their best so they earn points for their team. While we were inside, the class did spelling, and the teacher read Mr. Popper's Penguins out loud. Then they went out to recess. The 5 students who had run the fastest laps the previous day got to line up first and go right to the playground. Next, the kids who had to run two laps and then play got to line up. Lastly, the students who had forgotten to do homework lined up, and they had to walk silent laps all throughout recess. I thought this was kind of sad, because it is their only chance to socialize. It kind of seemed like the slightly tense classroom environment came outside with us. At recess, we got to talk to the teacher. She said how in her first year of teaching, she tried to be each student's best friend, but as they walked all over her she learned that you can't do that. She said she knows she's a strict teacher and that everyone else does as well. She told us about a girl who came from another state because her mom met a man on a star wars website and they fell in love so they moved to Asheville to live with him. The daughter had been home schooled all of her life, but the teacher doubted any actual schooling had occurred. She was supposed to be in fourth grade, but was at the level of a first or second grader. The school placed her in third grade because they didn't want her driving to middle school. The teacher said this student was placed in her class because the principal thought she could handle her, but the teacher told us it was very difficult, as she had no clue how to behave in a classroom, or how to be social with other children. The teacher said the other students are patient, and try to be friendly with her.


 * //Katie-What an interesting experience you had at Oakley. My gut reaction to the feel of the classroom that you have showed, was frustration. I don't like it when teachers give points, create competition between peers, and award students because of physical ability. This does not seem like it would create a good classroom community and environment. I wonder what some other ways there could be of motivating students to be responsible. Maybe something that is more one-on-one with the teacher? ~Megan Cornett//**

That sounds like a really interesting teacher to sit in on. I cannot imagine learning how to be responsible like that. Do you think it was working? Also it is interesting because the class that I visited at Oakley, despite being a younger class, seemed to have little to no discipline at all. Quite the opposite of your visit. I remember having to run laps around a building as a consequence in elementary school, but it was usually if you were being disruptive because you were too hyper they would send you out during class to do it; not during recess. I also remember in middle school having my recess taken away for various poor behaviors and thinking that it was so unfair to keep me inside when everyone else got to go out. -Rachel S

The second visit to Oakley, I sat in on a music class. I was amazed at the difference between that atmospheres of the two classes, though both were third grade students. While the original third grade class had a very tense and serious feel to it, the music class felt inviting and relaxed. The teacher, Mrs. Patterson, was very jolly and seemed in control of the class, though she made a comment about how the students were wound up. They were learning a song, Senor Don Gato, which I learned in elementary school. She tells them it is a ballad, and asks what that means. In semi-perfect unison, they all chant "beginning, middle, end!" They are all sitting on a purple carpeted floor. There are a few scattered colorful posters on the wall but nothing overwhelming. A piano resides in a corner. There are a few treble clefs on the board, and when the class gets too chatty she removes one. When they read through the song and get to the part about the cat falling off the roof and breaking all of his body parts, the students all yell "what's a solar plexus?!" Also, the teacher asks them if they know what slated means, they do not, so she explains it. They pull out their music books, Mrs. Patterson turns on the music, and they sing the song. I sang along. At the end, many students ask if they can sing it again, so they do. I noticed that some students are not singing, but still pay attention. At the end of the class, the teacher puts on a quiet song "Abiyoyo," and all the students start rocking back and forth and singing it. It was amazing, as if she had them under a trance. At the end of the song, Mrs. Patterson picks a student who has behaved particularly well, and he gets to pick a pencil. The rest of the class all claps for him. I thought this was adorable.

Our last Oakley visit, Mrs. Patterson told me she would be teaching the same lesson, so I should go see another class. I ended up in Kindergarten. Mostly I observed giggling. I have not heard so much giggling in a long time. The teacher, Mrs. Sevier, read a Leo Leonie book about two frogs thinking an alligator was a chicken. The kids giggled at almost every page! Before that, they were learning about exclamation points, and proper places to put them. They came up with sentences that would require exclamation points, and some of them were silly. They giggled about that too. At the end of the time we were there, Mrs. Sevier told each of the students what they were supposed to be doing during quiet time. The ones who had something to finish from a previous time were supposed to finish it, some had to sit with their head down (most of them fell asleep), and others got to have quiet play. Also, they were making bunny baskets for Easter, so Marie and I called them over two by two and helped them glue eyes, ears, and a nose on. Some of them wanted to do it alone, but if we let all of them do that there wouldn't have been enough glue for half the class, and the bunnies wouldn't have dried by Easter. It seemed to me this was a good time for the teacher to connect with a student individually if she needed to, but it also seemed like she and her teaching assistant connected with any student who was having a problem as it was happening, regardless of anything else going on. That is why it helps to have two of them. Also, I noticed, while she was reading the book, she could barely get through a page without someone having something to say, or to ask a question about eggs, or to tell that they have never seen a baby alligator, bird, human, and many other animals they came up with, and Mrs. Sevier took almost all of their questions and comments and listened to them and responded.

LT 4/16

Site D: Rainbow Mountain First visit: We got hopelessly lost but had a nice drive.

Second visit: It was the day before Mayday, and everything was quite chaotic at Rainbow Mountain. The different grades of students were all mixed together, and the middle schoolers were leading the younger ones in activities. I started outside with William, who is a middle school teacher, and his middle schoolers were leading a game called "poop deck," and red light/green light. When they got tired they looked for four leaf clovers. I told William I liked this game day. (I remembered doing something semi-similar in elementary school but hating it because we just played kickball on a parking lot, but it was called "field day.") He said they happen about five times a year, and that all the "hippy-dippy stuff" at this school is really nice when it doesn't get in the way of academics, but he said sometimes it does. I can see how that would happen. When they were done playing outside, I followed the group of first, second, and third graders to their next activity, which was freeze dancing. A girl played some belly dance music and they all danced. When she stopped the music, they would stop dancing. One boy was a master dancer- I loved watching him. After that they drew/wrote on a big piece of paper that said "kindness" in the middle about what they think of when they see "kindness." Some of them drew happy faces, and some of them just wrote things like "I love Morgan a lot. I'm not joking." or "_ and_ sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G, first comes love..." and the teacher asked them to do something more constructive, but they just kept at it when she wasn't looking. Next I followed them into a room inside that looked like a house, where they were making fairy dust! Well, they weren't actually making fairy dust, but they had large bowls of pre-made fairy dust (glitter, lavender, sunflower seeds, sand, sawdust, and some other random bits and pieces) that they were wrapping up in pieces of tissue paper to hand out at the may day festival. I helped cut pieces of ribbon. It was funny that the older kids were in charge, but didn't really seem any more mature than some of the younger kids. Some actually seemed less mature.

//Five times a year seems like A LOT for those kinds of days to occur, I didn't know that was how often they did them. I see plus and minuses. On the plus side: building community, on the minus side: it does seem like an interruption of academics. Plus, half the reason field days were fun is because they only happened once a year. Ansley//

Third visit: This time I sat in on two music classes, each 1/2 hour long. It was very strange. When I first popped in, the teacher was sitting behind an electric piano, talking in a low voice, and the students repeated after him with the same stresses on syllables. Soon he started playing the piano, and when he started singing I was shocked. He sang in a very high, very loud, slightly off-key, soprano voice that I myself can barely reach. And the students tried to imitate. The music room was in the same house-like building as the fairy-dust room (that was transformed into the 3rd & 4th grade science fair projects room this day), and very tiny. There were a few print outs in the windows, just on plain white paper that had the musical staff and clefs and different lengths of notes on them, but other than that and the piano, I never would have guessed it was a music room. I think it does not always function as the music room, because the music teacher is only there 2 days during the week. One of the girls got really excited because the song they were repeating was one from Oliver and she knew about Oliver. They sang the Oliver song again, and then they sang Sakura, complete with body movements, and then sang their "goodbye it's time to go" song. They lined up as they sang it, and soon the other class shuffled in. A girl in pink sat next to me and asked me who I was. I thought it was interesting the way the teacher interacted with the students, considering the school we were in. It seems like most people there are kind of loose and easygoing, but he seemed needlessly strict (some of the students wanted to stand while they were singing and he told them to sit down), and patient with a few of the students but not with others. He was patient with the girl who was excited about Oliver and wanted to tell everyone the plot line, and patient with another boy who wanted to tell the plot line of a movie he thought sounded a lot like Oliver, but then also very impatient with a boy who was wiggling in his seat while the girls were singing. I guess I'm just used to most other music teachers who encourage students to stand while singing, and that moving around a bit is ok. When class let out, I thanked the teacher and asked him to please point me in the direction of a bathroom. He did, and when I got there the sign on the door was in Spanish (I think), so I think I went in the girls' bathroom, but I'll never really know for sure. Perhaps the sign didn't have anything to do with gender at all. Overall, the whole visit had a slightly odd feeling to it. I'd like to spend more time in that classroom in particular, but I'd also like to see the rest of the school. It seems interesting.

LT5/15