Sara+Rubin

-The first day of observations we got very very lost and ended up almost in South Carolina. It was ok though cause we had a very fun dance party in my car

-Monday, the 19th, i went and observed at Rainbow mountain school. I wanted to observe in the pre-k class but they were taking naps so we went to the kindergarted class. At first, i thought i wasnt going to like it. It was in a sort of mobile home looking thing, and the space they had was just one big room. It was decorated beautifully, and there were nice carpets on their hard wood floor. When we got there, it was rainbow day, part of spirit week, and everyone was looking colorful. They were "traveling around the world" and when we arrived they were in India. They were working on spelling words that started with S and Y. When a few of the kids finished, the teacher had them read a book all together. She told them what to do, and left them on their own, and then she would come back every now and then to see how they were doing. I thought that was really great, because she was letting them work trhough the reading together, and help each other out instead of always being over their backs. Once all the children were done, they had circle time to close the day. they sang a song and then they sent a squeeze around the room, each looking into the person next to thems face and smiling and quiet smile. This reminded me alot of my own school. They said it was one way that they sent love around the room. Then they got called on individually to put their shoes on (because they hadnt been wearing shoes, they were all wearing their socks or even slippers) and then lined up to leave. The classroom environment was incredibly supportive, and i thoug that the teacher handled things such as one girl being very energetic while it was time to be calm, very well. I look foward to observing some other class rooms at this unique school. sara

--I visited this same classroom. Rainbow Mountain is such a weird place with it's trailers and old house and built on areas. But I feel like they really make the most of their space and it makes it such a nice place to be. --Adrienne

Adrienne, I agree, it was weird to be in a kindergarted class that was in a trailer. I think they did a good job with the resources that they had, but there is only so much you can do with a trailer. I wish they had more space to work with, especially for the younger children who really need lots of space and changes in levels and colors and stuff. One big room can get difficult with four and frive year olds, but rainbow mountain seemed to have it under control. Sara Rubin

-The third time i was supposed to go to rainbow mountain i was really really sick, so Elenore took my car and took the group, so i will make this day up.

-2.28.07 This was my groups first day at Oakley Elementary, a title 1 school. Claire and I went to Mrs. Harbison's 5th grade class (although there was some confusion between claire and I as to whether we were in the 5th grade or the 3rd grade). Mrs Harbison was quick to tell us that she returned from maternity leave in January. The classroom appeared VERY disorganized and scattered. All the kids had water bottles on their desks and i thought that was a really good thing to get kids to drink more water. The teacher was at the front of the class and there were desks that were clumped together that the kids were sitting in. Mrs Harbison was shouting out assingments that were due in a half hour and using words that i didnt know the meaning to. The class was very diverse, i would say there was an equal number of black kids as white. There were also a few hispanic children, and the children were all different sizes. The teacher and a student were racinf each other to figure out a math problem while the teacher was explaining how she was going to grade them on their midterms. The teacher was complaining about how that week she would have to be inside grading them instead of outside. I thought it was an unnecesary remark and if i was the student i would have felt guilty for her having to grade me, when in reality its her job. The walls in the classroom were cinderblock, and there was the letters of the alphabet along the back of the room. I found it sort of weird cause these kids were in fifth grade. There was a wall hanging that had five parts to it. The highest part was a peice of paper that said "Im an example to others" with a peice that said "Im making wise choices" under it, then "I am responsible", then "oops!", then "I need to think about my choices", then "Conferance with Mrs. Harbison." Each student had a clothes hanger with their name and periodically Mrs harbison would survey the classroom and move kids to different places as necesary. The students were working independantly while mrs. harbison was having one on one meetings with kids in the back of the classroom. There is an american flag hanging in the front of the class. There are length/distance, weight, and capacity charts on the left wall. There are also different kinds of maps such as a tree map, bubble map, and bridge map. There arent any sort of colorful or positive posters. The windows are open and you can hear the younger kids screaming and laughing outside. Its distracting me. If i was a student in the class i might be distracted. The kids are doodling, whispering, reading and writing. They seem to be getting more and more restless as the teacher meets one on one. The teacher is talking very very fast to the student that she is having her one on one with. The student doesnt seem to have a chance to say anything back. There is a daily scedule above the white board in the front of the class. The scedule is : Something i cant read, reading, music, math, title one, math, lunch, recess, SSI, writing, read aloud. Two kids just entered the classroom. Mrs harbison shouts out directions at that as she talks with her one on one student. One student has her hand up and is making herself obvious to the teacher. The teacher says to ask her fellow student, but the girl says the student cant answer her question. The teacher doesnt say anything. The girl is making faces and shaking her fist at the teacher. when it finially came time for us to leave i honestly couldnt wait to get out of that classroom. The teacher was very overwhelming for me, and i would have NOT wanted to be a student in her classroom.

-3.7.07 I must admit that i was not looking foward to sitting through another Mrs Harbison class, but i was a little bit curious to see if she managed the class any better today. Maybe last week was one of her harder weeks. We got there a little late today, so we werent able to stay very long. Right when we got there Mrs Harbison came over to us how crazy her day has been, she said some other things too but honestly she was talking so fast and jumbled that i couldnt even understand what she was saying! i really couldnt imagine trying to learn from this woman. Now im not trying to bash her or anything, im sure she is a fine lady, just from my observations these past two times i can confidently say that i do not agree with some of her teaching strategies. One thing i noticed that she did was she would get completly silent when the class got too rowdy, now sometimes that can work, but she was very inconsistent with it, and i beleive consistency is one of the MOST important things when dealing with kids. The second you are inconsistent they see that and they can take advantage of that weakness. She seems to be a very harsh teacher, i never heard her say one positive thing to her students, even the ones that were working very hard at doing what they were supposed to be doing. I seriously never have any clue as to what is going on in this classroom though, she always seems to be yelling or directing or talking about something i cant understand. When we got there today we figured out that they were doing a "science experiment" on topigraphical maps (no clue what that means) but i didnt see them do ANYTHING other then listen to the teacher talk and talk about how they should be better listeners. Claire and i sat in the back and this really cute little girl came up to us to talk to us and so we took advantage of that and asked her some questions. I asked her if she likes coming to school and she said "sometimes" and the way she said it was very powerful. We asked whether they have all lessons in this classroom and with this teacher. She said they go to other rooms for comp. lab and art and music, but this was their "homeroom" class. One thing Mrs Harbison did that i think CAN be effective is while she was talking she would randomly call kids names that seemed to not be paying attention. I noticed that there were two kids in the corner on the computer, im not sure what they were doing. There was also a girl sitting ont he floor behind us coloring. Towards the end of our stay Mrs Harbison was having a hard time getting the kids attention and getting them to settle down (i beleive that she was trying to get them to start their science project but i have no idea). They werent quieting down so she said "You know you guys can spend your time doing whatever you want. I get paid to be here for a certain amount of time so i dont really care"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I COULDNT BELEIVE THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I wanted to cry and vom and hug all those kids. That kinda stuff sticks with kids forever. I was disgusted. I am looking forward to going back and seeing if maybe i saw her on two bad days or what. oh man oh man.

3.14.07 Today Elenore came with me to Mrs. Harbisons fifth grade class. I was really eager to get there today and see if maybe she would be a more effective teacher, if maybe the past two visits i had just caught her on bad days. Right when we walked into the classroom a woman i didnt recognize walked briskly up to us and said in an annoyed voice "can i help you?" I told her we were with WWC and we usually came at this time to observe Mrs. Harbisons class. She said that Mrs. Harbison was taking a few minute break and to just do what we needed to do. The class was pretty much quiet, some sitting on the floor reading, some wispering at their desks, two girls in the back of the room giggling. As we walked past one boy he said "HEY! that boy likes you!" pointing across the room to his friend. They continued to whisper across the room back and forth and point at us. After a few minutes Mrs. Harbison walked back into the class and told the class to get out their World War Two work sheets. There is a very very very hot man, maybe the assistant teacher, that is working with a kid one on one in the back of the class. I have a huge crush on him. Mrs Harbison seemed to be going over the worksheets/tests with the students. She kept stopping talking to get the kids to be quiet, which was very unaffective. Mrs Harbison would read the question and then read the list of possible answers and she would have the kids use sign language, the letters a,b,c,d,e,f,g,h,i,and j, to indicate what their answer was, and then she would tell them the right answer. Some students seemed to be participating in answering her questions, but others seemed to be making a joke out of it. Mrs Harbison doesnt seem to really know what she is talking about. She asked the kids if they have ever seen any pictures of the holocaust victims, and right as one boy enthusiastically started to answer that yes he had they looked like skeletons, she spotted a grown up in the hall and just left the classroom for a second to talk to this teacher. I felt sad for the boy because he was being ignored. Elenore pointed out to me that she was handing out tickets, and i realized that she seemed to have changed the dicipline method. It used to be the chart with the different levels and clothes pins for each child. But now they had a ticket system, and Mrs Harbison was handing out and taking away tickets from students. The new chart on the wall had a drawing of a ticket on it that said on the inside of the ticket "Tickets are rewarded for being On task, participating, and being respectful." Under the drawing of the ticket it had a numbering system. 2 tickets=candy (as much as kids love candy as rewards, i dont think food is ever a good thing to use as a reward). 3 tickets=no UPS (neither Elenore nor I could figure out what UPS was). 4 tickets=SSR (Again, im not sure what SSR is). 5 tickets=Homework pass. 6 tickets=extra recess, and 7 tickets=Lunch with friends. I wondered whether that ment that if you didnt have seven tickets by lunch you werent allowed to eat with your friends? Mrs Harbison kept asking the class questions to get them engaged, but right as they would begin to answer she would interrupt with either her own answer or something else i couldnt even tell what she was saying. I started cracking up because Elenore leaned over to me and said "I cant understand a word she is saying" and it was so funny because i couldnt have agreed more! i cant never understand what she is saying! she talks so fast and so jumbled, she barely ever finishes her sentances. Once the class was done going over the tests, she told them to get out their reading materials out of their cubbies and start reading "Passage of Freedom." One of the students was up talking to her and it seems like he braught something to her attention, such as the time or something, and she said "I know, I'll keep track of that, thats what i get paid to do." I thought i had gotten through the observation without hearing her complain or make referance to her job being "just a job" but she whipped that one out and i was not even shocked this time. After everyone sat down and got settled and started reading i noticed that the class was perfectly quiet! that was the first time i had ever seen everyone working and doing what they were supposed to be doing! i was amazed, as was Mrs, Harbison and my dream man assistant teacher, they kept smiling and mouthing "OH MY GOSH!" "I dont want this to ever end!" Unfortunatly we had to leave before they were done reading to themselves, i would have liked to see how she transitioned them out of their quiet reading states to what was next. I am eager to hear what other people that end up going to oakley after break think of it, i reccommend someone visit her class at least once, and tell me what you think.

Hey Lovey, Well I tried writing a response last week about your last weeks visit but it got erased. Anyways let me try again. I am still so shocked by the way this Mrs. Harbison lady treated her students. Money may have something to do with teaching but really if you are there to really be there and give these kids the resources they need then you really need to think about your motives. It is one thing to get frustrated when teaching a lesson but its a whole other thing yelling at them about making money while they "waste" their time. There are teachers that work at harder schools, making less money and still get to that school at 6 in the morning and don't leave the school until 8...school, for some kids, is a place to get away, it is their break from life at home or whatever other situation they are dealing with. Teachers are there to understand, help, educate, be a resource for them not some tempered impatient person. It seems though she maybe be trying some new things out but still she needs a talking to. Good work my twin! See you soon!!! ~ Sara

Sara, I agree, school for some kids, especially kids at a title one school like oakley elementary, is an escape, its not just where they come to learn, its where they come to get away from the stresses of their home life. To have a teacher that doesnt provide a safe and warm learning environment is really hard on the students, especially when they look to that space to help them get through harder times. You are ensightfull my friend, you will make a great teacher. sara rubin

SITE C: BUNCOMB COMMUNITY EAST

-For our first day at BCE there was some confusion, and as it turned out they werent expecting us. So they told us to come back another day, so we did. They were very kind and helpful.

-For my second visit at BCE i went with Elenore to the art class...It was incredible! The art teacher had one of her students help her show us the pottery room, which looked like a converted storage space, but had tons and tons of materials. The student was showing us what she had been working on in the pottery room, and she seemed very proud of herself, as did the teacher. We went back into the classroom and there were roughly 8 kids, all working on seperate things. One girl was working on homework, two were working at the computer on senior projects, one boy was listening to music, and some were drawing or working on various other things. The boy in the class showed us his "portfolio". Everyday they are supposed to do a drawing in a windowframe sort of organization. The page is split into four boxes, one for each day, and then the fifth day they do a border. There are requirements for what to draw on certain days, like monday is foot or hand day, tuesday free drawing, wednesday draw something out of the book, etc. Some of the other students showed us their portfolios as well. They seemed to really enjoy the art class, and it seemed to play into each one of their strengths. The teacher was super supportive and positive and wasnt pressuring or forcing kids to do pointless things that they werent interested in. When the bell rang all of the class left except for one girl, the teacher said that the first bell ment that everyone that had perfect attendance for the week could leave, and the people who were absent had to stay an extra five or ten minutes, i cant remember which. The girl was just hanging by the door ready to leave, and kept asking....cant i just go now, ive only got two more minutes? The teacher was really strict about this and made her stay all the way until the bell rang. Oh yeah and i forgot, the same student who showed us the pottery room was telling us about how she sings and writes songs, as well as poems, and was having us read alot of stuff. It was really deep and emotional, she said she wrote alot of it when she was in "the mental hospital" and i put that in quotes because she said it in a funny, almost ashamed sort of voice. She seemed really proud and really attatched to her writing, it seemed to be a real outlet for her. It was beautiful.

-For my third visit to BCE i went to Mrs. Stameys U.S History. She said the class was mostly 11th and 12th graders. The classroom was set up with tables, there were two students per table, with three tables on the right side, all facing to the front, and two tables on the left side, all facing to the front. Then there was one desk in the middle of the classroom that they all joked around as being "the island" because there was one girl, who seemed very moody, that they said wanted her space so if she was feeling like she needed her space she could move to the island. This class was by far the best visit i have had this entire time observing out of all the classrooms in all the various schools. Mrs. Stameys combinations of hard assness, as well as obvious love for the students, as well as a sense of humor, made for a really positive classroom environment. When we got there the students were working on making "Pockets" about life on the western frontier in the 1800's. They were going through their books and filling the "pockets" with information they had collected, as well as decorating their pockets with artwork and pictures they were drawing depicting the life of the westerners. The class seemed to be working hard, but when they had something to talk about, for example a boy wanted her advice on how to deal with his girlfriends asshole parents, she woulod let them get sidetracked and give them her fullblown attention. The boy was saying that his girlfriends dad said he was a bad influence, mrs stamey said "well are you?" and he was saying "well no, i dont even talk to him, he wil try to say hi to me and i will just walk the other way" Mrs stamey said "You have to show him the highway, dont prove him right, prove him wrog by showing him waht an amazing person you are. You do that through your actions..." I thought that this was really cool to see. While the kids were working Mrs. Stamey was talking to claire and i about the school, and everynow and then the kids would stop their work to say stuff or just listen to the convorsation. Stamey said that most of the kids there were known as the "silent dropouts", the kids that werent doing horribly, they just werent doing well, and because they didnt make a rucus, they didnt get any attention payed to them, so they just stopped showing up to their old schools. She said that BCE is refferrel based, so the kids often times get refered by their old schools councelors, judges, etc. She said that these kids werent "beta club kids" and that the classes arent geared toward the students doing well on the SAT, most kids there dont take the SAT, its just about getting them their GED and most of them go onto buncomb community college. Mrs Stamey is very lively when she talks, i notice, and her whole body lights up and she moves around the room, saying whatever it is that she is taking about at the moment. Its impossible not to listen to her every word, she draws me in....Mrs Stamey said alot of things that are amazing quotes, such as "These kids are who education is supposed to be about." And, "dont waste your time if education isnt the only thing you want to do.". She was talkijng to us about how the politics of education suck. The walls of her classroom are decorated with posters on one side, it looks like the students picked them out because they are of various rap artists, etc. And the other side is decorated with influential people of history on the cover of time magazine. There is a whole wall covered with time magazine covers.There is a poster that says "success is getting up just one more time then you fall down" and as corney as that sounds, i think it can make a differense to see encouraging words instead of white walls. The students were telling us about how much they loved the school, and mrs stamey. They said she supported them and pushed them to be their best, she didnt expect them all to be the same, she knew what each one was capable of and she expexted nothing less then their personal best. Mrs stamey is the kind of teacher that i want to be when i grow up.

SITE D: ASHEVILLE HIGH

-For my first visit to asheville high i was super intimidated. upon arriving it looked like a castle! It was so funny because as we were walking up the huge steps to the huge front door, some sort of weird bell/alarm started going off. We were joking that it was something to let them know that us intruders were coming. I went to go to Mr. Flowes (i cant remember how to spell his last name) juniors honors history class. The classroom was pretty small, the space as well as the student size. I would say there were about 12-15 students, all sitting in desks, some with their feet propped on the desk in front of them. The class was spent going over a test. Mr. Flowe told me that "they were a bunch of grumpy juniors that all got back a test that none of them did well on." And thats pretty much what the class was like. It was a bunch of unmotivated kids sitting in desks, going over a test while there monotone teacher stood in front of them answering his own questions because none of the students would answer them. The walls were completly bear, they were white with big cracks, the only thing on the walls were a few pictures of what appears to be mr. flowes sports teams that he coaches. The blinds remained closed the entire class, and there were two dim overhead light. I felt like i was in Mrs. Trunchbulls (the principle in the movie matilda) dream classroom. There was a white board in the front of the class and on the right wall. The one on the right wall had papers with grades posted up for everyone to see. Test 1A's grades were: A=3, B=7, C=4, D=4, F=0. Test 2A's grades were: A=2, B=6, C=6, D=4, F=3. Test 1B's grades were: A=1, B=7, C=3, D=1, F=4. Test 2B's grades were: A=2, B=4, C=9, D=2, F=1. I would think that for an honors history the grades should be higher, and if i were the teacher i would examine why people were getting F's, and i might see it as something im doing wrong, as apposed to the students not knowing the information. The bell went off and everyone sprung out of their like they couldnt wait to leave. I felt the same way.

-For my second visit i went back to Mr Flowes class. They were looking at slides. All the kids were in the exact same seats they had been in on my frst visit. One slide said "Stay on the job until every murdering JAP is wiped out." The teacher asked if this was racist. One student answered yes, and the teacher said it doesnt have to be, and continued to change slides.There are some slides about lumber. They all seem to be posters from World War II period. One of my favorites was apicture of a person alone in a car, with a sort of transparent hitler next to him and hte poster said "When you ride alone, you ride with hitler. Join a car-sharing club today!" There is slide of a picture of a nazi stabing a bible and the poster is reading "This is the enemy." mr. flowe said this must be a southern poster. The kid in front of me is asleep on his desk. the slides are over and the teacher is talking about the prices of things like beer and meat going up. He asks questions every now and then directed toward the whole class but no one ever answers so he answers himself. He ends class a little early and the students just stretch and talk. I notive that most of the girls are in the front of class and most of the boys are in the back. The bell rings and they all rush out. Again, the blinds are drawn the entire class.

- My third and final visit to A.H i went back again to Mr. Flowes class. At the end of each previous class, once the students left, he would apologize about the boringness of the class, and promise that the next class he would make fun for me to watch, so i kept coming back. He would say that usually he just lectures, and they listen and the class is over. I thought about how glad i am that i am not in his class. when i got there on this day they were watching a video about germany and world war II. The teacher was in the back at his desk talking loudly on the phone. It was very distracting to me. It didnt seem like any of the students were paying any attention to the video. One student has headphones on that seem to be plugged into an ipod, another student is asleep on his desk. Everyone is still in the same seats. The movie moves from talking about germany to talking about Hiroshima, no one is takin notes or even paying attention, one girl is picking her nails, another pulling out single strands of hair, one boy asleep, another looking at hte ceiling. Everyone has books on their desks that say 'Civics today". I notice in the corner are the american flag and the NC flag. They are the most colorful thing about this classroom. The movie ends and the teacher (who i have noticed sounds just like the guy from the clear eyes commercials, and thats no joke) tells them to get out their notes from yesterday, and they will begin where they left off- what happend in europe to start of the cold war. Mr. flowe is walking and pacing and putting up single word notes on the board. I cant even catch what he is saying, he is talking so monotone i cant keep focus. Every now and then he will ask a question like "and then what happened?" and either half the class will answer in monotone or no one will answer at all and after a few seconds he wil answer himself. Most students seem to be taking notes. The class is very uninteractive, if thats even a word. There is no engaging the students interest, there isnt any give and take between students and teachers. Its just them all sitting in their desks listeing to videos or lectures. The bell rings, and everyone hops up. I notice that once again, the blinds have been drawn the whole class, despite the beautiful sun outside. Yuck.

Nice work on these Sara -- good details and ideas from your observations. LT 5/15