The school I am tutoring in for VIPS seems to be in a good area. I am not familar with the areas since I just moved here but the neighborhood seems ok. The building itself it very, very large. It is older but is maintained. The classroom I am volunteering in is large as well. The room is full of books and posters. The desks are in rows across the classroom, each row seems to have a row leader. The students are allowed things based upon their behavior in the row.
The school is pretty empty. The classroom I am in is on the third floor of the building and the stairs to get there are very empty. Outside of the classroom the school is very plain. I feel very small when I am walking around the school. I feel an almost lost feeling. The inside of the school is not very inviting or friendly, when I walk around I feel the same nervous, anxious feelings I used to feel when I was a young student. The feeling I get when I am in the school is much different that the feeling I get when I am in the classroom. The classroom has a homey feeling to it. The students have their work hanging up around the class, and their books are along the walls. There is also a rug and a rocking chair in the corner of the classroom where the teacher will have read-a-louds when time permits. The students seem to be very comfortable in the class and really seem to like their teacher alot. Her desk is covered with artwork the students have drawn for her, her door is covered as well. When I walk with her to meet her students before my tutoring begins, many of her past students will asy hello to her and hug her. She obviously has had an amazing effect on hese students, they all seem to like her very much. She is a great teacher. The students in the classroom are for the most part well behaived and nice. There are few that are constantly being reminded to stay focused and on task. But the most surprising part of this group of students is just how far behind they seem to be. Many of them cannot read even the simpliest of words. I try and work with the few students that are having the most trouble reading, but most of them have already given up on trying to learn. They seem to have accepted the fact that they cannot read and do not want to try. These students are the ones that acting out more in class. I think it is because they do not understand what the class is doing most of the time and are frustrated. It is so hard to see these students struggle, I want so badly to help them but there seems to be only so much that I can do. The teacher is doing her best to help the students that are struggling, but the rest of the class needs to be helped as well. They need to move on ant the curriculum does not allow for any extra time to help students that are behind. The students are all very sweet. The girls in the class talk to me about everything and anything, it almost seems like they have no one else to talk to they talk so much. I feel bad that they may not have anyone at home that will listen to them. I am learning so much in the VIPS program. Being immersed in the classroom is teaching me how to handle the students and teach them at the same time. I am really enjoying the experience.
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Amanda,
ReplyDeleteYour school sounds like it has a lot of the same qualities mine has; a fine neighborhood, nice classrooms, and struggling students. It's great to hear that your classroom teacher is a good one! My first grade classroom teacher has had an amazing effect on her students as well, and all of her students have made improvements, but still the majority of the class is performing below grade level and all five of my students have pretty much given up, just like yours, because they are so frustrated! I think that both my students and your students would benefit from some kind of change!
I was very surprised to read that you observed that the desks in your classroom are in rows and not groups. What grade level are you working with? Through all of my experiences with children in elementary schools, desks have been in groups, or students sit at tables together. I wonder what your teachers thought process is in how having students in rows is beneficial at such a young age?
If your students are in rows instead of groups and have pretty much given up, because of frustration, it makes me think; How much participatory learning is going on in your classroom? and Are our students getting an Empowering Education?
As Ira Shor says in his article Empowering Education, Critical Teaching for Social Change, “action,” or participation is essential for students to learn, and students begin to withdraw and give up after they spend hours and hours hearing lectures, listening to rules, taking tests, and getting grades. I get the feeling that your classroom is mostly "teacher centered" like mine, and this is affecting the students positive feelings towards learning.
It breaks my heart, like it does yours to hear that students have "accepted the fact that they cannot read." I would really like to know how this teacher boosts these students’ confidence levels? I think that both my students and yours will benefit from having more time to question, participate, think critically, and connect with other students and the teacher. But as you say, for right now there is only so much we can do, but when we become teachers we will have to make sure that every student in our classroom has confidence, and is happy to come to school each day and learn.