School Visit 4

Date of Visit - 4.14.2010

This day started like all of the others, I arrived in the parking lot, and walked around to the front of the building. I arrived at the classroom a few minutes early, and the door was locked. I waited a few minutes, and Mrs. Qwerty arrived.

The class came in; most of them after the bell had already rang. It took perhaps five more minutes before they were all seated. The students were all given a ditto worksheet, which was the first quiz for the quarter. Because this quarter just started, there was no make-up work for the students to do. In theory, the students could quickly finish the quiz, and then have the rest of the class to relax. This however did not happen. Most of the students spent their time talking with one another, and not focusing on their work.

I worked with two students in this class; “Red,” and “Blue.” Blue would work on a question on the quiz, and then lose focus. I would remind him of his assignment, and get him back on track. Red worked consistently on his work. Most of the questions Red could answer himself, but some he needed help with. Blue however, needed more help. All of the questions could be found in the textbooks that the students had. There were headings in the book which corresponded with the questions in the quiz. I would find the heading, read the paragraph with the answer, and then show the student where to find the answer. It took Blue almost the entire period to finish the quiz, because he was busy talking to other students, and doing anything besides work. Red on the other hand was the first student to finish. He worked diligently, and with little help from me, he quickly finished his assignment. Mrs. Qwerty told him that because he had no make-up work (the previous quarter having recently ended) that he could read, or draw a picture. He decided to draw, and then he proceeded to show me how to make an origami balloon. He told me that he learned how to do it at an after school program, and was excited to teach me something cool that he knew.

The second class mirrored the assignment of the first class. The attitudes were different however. I do not know if it was because it was at the end of the day, or because it was close to summer vacation, but these students were off the walls crazy. I worked with one student, “Green,” who had transferred into this class from a special education classroom. I do not know why this student was in special education, he worked diligently, and intelligently. He did not seem to have any mental defect, or show, at a first encounter at least, that he belonged in a special education classroom. The other students were up walking around, and leaving the classroom without permission. Two of the students got into a fight part way through the class.

Both of the classes are starting a new project, in which they research a person of historical significance, write a report about them, and give an oral presentation about that person’s life. Mrs. Qwerty gave me a paper that all of the students needed to take home and have signed by a parent, and bring back for credit in the class. The paper had all of the due dates, requirements, and rubric for the project. I liked this idea; it gets the parents involved, so that they know when their child’s work is due, and what is expected of them.

I noticed some aspects of Anyon’s theory when I was in class. The Bat Cave subscribes to a tracking theory, with an advanced program, generic program, and special education program. The classes that I work with are both on the generic track. Almost all of these students are minorities, and are part of a working class family. Most of the students in the advanced program are white, or Asian. Everyone else is left behind in the generic or special education level. The conditions of the materials in the generic level classes are in bad shape. All of the books are tattered, and many do not have covers. The students are not allowed to take the books out of the classroom for two reasons. The first is that they may damage the books further, and the other, is that there are not enough to go around. I have not been into the advanced classes, but I am expecting that they have a better range of materials to use in class.