Classroom Observation: Lake Oconee Academy

African American students account for the larger majority of minorities in public schools in the United States. Most areas in the northern part of the United states and coastal areas are ethnically diverse. However, down south this is not the case. Students of color will experience a harder time in the education system. African American students meet the obstacle of educators who will not want them to succeed based on a preconceived thought. In fact, Caucasian teachers make up for 85% of all

When the children walked into the classroom, they all seemed excited and eager to start their day. Miss Suzy greeted each student with respect and a smile on her face. Every child seemed to know where

Chamblee, GA is a small city outside of the metro Atlanta area that is characteristically different racially and ethnically than everything around it. The Hispanic population stands at 58.5% of the total population as of 2010, but in Atlanta and Georgia more broadly, this population only makes up 5.2% and 8.8% respectively. Additionally, only 7% of Chamblee’s population is Black, whereas this group is 54% of Atlanta’s population and 30.5% of Georgia’s. However, my alma mater, Chamblee Charter High School, stood out from the city itself being an amalgamation of a magnet program and a charter public school, bringing in students from around the county with significant representation from the Chamblee area as well. Consequently, the school’s

On October 27, I, along with Jenna Mrofchak and Andy Norton, shadowed multiple teachers at the Chagrin Falls Middle School. During the day, I shadowed Mrs. Mrofchak, a life science teacher, Mrs. Bauer, a world history teacher, Mrs. Dennison, a health teacher, and Mr. Richmond, a english teacher. Throughout Mrs. Mrofchak’s first period class, I was able to interact with the eighth grade students by answering any questions about the high school or my freshmen year. Afterwards, the class began to take notes and continue in a day to day class schedule. As a result, I was able to watch the class's reaction to the different explanations the teacher gave. Additionally, I was able to gain knowledge about how to control a classroom

There is a significant difference in ethnic diversity versus a typical public school system in Georgia. At KC 46.5% of the student population is African American (Kennesaw, GA public school average is 23.2%) 32% of the students are Caucasian, 5.5% Hispanic, 8.5% Asian, 5.6% are at least two races or more and less than 1% of the student population is made up of American Indian or

A typical day in Julie Smith MC 201 class starts of with her playing music. Once her class starts it’s nothing but and excitement. She is a very loud and energetic person. She is not afraid to get all in your face as she is walking around the class teaching you for the topic of the day. She also has a lot of games she uses to keep people engaged in the topics to she is talking about. “ I love coming to Julie class because you never know what to expect from her. One day you might get class where you’re using your phone and the next day she’s handing out candy. I love coming to her class not knowing what to expect.” Said Ciara Bazile. Julie just didn’t wake up one day and say hey I’m going to be teacher like most people as she likes to put it, “ just happened by accident.” One of her old professors called her one night and asked her if she was still teaching at Webster and asked her if she wanted to teach an intro class, she immediately jumped at it. Her favorite part about teaching is “having students contact me after the semester to tell me about examples they 've seen - which shows that what we 've talked about in 201 has stayed with them. I love getting to know them and know their stories. College students are much smarter than people give them credit for.” Julie has been teaching since 1998 so she has no shame when it comes to teaching is not afraid to make a fool of her self when it comes to teaching. “I remember Julie teaching us about television and radio. She

Throughout this essay I will be discussing what I experienced with my time observing my aunt. I have been observing Julie Tolbert, my aunt, for a few weeks and have gained so much information that will help me tremendously. When the eighth grade students visited I was able to get a glimpse at what students in the upper levels of school were like and was able to make a definite decision on whether or not I would stay with early childhood or move to middle grades. After discussing what I learned from my different field experiences, I will discuss the different theories and models that I observed and compare and contrast what could have been differently. I will bring up the theories that I think were used that Julie did not even

My observation was in Mr. Chad Hebert’s health class at Oak Park middle school. The school is located down Oak Park Boulevard in Lake Charles Louisiana. The school consist of grades sixth through eighth grades. The classroom I observed was a regular classroom with inclusion students. The diversity of the students within the class consisted of all African American students and one student that was Puerto Rican. The teacher was a Caucasian male. The office consisted of African American faculty. When passing other children and teachers in school I noticed the majority was African American. There were eight males and seven females in the classroom that I observed. The children were not assigned any particular seats in the classroom. The girls seemed to sit together and boys sat in different seats each time I was in the classroom. The girls were always more involved in answering questions or with class discussions.

All of the walls are plastered with student work of hand-cut construction paper snowflakes and stockings. In the mornings, excited students swarm the hallway as they look for their classroom and their teacher. Echoes of “good mornings” bounce around the hallway from student to teacher. But farther down the hallway, the older students are not as excited for the day while the bare walls match their expressionless faces. About halfway down this hallway is a wide staircase down leading to the fourth grade classrooms. It is rather quiet in this hallway because there is a distinct lack of

The environment in the room embodied St. Anne’s mission on its own. It was comfortable and warm, which embodies the school’s holistic approach to learning. Ms. Moran explained how important it is for the school to have classrooms be warm and inviting to the students, so important, that she referred to the environment as the “third teacher”.

I performed my field experience at Chiefland Elementary. Chiefland is a very small town with the population of six thousand. There are over eight hundred students enrolled at Chiefland Elementary. There are fifty-two instructional staff members and two administers. In those fifty-two staff members, there is one African American teacher and one male teacher; the rest are women. This is a white dominate school. In the school there is 73% Caucasian students, 17% African American students, and 4% Hispanic students. There is only 3% of students that are ESOL and 5% are Gifted and Talented. This semester we learned that in small areas and with low income schools, there are more Hispanics and African American people. In this case, Chiefland Elementary

Mrs. Cirrincione has a structured morning routine. After welcoming the students, she takes attendance while the students read, sharpen pencils, and exchange books. ELA is first. While students are working silently on spelling, Mrs. Cirrincione walks around the room connecting with each student. Overall throughout the day, I noticed Mrs. Cirrincione was very engaged, never sitting at her desk unless she was conferring with a student one-on-one. Dr. Cornell, the

In that class, the student learns about different teaching methods and how to care for children. As part of the curriculum, we volunteered at Long Elementary as teacher aides. Working with 4th grade students and observing an everyday class room was such an awe-inspiring experience. I had a completely new perspective about teachers. I have so much more respect as before. Teachers put so much time and effort into helping children for their benefits. I knew from the first day I helped with Ms. Williams’ 4th grade class, how much a teacher is a positive influence on children. There is an overwhelming feeling when you help a student with a problem and in return they give you the most heart-warming smile. The experience at Long Elementary helped me make my final decision on whether I wanted to teach elementary or secondary school. As much as I enjoyed helping elementary students, in my heart I knew secondary school was the path God had in store for me.

At SPIN: Frankford, the learning climate of the classroom was very calm, quiet, and positive. The classroom was observing the children were very comfortable asking questions. If a child had a question or did not understand what the teacher was saying, the students did not hesitate to ask questions. When the students needed help or were asking questions the teachers were there to help them right away. One example is the assistant teacher would sit with the children individually and let them talk to her; she would listen to them until they were done talking. By the teacher letting the students talk to her individually is giving the students more reassurance that they can be comfortable with their teachers. The teachers did interact and respond

At the start of each day, Mrs. Smith enthusiastically greets her students, and the class begins their morning routine. Each student starts with reading their library book for a few minutes. After all the students and Mrs. Smith has settled in the classroom they go over news of the day, and they read the word wall. This process is a daily routine for the students, and it gets each student focused, and ready to learn. The students in Mrs. Smith class rotate between three other teachers, so the morning routine is fast but effective. Mrs. Smith is always ready to take advantage of teachable moments, and be