According to Dictionary.com, a microcosm is defined as a “little world.” An educational classroom is the epitome of this term. Within a classroom, there are children of varying age, race, religion, culture and other demographic categories, just as one would find in society. A child, in himself, is a microcosm of his parents, often displaying similar characteristics and mimicking behaviors. A society “refers not to a group of people but to a system of social relationships,” social relationships that are first introduced by parents, then developed and exercised in the classroom (Yogesh, 2012). As students, children develop with their fellow classmates, creating friendships and collaborating on projects just as an adult would in the professional workplace. The classroom is a microcosm in which young children first begin to develop a sense of societal morals, rights and wrongs, which guide them through life. For this reason, acknowledging the social context of the classroom is critical to the adequacy and development of correct social behaviors of the students within. Based off of our visit to Southport Middle School, I firmly believe that in order for there to be a successful learning environment for both the students and the teacher, the social context of the classroom must be greatly considered. I visited an eighth grade art class, observing the social context and the diverse learners within it. The gender makeup of the classroom was primarily boys, making a for a rather
Understanding the contextual factors at your school and within your classroom can include a variety of things such as culture, economics, demographics and even academic history. As teachers you need to remain flexible and understand the different collective and individual learning needs of all your students. The issues you may face as a teacher may connect to the local community and may need to be taken into account when instructing students in your classroom. It is important as a teacher to be able to not only understand when you make instructional decisions you can be influenced by outside factors but also understand how the contextual analysis will affect these issues at hand.
Chapter 5 & 6 dealt with creating a space in your classroom for students to partake in questions, claims, and evidence. Science Writing Heuristic better known as SWH is used in the classroom to use language to question, to wonder, to investigate. In this type of learning the student controls his or her learning while the teacher creates opportunities for their students to engage in meaningful learning activities.
“Helping students develop mathematical dispositions in which they share their ideas, discuss others’ ideas, and so on, is always a challenge,” (The National Council of Teachers Mathematics, 2003, P. 151). I found this quote and reading to be very relatable, in the sense that students can often struggle to come up with their own ideas. This was definitely true for me and my group when we were working on the locker problem in class. In the book and in class, discussions can really benefit students and keep them engaged. “To encourage all students to contribute to discussions, the teacher should ask other students to explain their classmates ideas,” (The National Council of Teachers Mathematics, 2003, P. 153) this statement made me think of dialogic teaching. Dialogic teaching is students having a rich discussion amongst each other while being guided by the teacher. The students find out the answer on their own and the teacher does not tell them. So social norms and classroom management plays a big role when students problem solve.
Whether it includes word families, guidelines for reading and writing, a globe, pet pockets, alphabet letters and words, or shelves filled with books, establishing the right learning environment is a key component to reaching all learners. In Figure 1, you will see the décor of Mrs. Jackson’s domain, even including her humor about common sense. Despite the fact that she teaches a population of students with a small rectangular table and two desks, she also designates one of her walls with finished products of her students’ work—a sign of culturally responsive teaching (CRT), where students show their work and explain their processes to their classmates. With that inclusion, the wall art reflects that students make an
The differences in the interaction between teachers and their male and female students are vastly different. Teachers have a tendency to be ignorant of their contribution to the continual trouble of obtaining gender equity. A teacher should be studying their students, just as must as a student is required to learn from teachers lessons. Constant awareness of classroom interactions is fundamental to develop and model equity that is beneficial to supporting each student’s ability to be successful.
I observed the 2nd-grade general classroom from the Navy Elementary School. Throughout of the observation, the classroom was very diverse, and the teacher had to work with each of diverse students within the lessons. In the United States, the schools are becoming increasingly diverse. Many teachers find the diversity and exceptional learners in their classrooms by English language Learners, special education and the students who are culturally diverse. Due to diverse learners, giving an appropriate instruction to students is very important. Based o what the students receive from the teacher, individual students will accomplish their tasks and perform academic success
Part of this preparation includes the responsibility to present and explain subject matter in a way that allows the student to understand their role as a citizen. Despite standardization of materials and curriculum, a teacher has personal qualities that are incorporated into the ways and attitudes in which they teach. Teachers are role models for their students, and whether it is subconscious or not, there is opportunity to influence the students’ perceptions and values toward their social responsibilities. Teachers can affect how students are socialized and influenced in both direct and indirect ways. This is through their quality of teaching, overt and covert attitudes, and their overall treatment of students within the classroom (e.g. how a teacher groups students for classwork and group projects). Thus, the teacher in a classroom can impact friendship patterns, social norms, and group dynamics through the organization and management of their classroom (Ambach v. Norwick, 1979; Bierman,
Pollution is a large epidemic in society today, even hitting close to home in Pasadena. Pasadena pasted mayor realized there was a problem so he established the Volunteer Pasadena Program in April 2002. Citizen of Pasadena surpass expectations as they donated their valuable time to volunteer to help keep Pasadena clean. Citizens enjoyed coming out to keep the streets and waterways clean because they took pride in the city they lived in. The citizens that comes out to volunteer are people with a diverse background and a wide range of cultural. The city of Pasadena wants the volunteers to gain knowledge and understanding of the problems the city faces and ask he volunteers to help resolve them.
Last semester was exceptionally challenging; however, it was extremely beneficial because I had to work harder than any of my other classes before. I think various elements contributed to me being unsuccessful in Nursing 204. My aunt died in March with Lupus and that affected me in a huge on the grounds that she played a big role in my life, since I was a child. I was still in the denial stage and my emotions took over, which caused me to become less motivated in school. I just felt like I had no inspiration last semester and I should not have let my emotions hindered my education. In high school, I generally experienced difficulty taking tests that were not seeking the direct answers, and the Nursing 204 tests were not quite the same as the tests I would regularly take. My procrastination last semester played an enormous role in failing the course. When I initially
Microsystem implies the immediate environment of a person. These surrounding include an individual ‘s neighborhood, school, peers, and family. The well-known relationships are between school, family, church and school experiences. I feel if children are rejected by people in the microsystem they are more likely to have difficulties in having positive relationships with people they come in contact with. When we have Exosystem can relate to relationships between a social environment in which a person does play an active role and immediate context.
The importance of the hidden curriculum of school and learning social etiquette stuck out to me in this placement. Though there was a range of development in the class, and some students proved to understand proper social etiquette more than others, many children were not aware of social etiquette and were not fully able to control their bodies and emotions. I noted that many times the children would try to run around or move however they like and talk out of turn without realizing that that is not socially acceptable and that there are consequences for doing so. The teacher would often say, “no thank you, ______” to the student that was displaying behavior that was unacceptable. I liked that she would praise students publicly for good behavior, saying things like “I like the way that Maggie is sitting up, looking at me, and keeping her hands to herself.” Something else that stuck out to me when examining the social environment of the class was the emergence of a clique that my cooperating teacher pointed out to me one day during outdoor play time. She
According to Bronfenbrenner, the smallest and first atmosphere a child experiences is the microsystem. The microsystem consists of daily life at home, school, friends, and the community of the child. The child’s interactions within the microsystem are personal and between family and friends. The interactions and child’s personality traits are major influences on the development of the child. My microsystem consists of my family, friends, and school.
The classroom environment promotes relationship building among the children because there are two chairs that allow the teachers to sit comfortably but still be on the children’s level. This encourages the relationships to be built with the teachers because the children can come and talk to the teachers and the teacher can easily hear/see them. The children are also able to give the teachers hugs at this level. This is evidence that relationships have been formed because I have observed the children doing the things mentioned above. The environment lacks in the promotion building of relationships between teachers and parents because there are not many pieces of furniture that is comfortable for adults. They are welcome to stay and play with their child, but they have to stand, kneel on the floor, or sit in the child sized furniture. To help promote this is may be beneficial to have more than just 3 adult sized chairs in the classroom. There is a comfy couch and a chair in the library for the children, but they are not big enough for adults. There is a cuddle corner in the classroom that the children can go to when they are upset. There is also a cubby for each child to play their work to take home to share with their
Emily Whitmer Rose Glasser EDTP 201 10/28/16 Ethnography: The Building Blocks of Learning I remember my first day going to a school to observe. It felt more inquiring, rather than being obligated to go to school just because I had to, like the state required us to. Ever since I have been given two field placements, I have been increasingly interested in the teaching profession. My first field placement has been an eye opener for all other rolls in a school. It has showed me just how important other rolls are in a school, and how they can affect and tie into how a student does in a classroom. Having two field placements has given me a new outlook on the classroom environment, curriculum, and what goes on behind the scenes in the teaching profession. In my second field placement, which is what this ethnography will evolve around, I was placed at Blue Lick Elementary School (right next to Knight Middle School). Blue Lick Elementary School collaborates with Knight Middle School, to ease the transition to 6th grade. This school is located in Heritage Creek, which is also close to my first placement, Fairdale High School. The population in this neighborhood is low-income. There are 480 students and the student teacher ratio is 16:1. Blue Lick Elementary School is a public co-ed school and accepts grades pre-kindergarten to 5th grade. At Blue Lick Elementary School, 66% of the students are white. The next majority of the students are black, which is 25% on a pie chart. Only 2% of
During this course I was put into a classroom consisting of 15 students ranging from kindergarten to 5th grade with varying moderate to severe physical disabilities some of which were also accompanied by some form of cognitive disability as well. When I arrived in the classroom on the first day I immediately noted how well the students got along with each other and how well they interacted during both free time and during instructional time. During my time in this class I learned what it means to have a sense of community in the classroom corresponding with Standard 2. Learning Environment, Element 3. The teacher candidate promotes positive social interaction and a sense of community in the learning environment.