The thing that hit me immediately about the 2nd school we visited today was that they have Pre-K through 8th grade in one school. This can be seen as an opportunity for stability for students (if they really stay in one location for that long) or as a challenge to keep the influence of the 13/14 year old 8th graders away from 4 year old Pre-K students.
I loved the long classroom visits and the way the teachers and the tour-guide/teachers encouraged us to ask questions of both the teachers and the students in the classrooms.
I first visited an 8th grade math class which was great since I'll be teaching math. The teacher was teaching Connected Math and it was great to learn from his experiences and to watch how different students have figured out how they learn best - 4 students were working together, cathing each other's mistakes while 3 or 4 students were working independently. I was impressed with the up-to-date calculators the students were using and learned that they 'live' in the classroom and the students use them there (this makes it challenging to give HW assignments since the students don't own their own calculators). I also had the opportunity to talk to the teacher (who has a similiar background to mine working in business which was interesting) and he talked alot about the flow of his day and how he works with the students. He does a significant amount of research about his students standardized test scores from 6th and 7th grade before they come to his class so he knows their individual strengths and weaknesses and can gear his teaching to that (great idea!).
Then I visited a Pre-K classroom, out of personal interest. I wanted to compare it to my daughter's pre-school classroom. First of all, the class I visited is smaller (10 students compared with my daughters 16), with more adults in it, than my daughter's classroom (actually the same number of teachers but 2 additional aides for special needs students). Second, the classroom is larger than my daughter's with all the same activities and materials. Third, and most interesting, is that they have a Progressive Writing Wall for the Pre-K and many of the students in the class we visited today are writing more and better than those in my daughter's school! I shared this with the teacher and we had some very interesting conversations about her students and her decision to teach in Newark even though she travels there every day from a suburb.
Between the two teachers I met in these classes and the teachers on the panel at the first school, we repeatedly heard that they teach in the city schools because that is where they are needed and they can make the most difference. It was an inspiring day.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
Don't you ever wonder if the suburban admin and teachers get comfortable in their routine? The students are compliant and the test scores are as expected. Why change anything?
In the urban schools, it seems that many of them seem to make it a routine to reflect and analyze the program. Constantly asking the question -- are we doing the right thing, is there someone out there doing it better, what can we improve?
Maybe the suburbanites could learn from the enthusiam witnessed at these schools?
I've wondered this also, is it detrimental to the student population or the school in any way to place all grades K-8 together in one school? My elementary school was K-5 and even then I felt a huge gap between the K or even 1st graders and the 5th.
As long as there are enough resources and space to accommodate the students, I think it can be done. I would see it as important to monitor and if necessary work on the attitude that the different age groups of students have toward the community of students as a whole.
The age gap could actually even be used to the school and the children's advantage. Could programs that involve the older working with the younger kids in some capacity be implemented? (ex big brother/sister, tutoring or homework help, "watchful guard" as a buddy system) I think any program/s would just need to be tailored to the school/district.
Your reaction to the K-8 school was similar to mine when I started subbing in a district that did not have a middle school/junior high school, but had a handful of elementary schools that were K-8, something I had never experienced before. In this particular district there were rumors that a new middle school, for grades 6,7, and 8 was being considered. Teachers vented their desire to see this school built, citing research that shows that a K-5 setting is a better setting for students than K-8. Most of the teachers I witnessed discussing this agreed with this idea. No word yet on whether the middle school will become a reality any time soon.
And what is so interesting about it is that a K-8 school can actually be good for families because parents can drop ALL their young kids off at one school! And, believe me, when my younger brother and sister were around there are a lot of things that I thought of saying and doing but different because I knew I would get in even more trouble. And, having the younger kids around can actually help the older kids to develop their maturity skills. But then again, we are talking about an age group of students who generally are not my strong point, so what do I know?
Post a Comment