My first day of field was a little nerve wracking for me. Upon arriving at field I was told that I was placed in a 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th grade split. I didn't really understand how this was possible. On top of that I found out that it was a special education classroom with behavioral and academically challenged students. There are also at least 14 ESL students in the class. For the first day we just observed for about an hour and a half. We watched how she handled the classroom and took control of the kids that were out of hand. Her way of teaching is pretty blunt, she really just tells the kids what's up which seems to be what they need. The first thing we observed was a math lesson. She gave the students a problem to do together (all grades) and then had the students take her through it. Before doing it as a class she walked around and helped telling students "Well you have the right idea now all you need is the right answer..." Her ways of getting the kids to solve the problem seemed kind of harsh but they seemed to be what the kids needed. They were all paying attention for the most part and she was quick to put a stop to any fooling around. Her strategy seems to be calling out a student for their misbehavior in front of the class to make it so it stops happening. When she returned her attention to the group after any interruptions she would just continue on as if they hadn't stopped.
For literacy she divides them into groups labeled by color. I haven't yet figured out how the groups are put together but she told us she would give us lots of time for questions and she tried to give us little tid bits as she went along like how she likes to run things and what she likes to do to make sure everyone is included. She gives each group sentences with different directions to either fill in the blank, circle the blends, etc. She goes through all sentences for each group as a class and lets everyone be included because it is a learning experience for everyone.
After they worked as a group I finally got to interact with them one on one. A lot of them were struggling readers. One little girl had trouble with all the words on a page which is something I haven't seen before with kids this age. Although I haven't seen how Mrs. M. approaches these problems I'm really curious to learn.
I'm really apprehensive about my field placement but I feel like I'm garaunteed an intense learning experience. I'm somewhat excited and nervous to see how this pans out because I feel like this is a situation that I could take a lot away from.
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Erika-Wow, I don't even understand how a 1st through 4th grade split could be a success. Especially if they are behaviorally and academically challenged students. That sounds crazy. I agree, the teacher must have to be blunt to get the message across to the students. I think this would be really difficult to keep up with the various levels of students, not to mention the high level of ESL students and all of the behavior problems. So you said she has all grades working together for some activities and then she splits them up for other activities. Is math normally the whole class activity and literacy is normally split up or does it vary by the specific lesson? Is it clear which students are at what grade level? Do the students themselves seem to notice the great variety in the classroom? I wonder if that effects their learning at all. I don't think I've ever been in a classroom with these kinds of challenges but it seems like you have a good teacher who tries to make the best of her situation and really help the students. I agree that there is probably quite a lot you can take away from this experience. Good luck!
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