On March 6, 2013 I had the great privilege to observe a class in the school, PS 8. Once I stepped inside the school I felt very welcome. As a class from Manhattan College we waited in the auditorium to begin our tour, students from the school we were visiting were singing and practicing a song. These students were very active; right away I saw that the presence of the children was very much appreciated.
Walking towards the stairs I noticed a Parent Association room. This room in particular was shocking to see. It’s truly effective that parents are welcome into the school. Parents’ being apart of the school’s community is very beneficial to the student’s life. It shows parents are considered and have a part in their children’s education. In every school there is a Parent Association Board but I have never seen a school where the board has their own room located in the school. As we continued walking throughout the school, there were classrooms displayed the student’s works all over. I also noticed that on their papers the heading format read “PS 8”, being very effective to the school, I believe it’s a great way in having great kids representing the school.
Walking into the classroom I chose to observe I was very welcomed by the teacher and students. The student’s works were displayed in the classroom walls as well. Effectively I saw that students “lived” in the classroom especially with the little green frogs hanged on the door with each one of their names. Students even had their own closets, separated by gender. There was an effective environment in the classroom. The teachers were serious about the children’s education. The students were reminded a bunch of times to focus and to talk less, when the teacher was giving instructions. Physically I saw a well-cared environment. There was order in the room, with the schedule of the day with the hourly timing on the wall— known as The Flow of The Day. The students also had notebooks marked with different colors divided by subjects, but a negative environmental sense was to see some of the desk look awful, and very messy inside. In the other hand I saw more of an effective environment, due to the fact that the class had a nice library equipped with organized bins very accessible to the fifth graders.
Ms. Rosario appears to be an effective teacher. She truly showed to care about the student’s learning above everything. She was a true facilitator rather than a controller. She knew in which level of learning students were in, and according to that she would place them in the rug, assigning sits. She placed students that didn’t appear to pay much attention in the front of the board during rug time. On the rug the students had discussion about their assignment in their workbook. The teacher very effectively called them by their names to see what they thought about what was being read, to make sure everyone was paying attention and understood the topic. Effectively the teacher listened to the students’ comments when they were reviewing in class and together the class came to conclusions, about an answer as the teacher reflected on a response. Students were given credit for their participation, by having their name between parentheses on the board –involving the student’s attention at all times.
As the main teacher taught in a many effective ways soon the class broke into small groups to play a game, formulating the classroom as an impeccable area of a math lesson—effective learning. The Math Prep teacher walking around the different desks while working on a game, which was effective to help the students try harder, and helped the teacher made sure they were working on the math problems. After the math prep for the state tests, three teachers were talking in the other side of the classroom while the students were still learning. Students were absorbing knowledge about poetry but some students looked back, they seemed very distractive by the chatting from the back of the room, which was something that didn’t help their learning process at all. Then I had to go back to Manhattan College and everyone waved goodbye.
Overall I enjoyed watching students learn and being so attentive in their learning. There was a strong family sense in the classroom. Everyone respected one another and the teachers cared a lot for each one of their learners, encouraging them to think deeply and to stay involved during the lessons, review and discussions.
Walking towards the stairs I noticed a Parent Association room. This room in particular was shocking to see. It’s truly effective that parents are welcome into the school. Parents’ being apart of the school’s community is very beneficial to the student’s life. It shows parents are considered and have a part in their children’s education. In every school there is a Parent Association Board but I have never seen a school where the board has their own room located in the school. As we continued walking throughout the school, there were classrooms displayed the student’s works all over. I also noticed that on their papers the heading format read “PS 8”, being very effective to the school, I believe it’s a great way in having great kids representing the school.
Walking into the classroom I chose to observe I was very welcomed by the teacher and students. The student’s works were displayed in the classroom walls as well. Effectively I saw that students “lived” in the classroom especially with the little green frogs hanged on the door with each one of their names. Students even had their own closets, separated by gender. There was an effective environment in the classroom. The teachers were serious about the children’s education. The students were reminded a bunch of times to focus and to talk less, when the teacher was giving instructions. Physically I saw a well-cared environment. There was order in the room, with the schedule of the day with the hourly timing on the wall— known as The Flow of The Day. The students also had notebooks marked with different colors divided by subjects, but a negative environmental sense was to see some of the desk look awful, and very messy inside. In the other hand I saw more of an effective environment, due to the fact that the class had a nice library equipped with organized bins very accessible to the fifth graders.
Ms. Rosario appears to be an effective teacher. She truly showed to care about the student’s learning above everything. She was a true facilitator rather than a controller. She knew in which level of learning students were in, and according to that she would place them in the rug, assigning sits. She placed students that didn’t appear to pay much attention in the front of the board during rug time. On the rug the students had discussion about their assignment in their workbook. The teacher very effectively called them by their names to see what they thought about what was being read, to make sure everyone was paying attention and understood the topic. Effectively the teacher listened to the students’ comments when they were reviewing in class and together the class came to conclusions, about an answer as the teacher reflected on a response. Students were given credit for their participation, by having their name between parentheses on the board –involving the student’s attention at all times.
As the main teacher taught in a many effective ways soon the class broke into small groups to play a game, formulating the classroom as an impeccable area of a math lesson—effective learning. The Math Prep teacher walking around the different desks while working on a game, which was effective to help the students try harder, and helped the teacher made sure they were working on the math problems. After the math prep for the state tests, three teachers were talking in the other side of the classroom while the students were still learning. Students were absorbing knowledge about poetry but some students looked back, they seemed very distractive by the chatting from the back of the room, which was something that didn’t help their learning process at all. Then I had to go back to Manhattan College and everyone waved goodbye.
Overall I enjoyed watching students learn and being so attentive in their learning. There was a strong family sense in the classroom. Everyone respected one another and the teachers cared a lot for each one of their learners, encouraging them to think deeply and to stay involved during the lessons, review and discussions.