On Wednesday February 12, I attended a local urban high
school for my SED 406 class. Because I
am working toward a secondary social studies certification along with the
special education certification, I was eager to observe the special education
history class that was offered by the principal.
Initially there were only eight students in class, although
there should have been thirteen. The racial
identity of the students was mixed between some Hispanic and white children
with two African American students. I
must admit, however, it was difficult to determine exactly which race or
heritage each student was from appearance alone.
The students were working on a small project that had a
common objective, but they were able to choose their own method. Some students worked together and some worked
on their own. They were learning about
how a bill becomes a law in the American legislature. The students’ objective was to show that they
understood the process through creating a poem, flow-chart, storyboard, or any other
way they choose. On Bloom’s Taxonomy chart
for cognitive objectives, this lesson focused on #2 Comprehension because
it entailed understanding the process enough to reproduce the steps into
another form, but not in any manner where the students would apply their
knowledge – such as in #3 Application. Most
students were engaged in the lesson, but the teacher did mention that it was
taking the class a few days to complete the task. About six students were close to finishing
before the end of class. One student was
fixed on drawing a cover page for his project.
It was a great drawing of the capital building, but the drawing was his
only progress of the project in a few days.
I do not know this student’s history or abilities, nor do I know what
how often he is typically allowed to continue off task, but it was
disappointing to me to see that he had not attempted to work toward the actual
objective. Being my first day in the
class, I was also not sure of the teacher’s individual expectations of him.
I was not able to determine specifically how the students
feel about the school, the teacher, or each other, but one student was surprised
when we told her we wanted to be teachers. Her response was, “Why?, What would you want
to this for?” This gave me the idea that her feelings or assumptions of the
school were not necessarily positive, although she was one of the students completely
engaged in the lesson and one of the few nearly completed. Therefore, it does not seem that her
disapproving opinion of the school affects her performance, at least from my
initial impression of her. This
particular student happened to mention that she likes World War II history,
when I asked her what she would prefer to learn. I was then happy to tell her that she would
like the book I am currently reading, which is a historical fiction about a
young Lithuanian girl and Stalin’s relocation of the Baltic States in 1941 to
Siberia.
Not long after we entered, I witnessed a student gather his
things and leave the classroom without notifying the teacher. This student that left did not seem engaged
in the teacher’s lesson. He wore his
hood over his face and the teacher’s assistant had spent a notable amount of
time with him. He appeared somewhat
angry. I wondered if our presence as
observers made him more uncomfortable. I
also noted a female student with exposed shoulders. Normally I would not have noticed, but just
prior to entering the room I read the school’s dress code rules on the wall
which stated “shoulder to shoulder” clothing.
It also stated no hats or hoods of any sort which also helped me notice
the boy wearing the hood. Besides some
repeated swearing by one other student, I did not notice any other school rules
violated during our visit.
Overall, it was a great first visit and I look forward to
future visits. I hope the students
become comfortable with me, and I hope to become more comfortable with them as
well. I am excited because it really
seems this experience will prove to be very beneficial to me and my future
career as a teacher.
