Today was the first observation day. I was placed in Grade 2 classroom at an inner city school. The class has 24 students and are predominantly East Indian background. We have a resource teacher helping two students with IEP.
——–
Observation:
- students
- very friendly and sociable
- no division between boys and girls
- great diversity between academic levels (we have three math/reading levels)
- math: some students were learning to count up to 100 and some students were learning how to add/subtract numbers up to 15
- reading: some students were learning phonics and some students were reading chapter books
- writing: we have various levels – Advanced students are taken to different classroom for enhanced learning. Beginner to intermediate students are divided into different guided reading group (4-5 students per group).
- classroom
- very spacious
- not too many commercial materials such as bulletin board borders and posters
- students’ art works, classroom rules (handwritten), alphabets, math/reading/writing groups are posted on the wall
- seating arrangement: alternating rows of single desk and two desks
- carpet at the front of the classroom – students sit here during morning calendar activity, mindfulness (post-recess meditation time), and when copying down agendas.
- guided reading center in the back of the classroom
——–
I have only attended private schools in Japan and thus the environment I observed today was very different and new. Varying academic levels between each students was one of the most surprising thing I saw today. I am wondering how my teacher is managing such diversity within a classroom and how she is catering lessons suited for individuals.
Follow