Urban Seminar Journal

Sunday, May 13, 2007

Today was a lesson in what can go wrong when an event is NOT organized at all. The IUPers were scheduled to arrive at Thomas Edison High School at approximately 2:30pm in time for a 3:00pm meeting/orientation, so I left my house (and hour and a half away) at 1:00 or so factoring that the trip could take longer due to traffic, etc. We hit a lot of traffic on I95 and only arrived at the school at 2:55, and instead of finding everyone in the school we saw hordes of people standing and waiting restlessly outside, in front of the closed Edison High School gates. So I hauled my suitcase and groceries from the trunk of my car and braved the traffic to lug my belongings across the street to where the crowd was located. I found some of the IUP people I knew and sat down with them. The sun was warm and there was a nice breeze, so I didn’t mind waiting, but they told me they had been waiting for a half hour or so, and that for some reason the High School wasn’t prepared for us, ergo the gates were locked and Dr. Tidwell and Dr. Vold were running around trying to figure out how to get us inside. Eventually they communicated to us that we needed to “walk around the block” to the back entrance of the school. This is easier said than done.

Sometimes teachers are the difference between the student’s achieving his or her potential and settling for less than success.

There were fifty of us, and we blindly tried to walk down the street, eventually finding a stone stairwell that led up to an overpass, and we continued in the direction we were told to go, however there was no side gate or opening through which we could access the school, and in ten minutes time we were lost on the streets of Philadelphia. I wasn’t too worried about being assaulted or anything like that, but it wasn’t long before people were freaking out and yelling at each other and chaos ensued. Finally, this girl named Nicole had a friend who somehow found his way into the auditorium and who was good enough to tell us how to get back to the correct street. Somehow we were supposed to have found our way onto another overpass, but everyone involved was at a loss to discover how we might have found our way there. In the end we got to school in relatively happy and healthy condition, only an hour and 20 minutes later than expected.

We had an assembly where they distributed packets of itineraries, the names of cooperating teachers, school assignments, and any material you could hope for. I met a few of the other girls at my school named Olivia, Keisha, and Allison. There were supposed to be other girls, but I don’t know what happened to them. We were all assigned to the Leidy school.

I will be in an Oral classroom for deaf students. What worries me the most is not the dangers of the Philadelphia streets, but rather I am worried about my lack of teaching experience. Obviously this opportunity is open to incoming sophomores who have had no methods classes, but I’m worried about being competent enough to handle it. I don’t know what I will be expected to do or how many lessons I am to teach or anything like that. I do know I will be dealing with grades K-2, so I wonder how difficult it could be to be taken seriously by kids of that age. I think above all, during this experience the only thing to expect is the unexpected. I need to be flexible. I also need to be prepared to give up my “middle class” habits for two weeks. I found myself hesitating to use Edison’s restroom facilities because of their cleanliness. Here at LaSalle, the rooms are nice enough but very dusty, and they don’t hold a candle to the carpets and paintings in Whitmyre; definitely some “getting used to” to be done.

Monday, May 14, 2007

Today was much better than I anticipated. For one thing, my cooperating teacher, aside from being a touch scatterbrained, is a wonderful woman. Her name is Judy Nelson (and apparently several friends have given her the book Miss Nelson is Missing so she has multiple copies), she went to Penn State for her undergrad, and she taught at the Pennsylvania School for the Deaf. She has an assistant named “Mr. Darrell” who was a 25 year old Special Ed/Autism undergrad and this is his first exposure to Deaf and hard of hearing. He was a good guy and had all good things to say about Miss Nelson. I look forward to working with both of them over the course of the two weeks.

My job today was essentially that of a teacher’s aid. I helped her clean things up, I kept the kids engaged while she prepared for the next lesson, I helped the kids write and draw and I kept track of their “sad faces” and “smiles.” Miss Nelson’s system consists of having a tally sheet and if a child behaves badly they receive a tally in the “sad face” column, and they receive “smile” tallies for good behavior. They tally their marks up for the day and they get stickers on a behavior card. She didn’t explain it to me; I learned that much from observation, so I don’t know what it means for them if they fill out a behavior card, or how many tallies gets a sticker, etc.

There are four kids in my classroom. They are all from minority groups (3 African American and one Asian American), and all of them have some sort of syndrome. For example, Terell has Waardenburg’s Syndrome, so he has blue eyes, they’re wide set, and he has a very prominent brow. Ashley has chromosome 22 deletion, so she can sit with her knees in front of her with her feet out to the side and she is incredibly hyperactive. Faith is the luckiest of the kids, in terms of health because she was born deaf, and her parents had enough foresight to enroll her in PSD at age 3, and that really has made all the difference. The major issue with these kids is that they have incomplete language. They don’t truly have ASL but they don’t have English either, and so as a result they’re struggling with both languages. It is common sense, once you think about it, that all of your learning depends on your understanding of the language. If you have a base knowledge of linguistic concepts, teachers are then able to use these simpler concepts to explain more complex ones; however, children like Terell, Ashley, Nicole, and Faith, really cannot learn substantial information as a rapid rate, and it is because they have no language base.

And the school system isn’t helping matters. The school system refuses to provide interpreters to children unless they perform at or above grade level, which, in Miss Nelson’s view, is ridiculous because obviously if the child is performing at grade level why do they need the additional support. Also, the kids in my classroom are not integrated at all. There are three classrooms for deaf children of different grades, and they never see their hearing classmates except during lunch and “specials” like science lab, art, and gym, so they have minimal interaction or socialization with normal children. This is unfortunate, in my opinion, because socialization is like anything else and it has to be taught. I’m also not entirely sure how legal it is when factored into PL 95-142 which deals with mainstreaming kids.

The school itself was not as “inner city” as I had imagined it would be. It was, in the sense that the kids were all African American, and the Urban Seminar kids, as well as a few of the teachers, were the only white people in the school, but there weren’t airport security booths and as far as I’m aware there were no incidences of kids bringing weapons in or anything like that. There are bars and gates on the doors, and you have to buzz in order to get into the building. I’m not sure I could be a real teacher, certainly not as I am now. Some of the teachers say things to the children that I’m sure are meant in a disciplinarian manner but come out sounding overly harsh to me, someone who isn’t used to the climate.

There are also definitely no resources. There were two computers in the classroom (which was pretty big, surprisingly) but Darrell said that most of the posters, etc, were bought out of Miss Nelson’s own pocket. I’m unsure right now how I feel about the placement. I really want to stay where I am and I’m already crazy about the kids, but I’m not how much I should teach (I’d like to teach some but she doesn’t really have a lesson plan, per se) and she also used Sign Language to support her teaching, so the kids really don’t sign except for Faith.  I suppose it is still an oral environment, but it doesn’t sound like there is as much emphasis on voice as there is on total communication, getting the kids to communicate in any and all appropriate ways. So, we’ll have to see how this works out. I’ve been pleasantly surprised with the experience so far, and I look forward to maybe playing a bigger role in the classroom and getting to know the kids a little better. They were all giving me hugs at the ends, so they can’t hate me too much for giving them “sad faces.”

We got back to LaSalle at around 3:30 or so, and I didn’t have to go to dinner until 5:45, so I called my sister and told her a bit about my day, which was entertaining because she’s an Interpreting major, and so we were comparing knowledge of diseases and concepts of Deaf Culture, and it was fun. I then went to dinner where I met some girls who I didn’t know from IUP. They had flounder, potato wedges, and snap peas, and cheesecake or ambrosia cake for dessert. I sat with Keisha, from Bloomsburg, and we had a good time chatting. She’s a nice girl and I look forward to getting to know her further over these two weeks. They encourage us to get to know people from different schools and not just to hang with people you know, so I am trying to take advantage of that. I enjoy meeting new people and hearing their stories, because there’s always something, no matter how small, in common.

 

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Today was not much of a learning day. Everyone had a free day, in the sense that no one had to go to school today. Half of the students went to the Constitution Center to see the Liberty Bell, etc, but I actually went to the Philadelphia Zoo. I was very confused last night as to what was going on or who was going where, and I asked help of a group of passing IUP students, and as a reward for my inquisitiveness, I received an invitation to go to the Zoo with them. I went with Veronica, Rachel, Shayna, and Jamie. They took me under their wing, were incredibly nice and accepting, and were really fun to hang out with. I didn’t see much of Shayna because she decided to join another group of IUP students who also traveled to the Zoo. It was not too educational a day, but I did learn that 1) the Philadelphia streets have no traffic laws that aren’t flexible, 2) Humboltz penguins use their tails to swim, 3) when you travel with teachers to the Zoo, cute children might as well be part of the exhibition, and 4) some people can just be totally cool and fun to hang out with, even if you’ve never met them before in your life. It’s been a really good and fun day.

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Today was a great day, in terms of the classroom experience. It was one of those days that you just felt everything click, and that this is how life should be going. All of the kids were extraordinarily well-behaved today. Ashley was still a handful, and she and Terell were both crying at several junctions, but in terms of behavior they were not nearly as rambunctious as they were on Monday. I also felt that today I was very teacher-ish, and that I was more of an authority; for example, during reading time when the kids were coloring worksheets teaching the “uh” sound, I was policing the end of the table with Terell and Ashley while Miss Nelson dealt with the other end of the table with Nicole and Faith. Also, during morning meeting, I noted that all of the kids, including Ashley, were sitting in a “pretzel” and waiting calmly. I told Miss Nelson, and she gave them “smiles” in response. I was also able to get Ashley to behave when Miss Nelson couldn’t, which I chock up to my being a novelty more than any teaching skills I have. Then, during independent reading time, Ashley read a book to me called “But I Can” and she got most of the words correct.

Today was a Me-Ashley day, I think. I spent a lot of time with her after lunch. That is when the kids learn about math concepts, and they were learning to match the numerical symbol with the written word, and then Miss Nelson had them write the symbols and the words, depending on what they had trouble with, and I spent special time with Ashley. I encouraged her, and instructed her on the correct way to write her letters and when she was supposed to tally up “51” I helped her understand the difference between “15” and “51.” Miss Nelson at one point said thank you for instructing her, which I took to be a good sign that I was helping her out and that I was doing a good job as an educator. My only qualm with Miss Nelson is not so much that she punishes Ashley needlessly, because I do think that she needs discipline and there are some things she does that are unacceptable behavior, but I definitely sense favoritism. She never gives Faith or Nicole any “frowns” and she is more apt to believe that misconduct she didn’t see came from Terell or Ashley, and today I saw Nicole do some things that were blamed on Terell. I tried to tell Miss Nelson that I saw who did it, and it wasn’t that she didn’t believe me, but she sort of brushed it off. I’m sure that after a year, she’s gotten into the habit of looking for bad behavior from those two.

Along with that topic, I think she doesn’t reward good behavior enough. I know it takes time, but there are times when Ashley and Terell and even Nicole are exhibiting ideal behavior, or as close to ideal as possible, and she doesn’t say anything. There isn’t much in the way of immediate or periodic positive reinforcement. I try and comment about “I like how nice you’re sitting” or “you are following directions fast,” and I’m not trying to undermine Miss Nelson, and that is my struggle. I want to discipline or to reinforce, but I don’t know enough about the classroom rules or what exactly constitutes desirable behavior or when to admonish them.

Another exciting thing today was that instead of eating lunch with Miss Nelson, I ate lunch with Darrell and then I went out to the black top for their recess. My kids flocked to me, and then other girls kept joining our tag game, and I just thought it was fun to be interacting with kids who aren’t in my class. It’s always entertaining to see how much kids enjoy “beating” the teacher, such as when they tagged me or got away from me, etc.  Days like today make me feel that I can be a teacher and that I can be good with kids or administer discipline when it’s needed, etc. I feel like just by being put in a position of having some authority, I’m learning what it takes to engage kids and what you can let slide and what you need to correct. Obviously I’m not an expert yet, but I feel that by the end of these two weeks I will have learned a lot about kids and classrooms.

Thursday, May 17, 2007

Today’s school experience was not quite as perfect as yesterday’s, but I still had a rewarding day. I got in and everyone was pretty late arriving, but first thing in Terell gave me a big hug. He had a little bit of an attitude today, and every time we wanted to dance he refused to do so and just sat with his arms crossed. He also cried again today because Ashley told him he “can’t come to my house,” which translated means “I hate you,” it seems. That incident was forgotten by the end of ten minutes time, though, and morning meeting continued, although there were a lot of interruptions and it took a lot for the kids to sit patiently, especially since today they were receiving prizes for their “good behavior” cards. I have since learned that if you fill up a good behavior card with stickers you get a sticker, a pencil, an eraser, or a small toy. Pencils are surprisingly strong motivation, I’m learning. What is motivating to a kid is not the same as an adult, or even an older kid.

Some of the things I learned today were not from observing Miss Nelson, but rather from watching Mr. Kauffman, the art teacher. His methods are different than what I would do. He has a small gong that he rings at the beginning of class and seems to expect the kids to respond to such a small and strange noise. This doesn’t seem realistic to me, and it seems that some sort of “Good Afternoon!” or some other more boisterous and attention-grabbing introduction would be more effective.  He also seems to focus on the negatives of the situation. He was constantly singling out kids who were talking, but again, as in Miss Nelson’s class, the punishment/humiliation was not evenly spread around, and not all of the “perpetrators” were punished, whether it be by oversight, etc. It was only at the end, as an afterthought, that he declared he would give out stickers or stamps to the table that was being the quietest. I don’t know if I could do any better, but it seems that if you throw in a reward at the last minute it is an act of desperation to get the kids to “sit down and shut up.” On the other hand, I also realized that I have been dealing with four kids for the last week, and I recognized by observing him what a daunting task it is to maintain order in a classroom of twenty or thirty kids. Speaking of which, during our afternoon session, they taught us two little tips to add to our catalogue of teaching techniques. The first one came from one of the professors at Kutztown, and she started singing “R-E-S-P-E-C-T, find out what it means to me!” and everyone started singing along. I don’t know how pertinent it is to my field, but she said that if you start singing, generally it gets the kids’ attention. Also, one of the presenters said “if you can hear me, clap once” followed by a clap in the audience, and then “if you can hear me clap twice” etc. Both are effective suggestions for getting your “audience’s” attention.

Today, most of what I learned was relevant to classroom management, and I realize now how much I really do need to learn. If I can’t totally control four kids at a time, how much will I have to learn before I can control twenty or thirty of equally energetic kids at a time?

Friday, May 18, 2007

Today was sort of a bad-behavior day. It was still a good day, but it was not a happy day for Terell. Today was the day they hand out prizes for the School Wide Excellent Behavior (SWEBs Prizes) and Terell got one of those pens where the cap is attached to a necklace and you can pull the pen out when you need it. He took it to recess with him and just as al the kids were lining up, Terell impulsively jabbed this other kid, Ahmed, with the pen. The school administration takes that very seriously because even though he didn’t have malicious intentions, he still used the pen as a weapon and he gets a “pink slip” which will be in his file for the rest of his school career, and that’s a shame because he’s only in kindergarten and he has quite a bit of schooling to go. Later that afternoon, he threw something out the window, which is bad because kids play below our window and could have gotten hit, plus you are not supposed to throw things out of a window anyway. (P.S. “Defenestration” is such a great word!)

Nicole wasn’t there today, so I assume her incision was giving her problems. She had a feeding tube when she was born and for whatever reason the wound is still open and it oozes sometimes and hurts her, and yesterday they did the “Cha-cha Slide” and I guess Nicole over did it a bit. So she wasn’t there today. It makes me sad because I was telling my dad, a doctor, about her problem and his first response was “Can’t someone do something about that?” and I’m sure Nicole’s mom and dad don’t have the financial resources to do something about it. First of all, most kids don’t have this problem to begin with, but also I can’t imagine that a white suburban child would experience this in school because their parents would notice it was a problem and correct it before enrolling their child in a school. I think this is a obstacle that is unique to an urban school environment.

Today, I also got the opportunity to observe an IUP alum, because the science teacher Miss Moore went to IUP a long time ago, so she says. She had some very effective classroom management skills and strategies, one of which was to turn off the lights and have the kids put their heads down. She was also very good at projecting her voice and explaining course material in a way that was not patronizing, but was still simplified enough for the kids to grasp. She had a very good manner.

It was little sobering today, because some performers came to the school today to perform Capoeira, which is an Afro-Brazilian dance/martial art that looks really cool. The performance was good, however the group is affiliated with the Mann Center, and a woman named Mrs. Blount got up afterwards and started pitching to the kids about coming to the Mann center to see their next show, and the spokesperson of the Capoeira group talked about the group offering lessons, and I’m sure that very few of the kids’ parents can afford either Mann Center tickets or Capoeira lessons.

Another little teacher tidbit I picked up from Ms. Vanessa and Officer Rose was “Say what you mean, mean what you say, but don’t be mean when you say it.” I was sitting during the kids’ lunch period, as I have been for the past week, and Officer Rose was disciplining a kid, and I was watching because for the past few days I’ve been watching various people to see how they handle discipline. He looked up at me and was like “Why are you looking at me like that? Do you think I’m being mean?” and I was like “No! No, I was trying to pick up some classroom management tips from you” because if there is a man who can put the fear of God into those children, it’s Officer Rose. I’ve been telling my fellow Leidy companions, I “gotta get me some of that” bravado or power or whatever you want to call it. He’s got it and I want it. He just said that the most important thing is following through and letting them know you’re serious. I think I’m getting less sensitive to the yelling that shocked me so much the first day. Not only am I getting used to it, but I’m starting to understand it. Unless these kids learn self-control, they will never be able to get some self-discipline, and without self-discipline you can’t get very far in the world. You need to be mature to succeed, and as much as these kids have experienced, they have a lot of growing up to do.

Saturday, May 19, 2007

As rewarding as teaching is, I learned today that there is nothing like honest work to make you feel self-satisfaction. Today was all about the culture in Philadelphia. My group went to Norris Square, which is a primarily Puerto Rican area. We got to Norria Square Park at around 9:00am and they divided us into work crews. I was in a crew that was to work on the garden of a little woman named Tomasita. She is from Puerto Rico, but has lived in Philly for 47 years and in her house for 44. She said her garden used to be a house, but that the owners of the house moved away and left the house vacant. The city then demolished it and it became a hot spot for drugs and prostitution. Finally, an organization formed by the neighborhood stepped it, bought the property, and they turned it into a garden so that there would be no drug-dealing and prostitution continuing. There are a lot of these mini-gardens throughout the city. The Mural Project paints the walls, and then volunteers plant and keep it up. Today we were laying down old rugs and putting woodchips on top of them to make a wood-chip path in the garden. It was a great time. It brought back fond memories of Kentucky. I was, I think, working the hardest, or I was at least the fastest, because other people would be filling up the wheelbarrow with wood-chips, but also three buckets, and I took the buckets, one after another. I didn’t stop for maybe an hour, and I think that my contribution helped move things along a lot. This guy, Nick, who was working with me kept being like “you’re crazy, girl” and I was like “I’ve been called worse.” He would also try to slow down my “groove” by filling the buckets all at once and not getting one particular bucket full. I would take a half-full bucket and make him mad, but when I got back to the wood-chip pile he would have filled the others up and I would have work to do again.

There was also a group that worked in the alley behind her house and picked up litter and pulled up wild rhubarb plants, or hacked the underbrush with machetes. It was really rewarding for me. I find that the more service I do, the more I enjoy it and the more I want to do. Needless to say by the end of the day I was bushed, and I went back and took a two hour nap. Then I went back out to Norris Square for a Puerto Rican meal (which was amazingly good) and a performance by the Rojas family. There were I don’t know how many of them, but they were all related and they drummed, sang, and danced for us. They danced with the flowing skirts, and the two girls would improvise dance moves and the drummers would follow them. They also had about fifteen people (myself included) come up on stage to try it out and to dance along with them. It was just such a wonderful time, and I had so much fun. Another good day with the Philadelphia Urban Seminar.

Sunday, May 20, 2007

Today was a lesson in the culture of Philly. I woke up in time to go to St. Phillip’s Southern Baptist Church with some people from East Stroudsburg University. They were very gracious in letting me travel with them in their van when I hadn’t met any of them before. Upon reaching the church (which was an ordeal in itself because we had to ask for directions, and we saw a crashed car and we thought maybe there was someone in there, and other obstacles) the members served us breakfast of bacon, eggs, grits, sausage, and a biscuit. They provided us with coffee, orange juice, and hot tea as well. This breakfast was an experience because I’d never had grits before. The verdict is generally positive, although I’m generally not a fan of hot cereal like oatmeal and cream of wheat, so grits were okay but I couldn’t eat more than ten spoonfuls of it. After we finished with breakfast, we participated in Sunday school, which made me feel little again when I went to Sunday school with my friend, Diana. After the Sunday school portion, we went upstairs to the actual sanctuary to have service, and it was a good experience. The people were so welcoming, and their love of the Lord was very inspiring. There was also a lot of music, which was cool to experience.

After we got back from church we took the subway to the Italian Festival on 9^th street. It was a fun experience, although I expected it to be more boutique-y and it mostly consisted of food booths, etc. There were more boutiques near the end of the street, and I was hoping to buy jewelry or clothes or a new purse since mine is looking decrepit, however there were strands of beads starting at $25 and I was surprised with how expensive some of the wares were. I did, however, buy two books at a used book shop, and I bought a purple little drawstring purse for my sister. I also had a good time because Dr. B from ESU took me under her wing and stuck with me during the afternoon. And it’s a good thing she did because I had an interesting experience on the subway on the way home.

It was 5:00pm about, and the subway was packed with people who had just left the Phillies’ game. There was this guy in a tuxedo who had a flute, and he was totally trashed, and he had been playing at the Phillies' game, so he starts playing music, and then he turns to one of the girls in my group and was like "Is your name Maria?" and her name is Amy so she was like "no" but he started playing "Maria" from West Side Story. My high school did West Side Story my senior year and I knew most of the words, so I kind of start singing along, and he comes over to me and says something like "are you Anita?" and he starts playing and he motions for me to stand up, so we pretty much went through the whole West Side Story soundtrack right there on the subway. We sang “Tonight” and “Maria” and “America” and some others. Then, he stopped for a while and he was like "You good! You good!" and then after that he starts asking me about dominant chords and other music theory stuff, and I'm so bad at music theory, but then when i'd figure something out he'd be like "Yeah! Yeah!" I will admit that he creeped me out to a certain extent, but it was also one of those experiences that's kind of fun because you're like "when else would I sing on a subway with a flautist and not be ridiculous?" I'm the first one to acknowledge that there are some psychopaths running around the city, but I also think that I was with a group of people, which included a professor and a boy student, so I don't think I was in any real danger.

In spite of the strangeness on the subway, it was a good day and I got to see a little of the city and the people in it today. Another good day.

Monday, May 21, 2007

Today was a very up and down day in terms of my school day. Terell was trying really hard, but he just kept getting into trouble; for example, the kids had gym class today and at the end of every gym period, Mr. Grosso gives the kids fifteen minutes or so of free time with balls and jump ropes, etc. So Terell had a beach ball that looked like a basket ball that he was trying to keep away from the other kids as a game. Mr. Grosso told the kids to clean up, and I’m not sure if Terell didn’t hear, didn’t understand, or just didn’t want to stop playing, but for whatever reason he wasn’t cleaning up and putting the ball back into the bin. So another kid tried to get the ball away from Terell. Terell, of course, kept trying to keep the ball from this boy, and then before I knew it they were at each other and almost wrestling each other, so I ran in there and tried to break it up, and I got a hold of the other kid. It was kind of exciting (in an odd sort of way) because I’d never really seen any of the fights that went on in high school, so to not only being seeing a fight, but also being the authority figure to break it up is a new experience for me.

I think my novelty is also wearing off because I am no longer able to just say “will you do it for me” and they do it without question. The kids are actually looking to me to see if I will discipline them, and so I’m trying to step things up a notch and be a little more authoritative.

Speaking of which, Mrs. Horsey, the principal, stopped in to observe Miss Nelson at the end of the day, and we were all holding our breath because of the kids. They were all so up and down that we didn’t know who would behave and who would cause a scene. Other than that, my day wasn’t too exciting.

The afternoon was exciting, though. We had the opportunity to listen to a speaker named Salome Thomas-EL and he was an exceptional speaker. He used to teach at the Robert Vaux school in Philadelphia, and he was responsible for really turning the behavior around, and he started a chess club that has gone on to win National Championships. Then, unexpectedly he was offered an attractive promotion of more responsibility and a $20,000 raise, but what makes this remarkable is that he decided to stay at his school and stay with the kids. He wrote a book called I Choose to Stay and it is being considered by Disney to be a movie with Will Smith as Mr. EL. He was a dynamic speaker, and he gave some great tips. He was saying how sometimes teachers are the difference between the student’s achieving his or her potential and settling for less than success. He also gave special kudos to the male members of the audience, and told them that in such an unstable environment, often times these kids will look to them for a male role model. And I was tickled pink because he told me my question was a good one. Right before I asked my question he said he was open to questions but none of these “SAT questions,” and I asked “How do you balance being a disciplinarian with a nurturer?” He responded “That’s an MCAT question!” And then later, when I was purchasing his book he told me again how much he appreciated my question and he shook my hand and took a picture with me. He was very gracious and really gave a lot of insight into what it means to be an exceptional teacher and how to discipline with dignity, etc.

Then I went to my small group meeting and we discussed several of the articles with Professor Begum, and those were interesting perspectives as well. So far I’m really enjoying my time here, and I don’t think I will look forward to leaving.

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Today was a learning day. I learned a lot of things today, in terms of teaching technique and other such things, the first of which is a study about language. Apparently there is a study that was done by Lisa Delpit, and which concludes that children in the inner city respond more to direct language than indirect language. So, for example, Miss Nelson bought small powdered sugar donuts and promised that if each child got fifty smiles for good behavior they would receive these donuts as a special snack. Later, when Ashley was engaging in some questionable behavior, I asked her “Do you want a donut?” and this question was intended as a reminder of what was in store if she continued to behave well. However, Miss Nelson told me later that according to this study, a question such as that one leaves it open and the kids view it as optional to behave well. She then continued saying that instead of asking “Do you want a donut?” a command such as “Sit still, please” is more effective because it is more direct and leaves no open ends. She also said that that is the kind of discipline the kids are used to and so they do not take personal offense at being directed to do something. So that was an intriguing bit of knowledge to have gained today, and I am interested in reading up on that study.

After school we had an assembly where three teachers who currently teach in Philly and participated in this program as undergrads spoke about the experience and things they’ve learned by teaching here. One of the major things I learned was, again, about classroom management and the girl Melissa spoke about how you have to be prepared to be “mean.” She said that you can’t dilly-dally around in September or else you won’t accomplish anything for the rest of the year. On the flip side, though, Sarah said that she never raises her voice ever and that she still has success with the kids. She also said that she has a method of tracking behavior where each child has a chart that looks like a stop light and as they behave badly they move their piece up to yellow and then to red. If the child has a red light by the end of the day she sends a note or a call home, and if the child behaves well they can move their piece up accordingly to green. They also stressed getting parents involved and getting them on your side, because discipline is much more effective if the parents let the kids get away with murder. They also said that what makes you an exceptional teacher is the willingness to stay after and come early and really give your heart and soul to your kids. Kate also said that looping (teaching kids up through a certain grade and starting the loop again, like Miss Nelson does) is a really rewarding thing because you get to stay with the kids and watch them grow and they’re comfortable with you. It’s been a valuable day in terms of learning about teaching.

Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Today was a messy day. We had so many messes today in school. Ashley spilled her smoothie (‘cause the school was selling smoothies for $1 each as a fundraiser of sorts) and then Faith threw her smoothie away and it got all over the trash can, and of course breakfast was an ordeal because they can’t sit and just eat their food; they have to play with it first. It was also a sad day because Nicole went in for surgery on her abdominal wound from the feeding tube she had, and so she won’t be in school for the next week or so, which means I won’t get to say good bye.

I’ve been looking back and wondering how I’ve changed, with one more day to go, from the first day. For one thing, I’ve learned that the heart and soul of this city isn’t in the tourist attractions like the skyscrapers and the Liberty Bell; it’s in the people such as the ones working and attending Leidy Elementary. I think I’m definitely more willing to jump in and take charge and organize activities for the kids such as rallying them to sing the “ABC” song or distracting them with a game of BINGO. I think I’ve also started to come up with and perfect “the teacher look,” which I actually gave today to this kid named Rodger in art class with the most surprising results. I know I need to work on being consistent and learn what behaviors to reinforce and what to discourage. I think some of that will come when it is more “my classroom.” Above all, I think this trip was valuable in that I learned that I really do want to be a teacher and be in a classroom with kids like this everyday, no matter how much energy they may require. And along with that, I’ve discovered that I’m okay being in a position of power as opposed to a student role. As always, I’m sure tomorrow will bring with it countless additional opportunities to learn about teaching and myself.