Wk 5 - Day 19

today i observed in a different classroom. the teacher ran things a little differently compared to the classes i've observed to date. the students were younger and spent the entire day with their teacher excluding one class. the students were generally adapted to the routine; clips on certain baskets for hot or cold lunch, where to put completed work, a blurt board, how demerits were given/how many chances they had before they received demerits, etc. however, the teacher did have to remind some students several times about the routine. the students at this age definitely still wanted the teachers approval.

the smartboard was used much more than the other classroom...activities on the board for spelling review, states review, etc. i really liked the use of the board for the math lesson during the day. the students were able to come up to the board to show their work while other students watched how they figured out the problems. one of the things mrs. l did which i thought was very effective...she had a student come up to the board that was having difficulty and the students helped him (while in their seats) walk through the steps to solve it. i didn't feel that the student was embarrassed...just confused...which tells me that she has had to do this before with students.

the rhinelander area has scored very low in reading tests. so, the district has implemented a language arts block for the afternoon. from noon until 3:00 p.m. the students work on reading, writing, and other language art activities. i think taking away recess and having the students sit without a break for that long is ridiculous. mrs. l has the students get up and go get a drink of water and stretch, but it's still a long afternoon. i'm just blown away by the changes in schools here...phy. ed only twice a week and the teachers have to plan one of those days...and now recess is taken away. i think the dept. of health should keep their comments to themselves about obesity in children when a school has so little physical activity for their students...i guess no one was listening when the report came out that physical activity helps increase "brain power."