The Most Important Thing

   In the movie Night at the Museum the main character Larey Dayly begins his job thinking that he will be wandering the halls of the museum protecting it from vandalism, but he is in for a shock. As sunset rolls around the museum comes to life, he is confused and in a daze. He had expected the museum to be silent and mostly boring at night, but it was not as he expected. The museum came to life and Larey had to brush up on his history of what was in the museum. He didn't expect to learn anything when he came to the museum, but in the end he came to love the museum because he learned about everything in it. This is one of the most important lessons I have learned while observing other teachers.
       Doug Jolley, the teacher I observed, knew this as well because he made everything he could come to life. When he taught his science lessons he would have the students teach as well, they would do experiments, and reports on what new discoveries were being made. Students were excited to have a lesson in science, not because they could watch movies, but because they could discover things for them selves. When Doug taught history lessons, the classroom became that time period. When they learned about ancient Greece the class was split into two teams, Athens and Spartans, and for the next few weeks they competed in an Olympics competition. During the unit on Rome students took a turn teaching a portion of a lesson whether it was on the social classes or the housing. During the medieval unit students brought in their family crest or coat of arms, and then created a shield and helmet (out of paper and tin foil) to display.
       Doug's students looked forward to going to school, because he was bringing his lessons to life. The students look back at how they felt at the beginning of the school year and realized how much they changed in the fact that they wanted to come to school. They use to be worried that Doug would be a mean teacher and extremely strict, but once he taught them with lessons that were alive they didn't want to leave. Doug Jolley was actually my sixth grade teacher and not a day goes by that I don't reflect on the lessons he taught me. He opened the eyes of his students, especially me, to the opportunities out there for us by showing us that learning is something fun. The most important thing for teachers to do that will help their students is to bring to life the lessons they teach, and not just telling them the real world application of principles.

Procedures used in the Classroom

           In the 6th grade classroom I have been helping in the teacher has a variety of procedures that help the class run smoothly. At the beginning of the school year each student drew a class job out of a cup. This became their job until it was a new quarter in the class. The jobs ranged from setting people chairs out in the morning, writing up the class schedule, reading off the class announcements, collecting homework, cleaning the sink and microwave, to filling in the daily planner key. At this school the students are grouped into A.M. and P.M. students based upon when they arrive/leave school. An A.M. student is always in charge of making sure each desk has a chair at it before the students sit down. At 9:15, when the P.M. students arrive, the class announcements are read off to the class. This helps each student know what is due that day, and how many days until another assignment is due. After the announcements are read, another student reads the class schedule out loud. The teacher has the students do this to help them all get onto the same page, and to focus in on their day at school.
         As the day goes on the teacher will let students pop pop-corn in the microwave, but they first have to ask permission, and if there are others who also want to use the microwave they will put their name on a list on the white board. By having the students create a list on the board it helps the teacher and students see who gets to pop pop-corn, and if a mess was made it helps with the accountability of the student because everyone knows who made it with out false accusations. At lunch time students line up in alphabetical order of their last names, The last three people in line each have a job. the second and third to last in line carry a basket of balls and other sports equipment to the cafeteria so their classmates have an option to play with them. The last student in line is in charge of making sure that the everyone is out of the room, turning off the lights and locking the door. All the students know that once the door is locked there is no going back in the classroom until after lunch is over. This helps the students think ahead and be responsible for being prepared for the weather outside.
         At 2:45, when the A.M. students prepare to leave, all the students clean up the classroom. If someone (who was in class that day) leaves their chair unstacked before leaving, or has a mess around their desk at the end of the day, their name is written on the board. The next morning the teacher tells them why their name is on the board, has them correct the behavior, and if it happens again they will help do an additional job around the class that is not very desirable. There are some students in this class that frequently are doing additional jobs. The teacher does not take away any rewards they have received, they merely add a consequence after a warning has been given. The routines in the classroom help the environment because the students are no longer responsible only to the teacher, but to each other, and they know the consequences.

Learning Strategies

     In sixth grade it is difficult to understand shapes and angle measure, and it becomes more difficult when they become 3-D objects. I know I struggled with polygons and tetrahedron when I was in elementary school and in junior high. The sixth grade teacher I am observing saw how hard it was for students to grasp these new shapes and how to calculate the number of faces, lateral surface area, etc. So he designed a very hands on and active lesson for the kids. I participated for the lack of students in one group, and really enjoyed it. He had volunteer parents roll up newspapers into tiny rods so we could use them as edges of the shapes. Each student was given four newspaper rods. Next he asked the students to get into pairs and make a triangular based pyramid. I watched as students built the base of the pyramid and then communicated the best way to build the pyramid and still hold all the vertices in their hands. The teacher then asked how many faces and edges it had. Once the majority of the class had successfully made a pyramid a new polygon was called out. This went on for twenty minutes, with each shape gradually getting harder and requiring more students to help in each group. By the end the whole class was laughing and was able to make the shapes asked of them.
      This sixth grade teacher got all of the students involved (even if they didn't talk much), provided an opportunity for interaction and communication, and he also provided physical movement. This math lesson on polygons was so much fun the students wanted to do it again for recess. The teacher was surprised by the success rate he had with the students during that day all because he started out the day with an engaged and active learning opportunity. I'm definitely remembering this activity for my future classroom.

Co-taught classes- The Roles of a Teacher

        I have been in a classroom for a few hours where the inclusion program is prevalent, but only the teacher and I know exactly which students are exceptional students. Half of the students are the "normal learners" and the other half are exceptional students. Each lesson is taught by the regular teacher and the special education teacher. The students in the class don't know anything different than having the two teachers every day, but there is a reason for this. Both teachers know exactly what is required of them to teach, but because they knew what the students were each dealing with inside and outside of the classroom they could teach the lessons in ways that the students could understand and comprehend better. I watched as the regular ed teacher taught some of the students were confused and would try to ask questions,but would still be confused after an answer that might seem clear normally was given. Once the special ed teacher taught the rest of the lesson that same student might still have a question but they were checking their understanding instead of questioning the subject.
        I believe that one of the most important roles of a teacher is to help students feel confident in what they are learning, how it applies to them, and help them feel safe to question things in the classroom. If a child does not feel that they can ask questions while they are learning they will not grow as much as they could. Students need clarification because as they are starting out in school so many things are confusing and new to them, and the teacher is the one they look to to help them succeed in a new environment. If a student feels confident that the teacher will respect them and try to help clarify things for them they in turn are more willing to listen to the teacher and try to understand what they are learning. Once a student has tuned in to the lessons they want to know why it is important or how it is used in their every day life. If the teacher can give an example of the usefulness of the subject mater the student begins to absorb the information and apply it to the example given and they look for more examples on their own.