My initial observation of Mrs. Diette’s 8^th graders left me with a lot of questions. The seating structure was peculiar. The majority of the class sat on one row of seats facing out, on the right side of the classroom. However, there were four other students who were staggered across the classroom, which left me thinking that there were no exact seating assignments for the students. This in itself was very interesting because I remember from my time in middle school, that not only was there almost always seating assignments, but we always had to sit next to each other.

Other than the seating structure, the rest of the classroom was very organized. The teacher had goals of the week written on the board, and English devices hung up across the room. As well, the teacher clearly emphasized the important of reading, as there were multiple small libraries scattered throughout the room, with the quote “books are a uniquely portable magic” written in large letters above the library.

Despite the well-organized white boards and classroom, the actual 8^th graders themselves did not seem nearly as organized. Many of them were not caught up with the current assignments, and doing homework for the rest of their classes, or not doing work at all and playing games on their computers. However, what I did witness was Mrs. Diette’s motivation to get them caught up and help them in anyway possible, even if it was with homework for their history classes. I am very excited for future visits and to be able to witness how the class truly functions and the relationship they have with Mrs. Diette.

The learning space of classroom 111 at Rockbridge County High School is small but comfortable. For me, there is a nostalgic feeling upon entering the classroom as if I had been in this place before. Any visitor to room 111 will notice all the basic necessities of a modern classroom. A white board stretches to nearly take up the entire wall near the door. A projector dangles from the ceiling near the whiteboard, evidence of how technology has solidified its place in the classroom as much as textbooks or desks. Bookshelves some shelves with classic literature others with textbooks hide partially lining the back wall of the room. The walls are interesting and essential to the atmosphere within the classroom. The base colors of the walls are a light green contrasted with a dull yellow. Each color claims two walls that oppose each other. In one corner, is the teacher’s desk surrounded by motivational posters. On one wall is a bulletin board with students’ work including drawings. On the opposite wall, is a mural of a tree with outstretched branches that bear students’ writing projects. Next to the tree is another mural that interrupts the monotone green wall. The sky is portrayed with clouds surrounded by an elaborate picture frame as if there was a window to the outdoors.

I’ve visited room 111 twice now. On both visits, I observed and participated in class projects and discussions. The developmental psychology class for juniors and seniors routinely has group projects. Even simple, in-class activities serve to engage each student while seeking to get students to become more comfortable in sharing and learning about each other and working together as well as creating closer personal bonds with peers.

What follows is an example of an in-class activity that served the purpose of replacing the monotony of everyday lectures with a quick project that engaged students creatively and easily promoted verbal communication among students. The teacher passed out a 3×5 card to each student with the task to write 3 truths and 1 lie. This exercise was fun and easy to participate in with the students. Several conversations were held with some of the students sitting near me. With this light game it was easy to get to know some of the students and they learned about each other. It was interesting how long it took some people to write things down. Even the things written down, what people chose to share including what they chose to lie about. Some people had shallow comments, others serious facts about themselves. Some people were creative and wrote difficult choices where the lie was indistinguishable.

Just from this simple activity I learned the concepts for the day about psychology and I was just visiting the class. This simple activity represents characteristics of project based learning where students engage each other in learning not from a lecture but discussion among their peers promoting self-discovery.

Going into my visit, I told myself not to have any expectations and to try not to have any preconceived notions about what I was about to see. I simply told myself to let it happen. I was there simply to observe, after all. Or at least I thought I was there just to observe. I was right to not expect anything.

My initial observations centered around the organization of the classroom. The classroom was set up in a way that the desks formed a semi-circle around the teacher. These desks were more like tables. They could seat two and therefore each student had a partner. I did not see very much partner work during my visit, but maybe in future visits I will.

Next, I saw the students all working on Chromebooks before class started. The teacher told me that the students leave the laptops at school and are not allowed to bring them home.They were doing work for other classes. The content of this work, I am unsure of. It was something that stood out to me nearly immediately because of rare it was to see a computer outside the computer labs in my high school.

My last observation lined up with Steven Levy’s ideas about starting the ideal classroom . The plan for the day was the students to ask us questions about VMI. The day prior, they had discussed as a class the questions that they wanted to ask and the teacher had typed them up. This was a student led discussion and the teacher was simply the moderator of the discussion. This to me was very similar to the beginning of PBL. In a sense the teacher guides the discussion, but allows the classroom to take over. This Q & A session not only had elements of PBL, but also it aligned with some of the skills that were expected to be developed by the VDOE. These skills include: posing and responding to questions, inferring and assimilating new ideas, and curiosity. As shown with the above, it is possible to provide enrichment, while satisfying the VDOE’s requirements.

At about 9:20 am the students trickle in and the teacher stands in the hall to supervise the going to and from of classes throughout the day. This particular Ninth grade Honors English Class is the first one in the morning. Once the students are settled in their seats they chat amongst them selves and get their class materials out to start the days work. The bell rings and attendants is taken, the students become quite and focused.

As the teacher finishes up the accountability and start pulling up the lesson plan I realize that the lights are only half way turned on. The room was clear and the paper in front of me on my desk is still easy to see but the front half of the room is darker with the only light coming from the window behind me and the light which is creeping from the lamp and lights in the back of the class room. I notice this as this is my favorite type of lighting. It is calming and easy to focus with. On the walls I see encouraging messages along the lines of how “I matter” and how “I am capable of success. ” I see books shelves with a good number of books. There where to many to take note of all of them but I recall seeing The Great Gatsby, The Hunger Games series, and other books that one might expect to be on a high school English class’ book shelf. On the other wall farthest away from me I see pamphlets which contain information on how to be a better writer in a technical regard. This is the environment.  

The teacher opens the days lesson with some activities and short lecturing on the prologue of Romeo and Juliet. The first works to understand the text as Shakespearian English is different from modern American English. Once the comprehension/translation is complete they go over the meaning of the prologue, both literally, and figuratively. The activities here are done in groups and partners with the teacher walking around aiding them in understanding of the tasks and materials. The first portion of the class consists of actives like this. By the end of these activates my partner and I where nearing the end of our visit. As we left the students had just finished watching a modern adaptation of Romeo and Juliet’s prologue found in movie form.  

The class seemed engaged and focused the whole class period, or at least when I was there. The material and lesson flowed well and seemed to have enough application to stay interesting. That being said this is a Ninth Grade Honors English class. Other classes may to respond the same way to this style.  

Aaron Josef Kempf
Blog Post 3
Fieldwork – 411

A Return Back, but Far too Soon – 1st Visit to Mrs. Hotlon’s Class
Within my previous blog post I had the opportunity to detail my fears regarding visit 1 to the Mary Holton’s 9th grade English class. After my visit I can confidently confess that of all the times I’ve been wrong, this ranks in the upper tier. The visit was so enlightening and motivating that for a split second, I envisioned myself as a high school teacher after I graduate VMI. Within Journey’s Through Our Classrooms we had the opportunity to read through the educational journeys of both Laura and Alfredo who each learned very differently from one another. I mention this to say that just as these two students have different ways of being motivated and connected with, the students attending the local high school were the same way! No two students learn the same way, and luckily for my partner Casey Marchant and I, we have the opportunity to work with a teacher who not only recognizes this but makes it a priority. A handful of observations I was able to make brought me back to the ideas of Elise when she spoke on educational standards in Virginia. For the sake of blog size, I will share 2 key observations I made and explain their significance to classroom interaction moving forward. Firstly, was the approach of the teacher. Mrs. Holton makes it a focal point of her teaching to engage all students, so regarding the educational approach she used PowerPoint presentation, group work, and videos. This way, if a student doesn’t enjoy one, they are more likely to learn from one of the other avenues. Luckily through all 3 avenues of teaching, all students were consistently engaged and responsive to her lesson. This element of teaching relates to page 82 of Project Based Teaching which explains the importance of “making the most of teamwork” within a classroom. Lastly, I was fascinated that for the entirety of the class time, not one student left the room for any reason. According to reports I’ve heard, the average attention span for a typical student is50 minutes. That means that generally, students will be engaged in a class for no re than an hour! This was not the case at all, as all students remained attentive to the instruction of Mrs. Holton.

When I first entered Ms. Donahue’s class, the first thing I noticed was that the students were seated in a circle to encourage more discussion, rather than facing the front for a lecture styled class. My partner, Brad, and I didn’t know what the conversation was about at first, but we later learned that the class was discussing their plans to go to the local middle school to try and figure out how to reduce waste from lunch food. They developed an elaborate system to figure out which foods the students were not eating, so that they could pass along the data to the school board to stop serving those foods. I was very impressed with the participation that was coming from most of the students, and the students that weren’t speaking up were encouraged to by Ms. Donahue.

Another thing I noticed was that the teaching assistant was walking around the classroom collecting trash from the students. This could have been done in an effort to instill good habits about recycling or trash disposal, since the current class goal was to figure out how to reduce waste. However, I think the students would learn this better if the students were told to dispose of their trash on their own, rather than have someone else do it.

One thing I truly respected about Ms. Donahue was that she did not tolerate the use of cell phones from her students. She warned them that if she saw anyone using their phone, she would take it from them and give it to the front office. She eventually did so when she caught one girl on her phone.

When we returned to the class on the second day, the students were conducting a simulation of their project at the middle school. My partner and I posed as middle school students at lunch, and we brought our “food” to a table where several students asked us which foods we did not eat and why. We then disposed of our “food” into one of several buckets, where the buckets would later be weighed to see how much of the food was going to waste.

HR: None

Last week, my partner and I made our way into the Rockbridge County High School and into Mr. Simms Developmental Psychology classroom. Throughout our time there last Tuesday and Thursday I was able to see many promising things from the way that he was teaching his subject. From the use of Project Based Learning to the friendly and inviting atmosphere, everything seemed to mesh together perfectly for the way he wanted to teach and the most efficient way for the students to learn.

When we first arrived to the class, we were greeted by smiling students and happy conversations (something that I, personally, was not used to from my time in High School) and many of the students using laptops and other forms of technology to do work. The assignments and discussions that were being given out to the students during our time there seemed extremely fun to do and gave the students more than enough choice in what they wanted to complete for them. This was mixed in with games, such as the three truths and one lie game that we were able to participate in, that were used to successfully build an understanding of the subject at hand.

Ultimately, throughout our two visits last week, there was a great deal of PBL being used in the classroom, most notably an assignment where the students were to quickly research different types of therapy for an assignment, as well as a great deal of progressive teaching that broke the norm of teaching that many classrooms still use today.

In my first visit to the classroom, I was able to form a solid understanding of the general culture of both the class and the school community, which should help to guide my conduct on future visits. The physical environment proved to be different from my expectations but did reflect PBL readings and some EL Core Practices. As Boss suggests in PBL, the classroom had a “project wall” that outline significant events or pertinent information for that day (Boss, 24). Explicitly, the wall justified the purpose for splitting up into groups that day, to help facilitate learning, and a note that limited the use of bathroom breaks during class. Additional “subtle messages about who ‘own[ed]’ the space” took shape in the form of student artwork in the back of the classroom (Boss, 23). Those colorful and personalized butterflies seemed to make the environment more inviting, and most likely made the students feel as if that classroom was theirs. Moreover, there was a class pet, a Guinee pig, which most likely served a limited use academically, but made the classroom feel more laid back and inviting. The teacher’s expectations for students were outlined on a poster board in the class as well. One poster stated how one might enter into the “high five club,” which had to do with different aspects of student conduct. The purpose for that period, or its content, involved orienting the students on the day ahead and accomplishing any medial tasks that needed to be finished, such as homework or checking emails. Also, they would accomplish most of these tasks on their personal Chromo books, ensuring that technology was a part of their daily lives. This period seemed to help produce positive, daily habits for these young kids in order to be successful in the future. This aspect of the classroom focuses in on developing the Culture and Character domain of student education, as stated in EL Educations Core Practice. Explicitly, these students are “develop[ing] the mindsets and skills for success in college, career, and life” (Core Practices, VII). Lastly, the only true language routine that I witnessed was the raising of hands in order to speak. This is a good example of a class norm, stressed in PBL reading, since all were welcome to speak and the teacher tried, the best she could, to pick different people. Additionally, this helped avoid students speaking over one another. All in all, Mrs. Dowless’s classroom showed a fair amount of EL Education and PBL aspects, all of which created a positive learning environment.

Excitement is the only thing that arises when I begin to talk about my experience in Maury River Middle School. This experience was a blast of nostalgia as I recalled the adventures in my own school. The kids looked at us in shock when we first walked in and seemed to be surprised that we were coming. It was slightly nerve racking at first, but we eventually merged into their environment as another set of learners. Unfortunately, we only had time to talk to two groups about their projects due to the scheduling. Although we were cut short, we were still able to learn about their different projects; all of which were project based and gearing toward change. I can’t help but wonder what problem set I’ll present to the kids, because they are covering a lot of topics that are great issues within their community.

Despite my uncertainty, I believe that these kids will approach interesting problem sets with creativity and energy. I see the faces of the future and untapped potential when I look around the classroom and I am excited to be a part of what will be beneficial learning.

Regarding the setting of the classroom, I noticed that all of the children had assigned computers. I think this was a testament to the strength of the schooling program, because I did not receive such things until High School. I also noted that the desks were in classic classroom fashion. The decorations of the room were suitable to an English class in my opinion. The walls contained mostly writing and a scatter of paintings and flags scattered here and there. All of these factors promoted a learning environment that was relatively new to my partner and I.

I have officially conducted my first class room visit. This was a huge eye opener for me. I never thought as myself as a teacher and I never thought I would be in a class room as an observer to see how a classroom operates. These kids are our future and I enjoyed having the chance to see a classroom and see the techniques these teachers are implementing. I never had a class in middle school nor high school that was based on the project-based teaching idea.

Even before we entered the room the teachers made the students set up the tables in a huge square to allow everyone to face each other and discuss just like a typical business meeting. These students created an environment that allowed for discussion and debate. I looked around the room first and there were posters that the kids created and there were specific goals for the class but what I didn’t know is that this room was for an English class not the specific leadership class I was observing. However, there was one poster that I saw in the corner that was a recycling project that I knew this specific class worked on. I knew it was just one of the project-based learning projects that the teacher created for these students.

I was able to observe and listen to the students when they were tasked to create a charter that would end up being their rules. This was amazing! The teacher broke the students down into groups to come up with ideas about what kind of environment they wanted. They all wanted to create a fun but serious environment. After discussing their ideas each student had to define the terms such as, fun but serious, including each other, in their own words. This whole charter idea I actually read about in one of our readings to prepare us for our visits and being able to see this in action was remarkable. I will never forget this experience.

What even happen that was even more mind blowing is that the teacher pulled us to the side and waited for the room to clear and she told us with the biggest smile that all these kids had trouble with reading and some didn’t want to do their homework but with this new idea, project based learning, each of these troubled students became all stars and conquering each project with confidence and happiness.

HR: None

-Matthew Jingle