Author Archives: ashmorebj21

Standard

Posted by

Posted on

April 23, 2020

Posted under

Partner Inquiry

Comments

2 Comments

Collaborative Portrait: A Look into Maury River’s 8th Grade English Class

In the historic town of Lexington, the classrooms at Maury River Middle School are small, and the faces are familiar. The teachers stay incredibly involved, and know each and every one of their students personally. With Lexington being so small, teachers have the opportunity to get to know their students closely, and work together in the classroom. Throughout this semester, Mrs. Diette and her 8th grade English students have given my partner and I an in-depth look at a middle school environment here in the Shenandoah Valley.

Kirk and I first started in a helper class during Eagle Academy time in the mornings. For the first hour of school, students sit in a classroom that most students would call their “homeroom.” For most students, this can be time to relax and get ready for the day ahead. However, for the students that need it, this first period is critical in making sure that they are understanding the content being covered in other classes and are staying on top of their schoolwork. Not only was this interesting to observe, but it was not something that was provided during my time at middle school. This first period proved to be helpful for the students if they used their teacher and her resource correctly.

In Mrs. Diette’s English class during last period, where Kirk and I spent the remaining of the semester, the classroom appears to paint a clear picture upon first glance. Mrs. Diette has the week carefully planned out on the white board in the front of the class. Vocab words, posters, and literary devices are scattered throughout the classroom’s walls. A mini library sits in the corner of the classroom with the quote “books are a uniquely portable magic.” Mrs. Diette is in front of the classroom giving an upbeat presentation with some videos and pictures, and will most likely break the students off into collaborative groups soon. However, if you take a closer look at the students, it paints a blurrier picture. The students cannot seem to stay engaged. The laptops they have open in front of them are probably open to a game, and not the given assignment. The students do not feel the want to participate and answer questions in class, and conversations are being secretly had in the back of the classroom. For the students in Rockbridge county, the majority of them do not seem to have the “love of learning” that one may be able to see in a different classroom or school setting elsewhere.

In 2015, the “on-time high school graduation rate” for Lexington was at 92.4%, which was higher than the national average. As well, over 75% of those on time graduates, went on to attend a four-year college. Based on these positive statistics, it is interesting how Kirk and I observed quite the opposite inside an actual 8th grade classroom in Lexington. Are the laptops given out so early in middle school a distraction from the learning material? Is this how the last class of the day looks for a normal eighth grader?

Standard

Posted by

Posted on

April 15, 2020

Posted under

Learning Philosophies

Comments

Leave a Comment

Is it Time to Incorporate Phone Usage in a Learning Environment (blog 5)

Article: web.b.ebscohost.com.vmiezproxy.vmi.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=4&sid=b45b177b-55c8-4762-b707-4388907dee1c%40pdc-v-sessmgr04

The scholarship I am recommending to Mrs. Diette is a position paper on the use of phones in the classroom published by Jennifer Cassidy. Despite the use of iPads, laptops, and chrome books readily available to most students nowadays, Cassidy recommends that mobile devices should be added into the mix in order to “place learning in the student’s hands.”

Drawing on a study from 2017 on the misuse of phones in the classroom, Cassidy puts the blame on the teachers. She claims that an instructor’s behavior directly impacts inappropriate cell phone use in the classroom. If a teacher fails to keep the students engaged in the activity, students feel an increasing need to reach for their phones due to boredom. Since students already want to reach for their phones in class, Cassidy claims that teachers can capitalize on the opportunity and use it to their advantage, stating that “the use of texting or social media in the curriculum should be viewed as an opportunity to engage students, not something to ban.”

We are in an increasing technological world, and cell phones are capable of doing much more than they were able to just a few short years ago. Cassidy postulates an opportunity for teachers to reach students through a more familiar mode, and comes to the conclusion that teachers will be able to reach more students of different learning styles. Her argument is well researched and raises important questions in the educational community; should we get rid of the stigma behind cell phone use in the classroom? Her argument is very convincing, and the research she has done is extremely valuable for Mrs. Diette’s 8th graders at Maury River Middle School. Kirk and I have recognized that a majority of the students have an issue staying engaged in class, and the laptops they currently have do not seem to benefit them, Perhaps a more familiar form of technology would allow teachers to reach students better, and keep them motivated during the class periods.

Standard

Posted by

Posted on

February 17, 2020

Posted under

Classroom Observation

Comments

5 Comments

First Observation of Mrs. Diette’s Classroom

My initial observation of Mrs. Diette’s 8th 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 8th 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.

Standard

Posted by

Posted on

February 9, 2020

Posted under

Expectations and Inspirations

Comments

2 Comments

Do Community Issues interest Middle Schoolers?

The readings we have interacted with thus far, along with the presentations by Mrs. Sheffield and Mrs. Caruthers have shed light on the different approaches to learning inside of a community. Every child learns differently, but the state and district have to find a way to synthesize and establish a legitimate and cohesive structure that will work for children in the community. The presentation by Mrs. Sheffield showed me how hard it is to accomplish this task. Looking back on my learning experience growing up, I wouldn’t have thought about the purpose of my learning, or the skills that the state wanted me to establish. Instead, I was more focused on getting good grades to get into college, or learning something that was meaningful and made a difference in the real world. If I were to be honest, however, I do not like the scientific approach that the state takes to educating its citizens. I have a strong belief that every child learns differently, and have their own goals to their education. Sheffield mentioned in her presentation that the goal of public education in the state of Virginia was to establish five skills in these children; creativity, critical thinking, collaboration, communication, and citizenship. However, I do not think that the state has failed a child, if they do not develop all of these “skills,” nor do I think a child is uneducated or not competent to continue their education if they are lacking in any of the “five C’s.” However, I do realize that the state needs to categorize and have goals for the education of children, but I believe it needs to be less scientific in nature.

For Mrs. Caruthers presentation, it was incredibly eye-opening and illustrated the different characteristics of communities. It was surprising to see how VMI or Lexington doesn’t recycle, despite the times we are in and the terrible effects of global warming that have been seen in the last decade. I am looking forward to getting to Maury River Middle School and interacting with the students, and sharing this sentiment with them in order to get their opinion. I believe it will be helpful to see how eighth graders view their community and the health of their community as a whole.

 

Blog #2 HR:

Class notes and presentations

Image

Posted by

Posted on

January 23, 2020

Posted under

Learning Philosophies

Comments

3 Comments

A More Familiar Learning Environment

I am not sure that the “Core Practices” approach to improving the school districts and curriculum, works. It very well may not be the best option for ensuring that children from a young age are taught properly. However, I do believe it is a step in a positive direction, and some of the aspects of the curriculum is in line with Dewey’s unique approach to learning. Dewey was not considered as the brightest scholar by his peers. Notwithstanding, his ideas and fundamental values about the role education plays in this idea of “social progress,” are fundamental and I believe they represent the key purpose of receiving an “education.” The most glaring thing to me, was his definition of education itself, “a continual process of reconstruction of experience” (Dewey 90). This stood out to me because for him, the end result of education, or becoming more educated, is a “sense-maker” who can take the daily experiences from one’s day and make sense of them and their place in the world around them.

I believe Dewey’s notion of education falls directly in line with the Core Practices section on the enhancement of education using “supplementary materials.” Although I do obviously not know if this is successful once implemented, but the goal is very much in line with my values of education. One of the ways to improve education is to implement texts that may be challenging, or connecting the reading to a current event or local text. Another point in this section, is an instruction to teachers to incorporate games or manipulatives that create opportunities for students to engage and explore curriculum. This approach to learning goes in line with my thinking of how the curriculum for schools should be outlined. I believe it is much more about hands on learning, and using the knowledge taught in classrooms, to make sense of the world around you, and how it operates. For me, learning has never been about making grades, or doing this assignment because I am just being told to do it. Instead, it has been about making sure I am learning something that can help me understand what’s going on around me. Obviously my standpoint may be slightly tainted since I am an International Studies and Political Science who wants to have a career in public service, but I believe the point still remains.

 

H/R: readings