From the outside:

Rockbridge county is home to a new style of teaching/thinking for their teachers. This style of teaching is close to what we studied in our Field Work class.

From the outside Rockbridge Country High School looks like a run down jail. Then you realize that the architects who built it also design jails. As you drive up there is a football field with a red track around it. The school looks like it is a giant rectangle. Very dull and boring. In order to get inside you have to ring a buzzer and sign in at the front office. Mrs. Leadbetters class is made up of a lot of lower middle class to poor students. She has to make the best of what she can do in order to keep her class engaged and learning.

From the Inside:

Walking around you see many mascot paintings, and their school colors. Mrs. Leadbetter’s class looks tired and worn out. That is to be expected because they are the 7th period. She uses the project based learning in her class. That is one way she can at least keep them awake  and working. She had them learning to write a research paper. She would ask them questions such as, “how do you integrate sources?” and “How do you cite your sources properly?” Her class would respond and a lot of the time get it wrong. But she would crack a joke and guide them to the correct answer. She would then put them in groups, give them prompts for their research papers, and ask them to start finding ways to research their topic and come up with a rough outline. The students needed a lot of help on their outlines. A big part of it was narrowing down their topics. But this happened all in due time.

Back in a High School so exciting… My visit to Mr. Simms’s 9^th grade English class was everything you could expect from a high school class. Kids sleeping before class, on their phones, others are reading, but once the bell rung and class began, the students locked in for the most part. While we were observing the classroom, I noticed a few examples of the EL Education Design Principles like principle six “Collaboration and Competition”. There was not much of this principle throughout the class period due to the introduction to their new book. The examples that were present were one, the kids had an open discussion about the book and their perspectives of the characters presented. The other example of this principle was their group project they did in class. The project consisted of the children getting into groups and collaborating on how to draw the important scenes they have read so far. This is exactly what principle six means when it talks about the value of friendship and group action. The second principle that was present was principle two “Having Wonderful Ideas”. Throughout the open discussion on the book “Monster”, the teacher asked a few questions that sparked the creation of a few important ideas during class. One of the questions was “What is a Monster?” and one of the students answered saying “someone or something that causes fear and or fearful thoughts in other person”. This was an interesting answer that I wanted to hear more about but the teacher went onto another student. While observing, I was also tasked with scanning the room for important visuals that promote learning. While there I saw a few paintings on the walls, the daily objective was written on the side of the board, books on the book self in the back, and a new and improved board made to look like a jail cell was hanging in the back of the room. Personally, from what I have viewed so far, I believe that this potential PBL workspace could go either way due to the participation of some students but not all. The teacher’s awareness and effectiveness to find what works and does not work with each student. I believe that if these two minimal requirements were met on a consistent basis, the atmosphere of the classroom would increase from good to outstanding.

What I found interesting about the 10th grade was that they were very awake. All but one student were awake. Mrs. Leadbetter seems to be an amazing teacher who tries to keep the environment fun and engaging. For my own experience, it was very interesting to see the 7th grade. I never had a 7th period class when I was in high school because I took zero period. I found how Mrs. Leadbetter teaches to be very engaging. She asked the class very critical questions pertaining to the book they were reading. She also showed them pictures of what rail cars looked like that the Jews had to ride in. She talked about all the different aspects of the writing techniques used by the author as well. She even stopped at one point to read a passage out loud and go over it in detail. The class would get a little wordy at times; however, when she started speaking they all went silent. There was an atmosphere that said “don’t mess with this woman.” She also has a lot that she has to go through for the curriculum. Rather than splitting the semester up into thirds, she splits the class period into thirds. She would crack jokes from time to time which was awesome to see. Sometimes, her jokes are met with crickets. I am curious though, as to why she didn’t show a religious picture when going over vocabulary. She said it was inappropriate. But, I would argue that if you can’t show a picture which is religious, you probably shouldn’t be teaching a book to your students which is religious. The Jews were persecuted for their religion. But that was the only thing that bewildered me. I am excited for my next visit to the classroom and am very excited to start working on research papers with the high schoolers.

Upon attending Ms. Donahue’s class last week, I quickly found that most of my earlier concerns were put to rest. Ms. Donahue greeted us at her classroom door, and we (Ben and I) quietly went to the back of the class to observe for the rest of the day. However, my observations did not begin only after I entered the classroom. Immediately upon arriving at the school, I began to take note of several things. The first thing that I noticed was the extremely tight security at the entrance to the school. I had to walk through not one, not two, but three sets of doors, two of which were locked, and through the school office in order to even enter the school. This was a very different experience for me, as my high school does not have any locked doors or barriers of any sort. I began to imagine what this level of security (and isolation) meant to the student’s hidden curriculum, as there no doubt is at least a psychological, if not physical impact to such tight security at the place you go to learn. Once in the classroom however, things seemed a little more relaxed. Ms. Donahue is an energetic and passionate teacher, dedicated to the subject that she teaches. She fostered student participation by guiding her class in a group discussion as they sat in a circle, while at the same time having all students participate, with some even acting as scribes at the board. All of this discussion was focused on the class’s upcoming project, in which the students will visit the local middle school, and measure food waste. By fostering an environment in which everyone participates and where each student gets a say in how the project will be carried out, Ms. Donahue helps the students create a project that they are genuinely interested in, and that will help the community as a whole, two of the main ideas behind project based learning. Finally, I did get a feeling of organized chaos within the classroom to a slight extent. Despite this, Ms. Donahue was able to quickly redirect the class and get it back under control. I am excited to continue my visits to Ms. Donahue’s class, and look forward to participating in them more in the future.

On February 13th, I had my first visit to Maury Elementary school with my partner Joe Murray. We sat and observed a 5th grade classroom that is studying immigration. Throughout the class period I jotted down observations of the physical environment and also the relationship between the teacher and students. During my visit I was able to talk to a few of the students and help them with their classwork. This gave me the opportunity to observe closely how some students were more engaged than others. What I noticed about the teacher was how soft spoken she was. It seemed that she focused more on teaching while her teaching assistant walked around and kept some students in line. Later I found out that the teacher assistant can be assigned to students that might have physical or special needs for the classroom. At first I thought the teacher was going to be a pushover because it seemed like she didn’t do anything for the students that spoke out without raising their hand or checked on students who weren’t doing their work. I was quickly proven wrong when I noticed that there seemed to be classroom standards that were well established at the beginning of the year. The students kept their binders neatly in the corner of their desk, at the end of the class when she was giving her closing remarks students who stood up were quickly reprimanded. I am excited to go back and hopefully engage more with the students.

All week I had been looking forward to my first classroom visit at the local middle school. Not knowing exactly what to expect, I’ll admit I was a little nervous. Often wondering “How many kids would there be?” and “How would they act?” Questions such as this ran through my mind all morning as I prepared to leave for the school. To my delight, I was warmly welcomed into both the middle school and the classroom. While the teacher was excited to introduce me to her eighth grade classroom, the students seemed to be lost in a gaze. For now I’ll chalk this up to being the first class of the morning on a rainy day! I quickly introduced myself to her young students, who suddenly, seemed to appear so much younger than I imagined. I later told them a bit about myself and how I ended up attending VMI. While college and life after high school is nearly four short years away, to her young students I’m sure it sounded like forever. Even still, I’m glad that their teacher reminds them of what soon lies ahead. Setting goals, both long and short term, in my brief observations seems to be a theme in this classroom. Designed as a remediation group, these children work together to complete work in subjects that they are struggling in. The remediation title of this classroom comes across harsh in my opinion, because I have seen that each child is bright in their own way. Sitting in the back of this classroom, I was able to observe each child as they quietly worked on assignments. Always busily running around the classroom to offer help, I’m sure this is a view that their teacher does not often get to enjoy. While I’m not sure how the principles of project based learning will be applied to this classroom yet, I’m sure that in coming weeks we will find a way to incorporate it. For now though, I’m pleased with this group of kids and very excited for my next visit!

Tuesday February 11th, I had the first opportunity of observing the classroom I will be working in during the semester. Mrs. Dowless Class is a 6th grade science class Earth and environmental. From the time my partner and I arrived we were very engaged in the classroom. We started out by introducing ourselves and letting the students get to understand us a little bit. I believe that the students really enjoyed us there. Some kids asked a lot of questions while others wanted to tell us a little about their own life. The first signs of PBL was when the teacher had the students break off in groups to get ready to present their projects in the following week. The students were working in pairs of two and working on a PowerPoint of the bacterial kingdom. The kids were very engaged in their respected works. Most of the children stayed on task although one student was bothering another student. I asked him what was wrong and he kind of ignored me and then proceeded to work. As I walked around the room, I noticed artwork on the walls of the students. This is key in PBL it provides confidence for the students and promotes a positive learning environment for them. I also noticed slogans or motto’s for the kids to think to prompt a positive learning space. With all this being said I am eager to get back to the classroom soon I look forward to seeing the children.

My trip to visit Maury River Middle School was best described by surprise in the best possible way. From the onset of our visit, we were taken aback by the building itself. The newness, the design, and most surprisingly the teacher’s pride of the facilities. The first comment made while we signed in was for us to admire the aquatic inspiration and details embedded into the school itself to pay homage to the Maury River itself. Once we got to our class, in which the students where purposefully rearranging the desks into a round table, we took our seats. The teacher had brought breakfast for all of her students and insisted that the students eat, something that showed a level of care for her students that I had not expected. There is a project-based learning poster hanging in the back of the class, displaying student’s quality work as what I can assume to be for inspiration for whatever the students choose as their project to tackle. The teacher went on to explain how all of the students had applied to be there and went around asking what all the students wanted out of the future project in their class charter. Their collective responses can be summed by one student’s answer, “serious yet fun”. They enumerated what makes something fun to them. This could be summed up by confidence in a project and working together. I was surprised by the affluence of their answers to what would make a school project fun. The teacher kept encouraging them to speak up in their answers, something that I felt would serve to boost their confidences. Through all of this, I had assumed that this group of students where the best the middle school had to offer. I had thought that they had applied and stood out academically among their peers. It was not until the end in which the teacher confided in us that these students where actually students who all were struggling readers and had a host of other academic challenges. Students who did not volunteer information in other classes willingly who felt like they could contribute within this environment. This environment demonstrated many of the key EL education design principles, specifically the responsibility for learning. To them, the work they were doing in this class went beyond just schoolwork to them. It was learning in their own personal and collective learning together. They were truly unexpected scholars.

When I first got into the school I felt a wave of flashbacks go through my mind. It felt like just yesterday I was a student in my own middle school. Nothing much had changed since I was in their shoes. Once getting to the classroom, the first thing that happened was the morning announcements. We did a moment of silence followed by the pledge and then the lunch menu. The class then went in a circle introducing themselves and something we enjoy doing. A lot of them enjoyed various sports, video games, and being with their friends. Something that I didn’t know was that the first class period in the morning was their homeroom, I don’t recall having a homeroom until high school. Another thing I was unaware of was these sixth, seventh, and eighth graders in the Eagle Academy class are the struggling readers of their grades.

This was only their second time meeting so they decided to make a charter that will outline how they want to accomplish any tasks for their project. They decided that they wanted their workplace to be fun but serious and working in a group atmosphere. So we asked them each to tell us what fun meant to them. All of them generally had the same answer: confidence, trust, everyone being involved, and working together. We then asked them to define serious this one varied a little more: focusing, being courteous, respect, getting along with one another, and welcoming all ideas. I was very surprised by these kids answers because even though they are the struggling readers of their grades they put a lot of thought into their answers. The kids were then split into three groups called the “three w’s: waste, wildlife, and water”. Each group had to discuss and write down how their “w” was affected by pollution and how they could help fix the problem.

These kids are really spectacular and I am looking forward to the rest of the visits with them. I am hoping that my group and I can take their desire for confidence and understanding of each other and apply that to the project we create.

While I was observing Mr. Simms’s students, I definitely noticed how EL education principles were present in the classroom. However, those principles didn’t appear to have been harnessed and put into practice through PBL or EL. The atmosphere of the classroom was certainly welcoming, and the students seemed comfortable with one another and Mr. Simms. However, that comfortability was not seen when it came to the classroom discussion that the TA was attempting to facilitate. I wish that the TA would have encouraged this exciting energy that the students entered into the classroom with. I feel as if, by giving them laptops, turning off the lights, and merely lecturing and showing the students videos, the vivacity that they came in with became lackluster. It seemed as if they immediately disconnected from their educational experience as soon as they realized their course content was just being spoken to them as opposed to partaking in an engaging educational experience. Moreover, when the TA allowed the students to choose a story from their packet, she didn’t actually have the students read, she simply read the story to them. I know that if she would have encouraged the students to read aloud by either picking someone, letting them do popcorn, or even by letting them volunteer, it would have shown to the students that the TA believes in their intellectual capabilities; it would have been much more self-empowering.

Yet, even before the TA carried out her lesson plan with the students, I knew that PBL/EL principles were not in the forefront of her mind while she was working with the students. At the start of the class she simply handed the students a packet. There was no explanation as to what the packet was for, why it was important for the lesson, what the driving question, or purpose of the class was, or what it would “mean to know this.” These two insistences in the classroom – the TA’s neglect of outlining the lesson for the day and her lack of inclusion of the students – showed me that PBL is not a part of her teaching experience. Yet, I do think that the atmosphere of the classroom has potential for being a great PBL workspace. The students came in lively and excited, they all seemed comfortable with one another and the teacher, and they all seemed interested in the course content when they did get the chance to actively participate. With the introduction of the four strategies for building PBL culture, which are: focusing deliberately on beliefs and values, creating shared norms, implementing protocols and routines, and ensuring that the physical environment the students find themselves in is conducive to PBL, I really do think that these students would enjoy a tremendously enriching educational experience.