Classroom Differences

Classroom Set-up
Aside from my third grade placement, I observed two teachers at Medina this week.  Each classroom had a different routine for starting their day, and a creative means of using their classroom space to reflect and enhance student learning.  In the fifth grade classroom I observed, I noticed student artwork in several places.  There was also a literacy wall, science wall, and a math wall with equations they had been learning.  A standing white board in the front listed the schedule, and included a space at the bottom for students to sign up in advance for show and tell.  In the fourth grade classroom, there were literacy vocabulary cards and concept posters covering all the walls.  In the back of the room are large posters with questions paper clipped to the top and boxes drawn in below for students to attach a post it corresponding to their student number.  The literacy posters ask students to practice making predictions, address cause and effect, make inferences, connect the text to themselves, and ask questions.  This teacher has an especially large attachment to literacy because she piloted the Journeys reading curriculum for the district last year.  In the third grade there is a nice balance of science, literacy, and math on the walls.  Some posters are left blank, and there is some student work from earlier in the year. There were several table groups in each of the classrooms I visited as well as a space on the floor in the front of the room for lessons.  Recently the third grade classroom I work in has changed to table groups of 2, in rows facing the front.

Morning Routine
Morning routines were also completely different in each classroom.  For example, I observed a fifth grade teacher who expected her children to enter the classroom at 8:05, look at the smartboard for instructions, and begin morning work without directions.  At 8:15 she went over the schedule, and began a morning meeting.  Overall students are given a lot more work at this age.  For example, the teacher interrupted morning work to remind students about two independent science articles they were responsible to read at home in preparation for a lesson.  The fourth grade classroom read their schedule off the board and then attended a specialist.  In the third grade classroom where I am an intern, the morning looks different.  Children at this age need more direction, even though they have had a similar routine all year.  In the 3rd grade, students are not let into the classroom until 8:05.  Upon entering they will sometimes find directions on the board, and they are otherwise expected to silent read or work on "to-do" work until 8:15.  The teacher does not go over the schedule, although the kids usually take notice and make comments individually.  We also do not conduct morning meetings regularly. 


Morning Meetings
The fifth grade teacher I observed used The Morning Meeting Book to start her lesson.  Students sat on the floor in a large circle, and each said hello to one another according to the piece of paper and name they received.  After introductions, they discussed nuts and bolts followed by show and tell.  One student gives the class three clues, and the class asks that student questions to guess what they are sharing about.  I have not observed my MT do a class meeting in the same way, but I have implemented a couple of steps to respect lessons using greetings from this book.  I similarly did not observe the 4th grade teacher run a morning meeting, however they were a regular part of the second grade schedule during my dyad.  Second graders shook hands in a chain around the circle, sang songs, talked about news, and played a game.  I'm hoping to incorporate classroom meetings in my future classroom to build a sense of community and respect.