Cross visit reflection
Since I am placed at a magnet school, I chose cross visit experiences that would provide me with insight into other types of schools so that I might get a better idea of the type of school at which I would like to work next year. For my fall cross visit, I chose a charter school. For my January 8th cross visit, I chose a neighborhood school. The biggest difference I noticed between the three concerned the handling of discipline. At the charter school it became evident very early that there was a school-wide system of tightly regimented discipline in place. At the magnet and neighborhood schools, discipline varied from classroom to classroom. At my magnet school placement, these variations do not seem to have too great an effect over learning and progress. At the neighborhood school, these variations did seem to interfere with learning in some of the class rooms.
During this neighborhood school cross visit, I had a chance to visit four total classes, each taught by a different teacher. There were three English classes, one each for grades 9, 10, and 11 as well as an 11th grade U.S. History class. Each class provided me with a unique experience.
The 9th grade English class was run by a Penn alumnus. She was doing a lesson on feminism using a video about Beyonce's new album as well as a famous feminist quote that she had students write a reflection about. I most admired this teacher's clear, loud speaking voice and her use of humor. The combination allowed her to seem both a friend and an authority simultaneously. There were several times throughout the class when students were either unprepared or not following directions. One student in particular remained stubbornly misogynistic throughout the lesson. At these times the teacher's tone became one of exasperation. At first it seemed that it was feigned for the sake of humor, but over time it started to sound like real exasperation. The weirdest observation I made concerned a kid who just sat in class without speaking, writing, or following any direction for no discernible reason. The teacher addressed him individually on more than one occasion and the kid just stared without responding. I had never seen anything quite like it before.
In the 10th grade English class I felt physically uncomfortable. I wanted out badly, so I can only imagine how the people who have to be there every day felt. The reason things were so uncomfortable is that the students were blatantly disrespectful throughout the class. They cursed, they made fun of the teacher, they threw things at each other, they lied, and they didn't follow directions. One girl in particular seemed to be actively trying to make the class as uncomfortable as possible. The teacher openly confronted students on several occasions, but also let some behaviors go. I got the impression that if she had addressed every behavior, then she would never actually get to the lesson itself. The weirdest thing was that beyond a verbal reprimand, there was no consequence for some truly ugly behavior. No deans were called and no detentions were issued. The lesson itself ended up being about tragic heroes and the Roman Empire, which was being taught in preparation for a reading of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. Once this part of class got underway, things settled down some. The atmosphere still felt like one of confrontation. Even when things were going well, the teacher's manner of speaking just sounded abrasive. Even the arrangement of the desks into two sides facing each other felt like a confrontation.
The 11th grade English class was taught by a TEP colleague, and it reminded me of my own class. There was a mixture of ethnicities and levels of participation. There was a lot of side chatter, but the people who talked off topic were also the biggest contributors to the on-topic discussion. The style of discipline involved consistently addressing every issue but in a quick and light-hearted way so as not to disrupt the lesson, which used the book The Color Purple to discuss the concept of "talking proper," meaning using standard English vs. using a dialect. I really liked how the lesson was both about the book, the greater concept of using the English language, and the social concept of code-switching. It felt "authentic." One strange thing was that the classroom mentor is also the department chair, and throughout the class he was answering repeated phone calls regarding the then-upcoming Keystone exam.
The most valuable class to observe was the 11th grade history class. It was taught by a veteran teacher who'd been with the same school for 15 years, and it was the first ELL class I have observed. The teacher was amazingly enthusiastic to his students and to me as a guest in his room. He was the only teacher I've observed who took the time to introduce me to his class and allow me to speak to them. His lesson on the 1920's was incredibly differentiated: there was video, images, discussion, student writing, student internet research, student drawing, questioning, and lecture. He made a conscious effort to define words as he went and to simplify his language by dropping articles and avoiding contractions. There was one student who had his head down a lot, and every other student appeared to be engaged for the duration of the class. I would love to be able to emulate this teacher's personality and differentiation. He seemed to be everywhere at once and yet still approachable. His was the longest of the classes I observed and it was the only one I didn't want to leave once it was over.
The school's hallways felt enormous and seemed to go on forever. The entrance was an awkward bottleneck that occurred because everyone has to pass through a metal detector immediately upon entering the building. The class sizes were smaller than the ones at my magnet school. Whereas each of my classes has 33 students, the average class size at the neighborhood school seemed to be about 20, though it's possible some students were just absent.
Overall, my visit was a positive one. I picked up a few new teaching techniques as well as some examples of what not to do. For the most part the students didn't seem much different than my own. I heard a lot more f-words, met more ELL students, and saw more open defiance. But I also saw plenty of effort being put forth along with a healthy range of opinions.
During this neighborhood school cross visit, I had a chance to visit four total classes, each taught by a different teacher. There were three English classes, one each for grades 9, 10, and 11 as well as an 11th grade U.S. History class. Each class provided me with a unique experience.
The 9th grade English class was run by a Penn alumnus. She was doing a lesson on feminism using a video about Beyonce's new album as well as a famous feminist quote that she had students write a reflection about. I most admired this teacher's clear, loud speaking voice and her use of humor. The combination allowed her to seem both a friend and an authority simultaneously. There were several times throughout the class when students were either unprepared or not following directions. One student in particular remained stubbornly misogynistic throughout the lesson. At these times the teacher's tone became one of exasperation. At first it seemed that it was feigned for the sake of humor, but over time it started to sound like real exasperation. The weirdest observation I made concerned a kid who just sat in class without speaking, writing, or following any direction for no discernible reason. The teacher addressed him individually on more than one occasion and the kid just stared without responding. I had never seen anything quite like it before.
In the 10th grade English class I felt physically uncomfortable. I wanted out badly, so I can only imagine how the people who have to be there every day felt. The reason things were so uncomfortable is that the students were blatantly disrespectful throughout the class. They cursed, they made fun of the teacher, they threw things at each other, they lied, and they didn't follow directions. One girl in particular seemed to be actively trying to make the class as uncomfortable as possible. The teacher openly confronted students on several occasions, but also let some behaviors go. I got the impression that if she had addressed every behavior, then she would never actually get to the lesson itself. The weirdest thing was that beyond a verbal reprimand, there was no consequence for some truly ugly behavior. No deans were called and no detentions were issued. The lesson itself ended up being about tragic heroes and the Roman Empire, which was being taught in preparation for a reading of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. Once this part of class got underway, things settled down some. The atmosphere still felt like one of confrontation. Even when things were going well, the teacher's manner of speaking just sounded abrasive. Even the arrangement of the desks into two sides facing each other felt like a confrontation.
The 11th grade English class was taught by a TEP colleague, and it reminded me of my own class. There was a mixture of ethnicities and levels of participation. There was a lot of side chatter, but the people who talked off topic were also the biggest contributors to the on-topic discussion. The style of discipline involved consistently addressing every issue but in a quick and light-hearted way so as not to disrupt the lesson, which used the book The Color Purple to discuss the concept of "talking proper," meaning using standard English vs. using a dialect. I really liked how the lesson was both about the book, the greater concept of using the English language, and the social concept of code-switching. It felt "authentic." One strange thing was that the classroom mentor is also the department chair, and throughout the class he was answering repeated phone calls regarding the then-upcoming Keystone exam.
The most valuable class to observe was the 11th grade history class. It was taught by a veteran teacher who'd been with the same school for 15 years, and it was the first ELL class I have observed. The teacher was amazingly enthusiastic to his students and to me as a guest in his room. He was the only teacher I've observed who took the time to introduce me to his class and allow me to speak to them. His lesson on the 1920's was incredibly differentiated: there was video, images, discussion, student writing, student internet research, student drawing, questioning, and lecture. He made a conscious effort to define words as he went and to simplify his language by dropping articles and avoiding contractions. There was one student who had his head down a lot, and every other student appeared to be engaged for the duration of the class. I would love to be able to emulate this teacher's personality and differentiation. He seemed to be everywhere at once and yet still approachable. His was the longest of the classes I observed and it was the only one I didn't want to leave once it was over.
The school's hallways felt enormous and seemed to go on forever. The entrance was an awkward bottleneck that occurred because everyone has to pass through a metal detector immediately upon entering the building. The class sizes were smaller than the ones at my magnet school. Whereas each of my classes has 33 students, the average class size at the neighborhood school seemed to be about 20, though it's possible some students were just absent.
Overall, my visit was a positive one. I picked up a few new teaching techniques as well as some examples of what not to do. For the most part the students didn't seem much different than my own. I heard a lot more f-words, met more ELL students, and saw more open defiance. But I also saw plenty of effort being put forth along with a healthy range of opinions.