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EDUC 280 Journal 1 & 2 Combined

Task 1. Classroom Management

Question 1 – Do you think your teacher has successfully created a productive learning environment? Why or
why not?
I believe my teacher has created a productive learning environment. She has established a daily routine that the
students have all become familiar with, so there is a comfortable flow in her classroom. The students are all very
enthusiastic about learning, which could be partly due to their young age, but I also think she’s been great about
making learning fun and engaging. She knows her students well so she can incorporate their interests into the
learning material. She often relates what they’re learning to real life, which the students love being able to talk
about. She is very efficient at reading the room. I remember one day she was teaching the students about the
metric system by writing on a poster what the different measurements were and how they compared to the
customary system. They weren’t responding very well; nobody was participating and they all seemed confused,
so she completely changed her approach. She instead had the students make their own meter sticks and used
them the following day in another lesson by having the students compare their meter sticks to their rulers. They
all seemed much more receptive to the material when they could work with their own meter stick. This is such
an important component to creating a productive learning environment...if something isn’t working, change it!
Be flexible and know that sometimes you have to improvise as you go.

Question 2 – What techniques does the teacher use to keep students actively involved in academic activities?
She uses collaborative learning quite a lot, which the students respond very well to. I think it’s important to allow
students to work together so they can see other perspectives and verbalize their own ideas. Too much solo work
can be dull and isolating, especially for second graders. My teacher is also great about providing choices for
students to keep enthusiasm high. If they’re supposed to read a story, she’ll let them choose which one. She’ll
give options for the math activity that focus on the same concept, but maybe one is for visual learners and one is
for kinesthetic learners. Another thing I have observed that I respect so much is that she gives her students
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frequent “brain breaks.” During these breaks, she’ll usually do something silly to get them moving, like play
Simon Says or have a mini dance party. My favorite activity that she had me help her with was playing “That’s
Me!” where you say a statement to the class like “I have been to Disneyland before,” and whoever agrees with
the statement can stand up and say “That’s me!” It’s so fun for the kiddos, and it’s also a quick and easy way to
learn about the students too.

Question 3 – How is your teachers “withitness?” In other words, do they have command of the classroom? Do
they have great systems of classroom management in place?
My teacher has found a great balance of authority. They don’t necessarily fear her, but she knows how to take
charge in her classroom. She has several quotes to calm the noise and get everyone's attention (my favorite is
when she says “Yakkity Yak” and they respond with “Don’t talk back!” and look at her,) and they never fail. My
teacher has been exceptional at assigning jobs for each student to complete and they all have a very strong
awareness of what they need to do on a daily basis (they even do it without being asked!) To make it fair, she
makes sure the jobs rotate so there’s a new sense of excitement at doing something different. She is great about
keeping the students involved in the daily schedule. Every morning they have a class meeting where they listen
to the morning announcements over the school speaker, and then one of the student jobs is to read for the
others the schedule hour by hour. I even found out later that she purposely chooses the students who struggle
with enunciating or public speaking to read the schedule because it gives them practice and confidence in these
skills. I feel like this is overall a very comforting practice for students and makes transitions from one activity to
another much smoother.

Question 4 – What types of “punishments” are used in your classroom?

I would say the most frequent form of punishment in her classroom is having privileges taken away. For example,
when students don’t finish their work, they have to stay during their recess time to finish or don’t get to move on
to the “fun” activity without having completed it first. There is one student in the class who is problematic and
on a strict behavior plan, and for his situation where he can be destructive, she’ll call the office and have
somebody come and remove him from the classroom until he can behave appropriately. I’ve also seen students
who have to sit to the side during the snack/break time for misbehaving in the classroom, and she told them
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“You took time away from everyone’s learning, so I’m going to take time away from you’re playing.” One thing I
appreciate is that she doesn’t punish the entire class for the bad behavior of a few, which I remember happening
when I was in school that I thought was completely unfair. There is what’s called a “calm corner” in her classroom
that’s a bit isolated from everyone else. The calm corner has cozy pillows, fidget tools, puzzles and other quiet
activities for students so when they become angry or aggressive, she can have them sit there to settle down
without distracting others. The only issue with this strategy is there are students who abuse it by purposely
misbehaving so they can go lay down and play in the calm corner. I think in theory it’s a great idea, but I think it’s
too rewarding having the toys and games available.

Question 5 – How or where are the rules posted in your classroom? How were they created? By the students
or the teacher?
My teacher prefers to use the term expectations rather than rules. Rules can have a somewhat negative,
restrictive connotation and are too specific. Expectations make it easier to communicate a desired behavior. Her
five expectations are that students should be polite, peaceful, positive, productive and problem solvers. On the
first day of school, she does have the students list as a class what makes a “Star” student or not (Star is the
mascot,) and the teacher leads the class to the above standards that they all then agree on after the two lists are
made. The expectations are hanging on a big poster at the back of the room. She incorporates the rules quite a
bit, I’ve heard her say “What would be the polite thing to do?” and “How can we be a problem solver?” to
students before.
Task 2. Curriculum

Question 1 – Give an example of when the teacher used integrated curriculum across subjects (i.e. combining
science and language arts)
I witnessed this a few times, and there’s one specific example I can recall where my teacher and a specialist
teacher used one science topic to teach both reading and writing skills. The students’ science topic of the week
was storms (thunder, lightning, hurricanes, tornados, etc.) that was taught by the main teacher. The specialist
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teacher would come in for about 40 minutes every day to give a short writing lesson, and for an entire week she
used the topic of storms to help children create a graphic organizer and write several three part sentences about
a type of storm. I also saw my teacher go through reading material about storms with the students’ and she was
showing them how to identify the title, bold, captions and labels in a text. This is such a great practice because
the students already have strong foundational knowledge on storms so they can better focus on the writing and
reading concepts.

Question 2 – Give an example of when the teacher used hidden curriculum.

The teacher and even the school use hidden curriculum often, and I have so many examples. The school's mascot
is a Patriot and students are commended for showing P.R.I.D.E, which is an acronym that stands for different
traits that are focused on every few months. I’m not sure what all of the letters stood for, but while I was in the
classroom, they were focusing on the P which stands for positivity. Whenever students were seen being positive,
they were given a ticket and they could redeem their ticket for a prize from the “woot woot wagon” which came
around at the end of the time period they spent focusing on the “P.”. The students think they are just working for
prizes, but in fact, they are learning and demonstrating traits that help them become functional members of
society. I’ve also seen hidden curriculum in the cafeteria; the students are required to sit there quietly with their
arms folded before they can be released, and they are encouraged to eat at least one bite of each of their
servings before they can be dismissed. I thought this was a great idea because it helps students have a well
rounded diet and be less picky with their food.
I also witnessed a few examples of hidden curriculum from the teacher which could be debatable. When we
were outside during a break, the teacher brought out a jump rope and had the students take turns playing with
it. I originally thought that was awesome because when I was in elementary school, it was only the girls who
played jump rope. But when we were doing the rhyme that they jump with which goes “Ice cream soda, cherry
on top, who’s your boyfriend/girlfriend, I forgot,” the teacher made sure all of the girls had boyfriends and all of
the boys had girlfriends, and I think this is questionable. I understand that these kids are only 7 years old, but
sexualities are very fluid these days and it can put unnecessary pressure on a student as they get older to sway
one way rather than the other. It can even make them question same sex couples and think that they are
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“wrong” because their situation doesn’t fit with the rhyme. This rhyme could very easily be replaced with “who’s
your best friend,” so as to not make any assumptions. These students are very nosy in the most adorable way,
and they have absolutely no filter. They couldn’t fathom how I could have a child but be unmarried. I also had
one student introduce me to the other 2nd grade teacher next door, and he mentioned to me afterwards, “It’s
okay that he’s a boy, he can still be a teacher,” which sounds as if somebody corrected his own gender
stereotyping. These are just a few more examples of societal gender norms the students have already learned.

Question 3 – Does your teacher used differentiated instruction?

Absolutely. My teacher has several different types of learners in her classroom, unfortunately, one who is fairly
illiterate. She is able to copy individual letters if you tell her which ones to write, but she can’t construct them on
her own and she is completely unable to read. Obviously this student isn’t given the same set of expectations for
work. More often than not, myself or the teacher would work one-on-one with her during assignments. I would
often read to her and point at the words as I went along, and would have her vocalize her thoughts for me during
assignments and either write them for her, or give her short and simple words to write, going letter by letter. My
teacher is also incredible about grouping students together by ability. The students who have mastered certain
concepts will sometimes be grouped together for a project or task because they need very limited intervention.
The students who are struggling or need more hands-on instruction would work alongside the teacher or myself
in a group to help them be more successful. I’ve also seen her group students by mixed abilities so the students
who are stronger in a subject can help those who aren’t. I think it’s so admirable that she has such a strong
awareness of her students abilities that she can do this on purpose to make herself more available to those who
really need it, like the illiterate student. The school is great at differentiated teaching in general, as there is both a
writing and literacy specialist who works with students in small groups who test poorly in these subjects.

Question 4 – Can you tell what kind of learner the teacher is from his/her instructional preferences?
If I were to guess, I would say that my teacher is a visual learner. I say this because she has a large array of anchor
charts that she constantly rotates to help students recall material she has taught in the past. She’s also very good
about writing down directions for students so they can visually follow the steps and not have to go off of
memory. Her classroom is completely covered in educational posters, charts, borders, decorations, pictures and a
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number line that goes around the entire room. She explained that she thinks it’s helpful to have visually
stimulating walls for students because they can learn passively. I also know that she’s a big reader, which usually
classifies a visual learner.

Question 5 – Do you think the teacher adapts the curriculum to the types of learners in the classroom?
I would say that my teacher mostly appeals to visual and kinesthetic learners, not so much auditory. I would think
that’s because most of the students aren’t auditory learners since she has a strong awareness of how her
students learn best. As someone with a 5 year old child, I would assume that this is probably because most
young children have a hard time taking in information that’s only told to them. They might not remember or be
distracted. I also think it’s pretty natural to gravitate to the learning style that the teacher most identifies with
herself, which I predicted was visual. She also appeals to kinesthetic learners by incorporating a lot of hands-on
activities in her lessons, like with the meter sticks and the rulers for measurements and using cubes and base ten
blocks to teach about place value. I’ve even seen the student who struggles with math use an abacus to make
calculations. My teacher is great about changing the locations of lessons--during free reading time, they can sit
anywhere around the room. During math groups, she had each group of desks play a different math game and
the students got to rotate seats to play all of them. She’s even taught a math concept outside where she was
having the students measure objects on the playground. I think it’s important to incorporate kinesthetic learning
strategies to young students in general because they need to be moving to keep focused.

Question 6 – Does your teacher like the curriculum he/she is teaching?

I had a lengthy conversation with my teacher about this; she stated that overall she likes the curriculum, but not
necessarily their method of testing for it. She feels that the material they have been given to teach doesn’t match
what they are tested on at a district level and it’s far too advanced for the students. One week that I was there
the students were learning measurement with customary and metric units. They spent time making their own
meter sticks, measuring different things in the classroom, comparing lengths to each other, things like that. The
test that the teacher gave for this material was very basic; asking what was bigger between a centimeter and a
meter, and so on. The district test asked students to convert measurements, which isn’t even a CCSS for 2nd
grade. She also showed me a very poorly worded question from the test that almost implied that an object
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would grow because it had more in metric units vs. customary. I hate the idea of teaching to the test, but more
than that, expecting students to test well on something that’s not even part of their standards.

Question 7 – What would they like to see added in the future?

There isn’t anything she would necessarily like added to the curriculum, but she did mention a few times that she
wished there could be more time dedicated to handwriting skills. She said that because a lot of their work is
done on iPads that not all of the students get sufficient practice writing on paper. I witnessed her having to
remind certain students the basics of how to construct letters during an assignment where they were supposed
to just be free writing on a topic. The curriculum is developed in a way that assumes all students are on an equal
playing field with handwriting skills, and that’s simply not the case.
That being said, this is certainly a step up from the school my teacher had taught at the previous year. It was a
STEM school and she told me that she would constantly get “in trouble” for having the students write on paper.
They wanted them to work exclusively on their iPad, even in handwriting. She completely disagreed with their
philosophy, and that’s why she only spent a year working there. In my very blunt opinion, I think that school
sounds like complete garbage. Sure, STEM subjects are important, but so is learning how to write on paper.

Task 3. Technology

Question 1 – What kind of technology was used in the class(es) you observed? Was it effective?
In the classroom, each student is assigned their own individual iPad. The iPad has apps and built in features that
help students learn and create through a single device. For example, the teacher had the students create a
t-chart for a lesson, and everyone was able to draw that through the interactive whiteboard app called ShowMe.
The class often uses what’s called ClassDojo, which I learned is a school communication platform that teachers,
students and families use to share what’s being learned in class though photos, videos and messages. On my first
day of observations, it was a student's birthday and her mom brought cupcakes for the class. The teacher took
photos of the class bonding over their treat and posted it on ClassDojo, which I thought was really awesome. It
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really brings a strong sense of unity to the class, and makes it much easier for parents to communicate with the
teacher as well.

Question 2 – What type of technology might you use when you start your teaching career?
As of right now, I don’t think I want to have my students use iPads. I think having one as a class so I can AirDrop
things onto the board and use ClassDojo and things like that will be effective enough. I don’t want my students to
develop dependence on a screen to learn. I think it would be really cool to have a SmartBoard because then the
students can interact directly with some of the images and I wouldn’t always need to have manipulatives on
hand. The thing with a SmartBoard is I would want direct training with it. When I was in high school, every
classroom had a SmartBoard but most of my teachers were intimidated by it, so it was a completely wasted
resource. I will definitely use YouTube since the learning content available is endless, and I now have experience
using Google Classroom which will be incredible if I ever need to teach virtually. I will obviously use things like
PowerPoint and Prezi to present material to the students, and I think that digital field trips are an awesome idea.

Question 3 – Do you think it is harder or easier to incorporate technology into your classroom?
I have been very surprised at the extensive use of technology for such a young demographic. I’ve quickly learned
that the iPads are used quite often, and as young as kindergarten. I’m still undecided on how I feel about the
iPads. I do think that they can be beneficial for certain scenarios; for example, they can all open up the ShowMe
app and use it like a whiteboard and waste less paper. Apps like ClassDojo make classroom management easier
with tools like group generator, noise monitor, random student selector, etc. Not only that, students have endless
access to ebooks, can play math games and it does seem to encourage more participation. On the other hand,
it’s harder to control what each individual student is doing because you can’t always see their screen (I’ve
definitely seen students doing other things than what they’ve been assigned.) Plus, if there are connectivity
issues, entire lesson plans can be ruined. Children already need less screen time, so having hours of it at school
at only seven years old isn’t helping matters. I think it’s very easy to incorporate technology into the classroom,
I’m just unsure if it’s always necessary.
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Task 4. Diversity

Question 1 – How diverse was your class(es) you observed?

My classroom was incredibly diverse, certainly much more diverse racially than I had growing up. I went to
middle school and high school in Eagle, Idaho where 94% of students are white and only 6% are listed as other. In
Nampa schools, 57% are white and 36% are Hispanic/Latino and another 7% is listed as other (these stats are
current as of 2019.) This was very clear to see in my classroom, and a lot of the hispanic students spoke fluent
Spanish as well which I thought was really impressive. All of the students interacted and played with one another
equally, there wasn’t any sort of “us vs. them” impression, which is also very different from what I witnessed
growing up.

Question 2 – What did your mentor/teacher do (or not do) to create a diverse classroom? 
The teacher had several books that were in Spanish for ESL students and printed a few worksheets in Spanish for
an ESL student too. I’m sure that most teachers are well versed in this practice since there is such a large Hispanic
population at this school, but it was still great to see. She was very culturally sensitive during Halloween when
she asked “How many of you will celebrate Halloween?” before the holiday came instead of assuming that all
students would. She also had a box of ‘Colors of the World Skin Tone’ crayons, which I have never seen before
and thought was incredible. She and I had a discussion at one point about economic diversity. During Halloween,
there was a school wide pumpkin decorating contest and costume parade. She had students volunteer if they
wanted to bring a decorated pumpkin in, and told me afterwards that she can’t make things like that a
requirement because some students may not be able to afford it. For the costume parade, she told the class, “If
anyone needs to borrow a costume, please come see me” so the students who couldn’t afford it could still
participate. I appreciated that she gave students the opportunity to discuss it with her privately so she wasn’t
drawing any attention to their situation. I’m sure there were many more examples, but these are the ones that
come to mind.