prompt 1

Prompt #1

Led Zeppelin Elementary School is located in inner city Providence. The main street the school is located off of is full of litter. The Elementary school is positioned behind a larger Middle School building. Often, while waiting at a red light to merge back on route 95, homeless people come up to your car window asking for change. Furthermore, there is an Amazing video store about a mile from the elementary school. While the area surrounding the school appears to be dangerous, the school itself is actually very nice. The building appears up to date structurally. The school is not run down or dirty. The floors are clean, the bathrooms are clean, and the locker filled halls are orderly. The main entrance into the school building is always locked. In order to enter the building, one must ring for someone in the office to unlock the door to allow entrance. In my perspective, even though I was on school grounds, I was still in a dangerous part of town. Still, it was interesting to revisit an institution that provided my primary education. The school felt different to me ascetically than the elementary school I attended in Providence. More importantly, the school setting doesn't appear to have changed since my experiences as a second grader too much.

I was assigned to be a Reading Buddy in Mrs. Smith’s second grade class. A student teacher, Ms. Beth, was present throughout my visits. Furthermore, a second tutor, Joan, was assigned to Mrs. Smith's class as well. Four students from Mrs. Smith's class, Mac, Denis, Frank, and Charlie, were selected for Joan and I to tutor. The first impressions I had of the teacher and the students left me excited for my future visits. The put it in an unacademic term, the kids were cool. As young students and citizens, they deserve every opportunity available in American democracy, as well as altering the status quo. Mrs. Smith’s students are being socialized in preparation for their future years of education, which will be projected onto the larger society.

Within the physical layout of Mrs. Smith's classroom, the students’ desks were arranged in groups, not individual rows. There were two dry erase boards in the classroom, one in the front where the teacher's desk is located, and one in the back of the class. The board in the front of the class had the schedule and assignments for the day. For example, on November thirteenth, between 9:15 and 9:45, the students participated in a Thanksgiving read aloud. I did not witness the read aloud, but a list of what students were Thankful for remained. Among other things the list included family, friends, pets, food and toys. The windows are on one side of the room, and on the other is an area with a rug for students to sit during reading time. The walls on this side of the classroom had a tack board with stories written by the students posted up. The students were assigned to look at a picture of an object, animal, or insect, and write a short story about it. The students had rubric to follow, rating their product from zero to four. According to the rubric, a rating of zero meant the student’s story did not include a beginning, middle, and end. A story with a four rating had a well-developed beginning, middle, and end. Upon reading the stories, I found some of them to be very thoughtful, others were not. At the least a student with a rating of one had his/her story regardless of academic achievement.

"We are a team, we cooperate, we share, we are kind we follow directions, we keep our hands to ourselves, we always, do out best." Mrs. Smith's class pledge represents the necessary principles and values required to function in society. Class rules were posted on the front board. For example, "I listen to my teacher, I do all my work, I raise my hand," and most importantly, "I do not argue with teachers or other students." Do the students follow these rules all of the time, and are they bad kids if they do occasionally break the rulers, not necessarily. Furthermore, the rules are needed in order maintain peace within the learning environment. How can anything be accomplished in total mania. The customs and laws of society are condensed into early education through such classroom rules. The indoctrination of such principles can only be for the student's benefit. Mrs. Smith's students are not being taught not to think, only to express their ideas respectfully and thoughtful.