Reflection About My Students

This semester, I am observing at Warner Girls Leadership Academy, an elementary school within the Cleveland Municipal School District. My first grade classroom consists of 25 African American girls, mainly coming from low income backgrounds. All of the girls are generally friendly with one another within the classroom, but react quickly when something happens that they do not like. Throughout the class, many of the students are performing Tik Tok dances either with their friends sitting at adjoining desks or to themselves. I believe this attests to how much social media the students use while at home. The teacher interacts with the students only to give information in relation to lessons or to correct student behavior. She does not attempt to connect with the students passed the boundaries of school topics.

Most of the lessons I have witnessed within this classroom are set up so that there is first, a whole group instruction, then a partner/small group activity to reinforce the ideas of the lesson, and finally, an individual assessment that the teacher collects. I have not witnessed a great deal of differentiation within this classroom. One instance I have witnessed occurred when the small group activity was in full force and the teacher was working with one student on a separate worksheet. The small group learning does not seem particularly effective for this group because students are instructed to not share their answers with each other until their partner(s) first find their own answers. This often leaves group members arguing with each other and hiding answers instead of helping one another. Additionally, the students often do not understand how to complete the activity and quickly get off task.

Technology is included within the classroom, but not highly incorporated. Lessons are given through the smart board within the classroom, as the teacher writes the problems through it. The teacher has played YouTube videos either to provide a mini lesson for the students or to play a read aloud book. One instance of the presentation of a digital storytelling was provided to the students as a biography of a figure for Black History Month. However, the teacher did not review the video beforehand and had to shut the video off because the students were not understanding the content. From what I have witnessed, the students do not have the opportunity to explore technology themselves. There are six desktops in the corner of the classroom, but the students have not or do not use them often. As previously mentioned, the students use a great deal of technology at home. Many of the students are obsessed with the app Tik Tok. The students talk about their own accounts and perform the dances as they are completing their work. While talking with the students, a couple of the students have their own smart phones and/or play on them often.