Reflection #1: The Ideal Classroom

Welcome to Miss Rappleye's 4th grade class, come on in! You'll notice as you walked through the old (but renovated) brick building that Utopia Elementary, somewhere in the greener part of Washington State, is a beautiful old school. It has a heritage and tradition of quality teaching and successful students. Though an old school, it's teachers are kept up to date and as you walked down the halls you saw the doors of other classrooms open and students were engaged with one another in learning, not silently working in rows of desks. You did not hear yelling from the 5th grade teachers or threats to, "Come back in this room or else..." from the 1st grade classrooms. You saw happy students walking down halls in relatively strait lines, but not looking like Nazi youth or being told to keep their hands off the walls or get back in line every few yards to the library.

Coming into my classroom you first notice my huge wall of windows (perfect for studying weather and cloud formations here in the 4th grade). The next thing that you noticed is that it is a little noisy. Small groups of children are spaced around the classroom, some on the floor, some at the Kieva, some at a group of desks. They are working on posters for a math lesson. We are getting close to testing time and they are going to spend our math time tomorrow presenting their posters, as groups, to the rest of the class. They were given a unit and asked to look through their journals to come up with some good reminders for the class. Ah, you noticed my Smart Board, that is their third favorite thing in the classroom. The second is the chair at the Kieva. That is where we spend reading time together and they like the silly voices I do for different characters. That chair also turns into an author's chair and they have the chance to share with the class some of their writings. Their very favorite thing in the classroom is, of course, me. Sarah has a question for me. She knows that even when we have a visitor or I'm doing something at my desk or the computer, she can politely get my attention and I will come to here as soon as I've finished your tour. She knows that she, and here classmates, are very important to me and that I am all theirs. I am well prepared and am never in to big of a hurry to spend time with a group or student. I am available. Being a few years from the time I had EDEL 3250, the world is still very much the same. Some of these kids have great homes, and some do not. I am an oasis for them and staying in for recess was never an option as a a form of punishment for my students because they enjoy me and want to spend time with me. Once a week I have a different table of kids stay in and eat lunch with me. We talk about them and they ask me questions and they get to spend some non-structured time with a mentally healthy, gentle adult who they know loves them and with whom they feel safe. The bell is about to ring and my students need to complete their reflection on something they learned today and I have a resource student with whom I just talk to about what she learned so I can write it down in her journal (this way she has a record and enjoys reflecting instead of stressing about having to write again...she's getting better at expressing herself!). Thank you for the visit.