Today, on my second
visit to Mercer Elementary school, I arrived to the classroom at 11 am. At this
time the students had already started doing their math exercises from their
workbooks with the help of their teacher Ms. Rashid. They were talking about
geometrical shapes today. It fascinated me how quiet they were while doing
their exercises while the teacher spoke from the head of the classroom
simultaneously solving problems on the smart board. Like I said in my previous
observation post, I feel that the way the classroom is set up, plays a role in
the attention the students show their teacher, and the fact that they rarely
interrupt conversation. Ms. Rashid would go around the classroom and help
individual students whenever they needed her help, so there is a lot of
individual attention in the classroom which I believe is very important. After
the math work was completed and Ms. Rashid had checked everyone’s workbook,
making sure that they had done their work, they had their snack break which has
a duration of five minutes. In these five minutes, and while eating, the
students are not allowed to play or run around as if it is recess. They are
supposed to sit in the seats and go over the work they did earlier in class
with the help of their friends. Ms. Rashid told me that the five minute snack
break is motivating to them, and when they are doing work while eating a snack
or enjoying a beverage, it seems more exciting to them, not actual “class”
work. So she uses this method for every hour of class every day, or at times
when she can see the students are getting distracted, tired, or bored. A small
five minute break can motivate them tremendously and get them back on track. The
first period of class (after the snack break) ended with a “current affairs”
conversation. The students, every other day, raise an important global topic
that they might have heard of in the news, or heard their parents talk about or
read in a magazine or newspaper and discuss it in class. This time one student
talked about the missing Malaysia Airlines plane and how countries from all
over the world were sending ships and research crews to try to find it.
Suddenly, the conversation sparked the interest of almost every single child in
the classroom. They all had something to say that they heard about at home
about what was going on in this situation. I feel that it is wonderful that Ms.
Rashid extends their knowledge and makes them familiar with global affairs. Also,
the fact that this is an IB school I think necessitates that. Students are
supposed to have a perception of what is going on in the world, and not simply
limit their knowledge to what is going on in their country.
The second period (from 12 pm-12:45 pm) was gym. I am
glad that I chose to visit Mercer Elementary from 11 am to 1 pm, as this time
always includes another special class, other than that being done in the
classroom. I get to experience the facilities of the school, but also the way different
classes work and different teachers as well (for example music class and gym).
Gym class was interesting. It took part in the school’s indoor gym and
throughout the class there was music playing in the background. The gym teacher
told me that music motivates the students. He had a microphone while giving
instructions, and told me that at this age, students need noise to get them
excited. They began with body exercises like stretching, jumping jacks etc. and
then played a game were they needed to run around the gym and tag each other.
They were split into teams. At this
whole time, as I previously mentioned, music was being played in the
background, so the students were also encouraged to dance! And of course the
gym teacher did not stop giving instructions by speaking into his microphone. Another
important technique used by the teacher, was that before every exercise, or
before the game, the gym teacher explained how everything they do in class
helps their body in one way or another. So there was a little bit of “lecture”
before each activity, which I believe is very important and the students seemed
to appreciate, as when I asked them after class why they did what they were
doing, they explained every exercise and how it helped a specific part of their
body.
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