First Day;

My first visit to my placement was a simple meet and greet with the teacher that I could have possibly been doing it with. Before arriving, I knew that I would be placed in a special education classroom with high school aged students. The school, Charming High, is a school that I had heard a lot about precious to my visit. Many of my peers had worked at it before and I knew that Bryn Mawr has a strong connection with it.

To get to Charming High, I rode the el into the city and got off in a brand new area. Not knowing what the school looked like, I followed directions given to me. As I walked through the neighborhood, the first thing I noticed was a huge vacant building, with a chain link fence filled with dead shrubbery, and boarded up windows. It was really a sight to see. On the walk to the school, I noticed a number of schools o n the way, and multiple housing complexes. Once I turned the corner toward Charming High, the first thing I noticed was a large stone building, a factory looking smoke stack and a small wall filled with colorful murals. I couldn’t help but notice the contrast between the two. Unfortunately, the school’s architecture reminded me of a prison. Grey walls, generic windows and stone walls.

....

Field Notes #3

02/12/13

My field placement is still not finalized so here are some thoughts for this week on educational experiences.

I listened to most of the npr show on upcoming Philadelphia school closings. I was struck how the director of student services of the school district does not give off an appearance of having much concern for anyone beyond the district's image. But then again, my understanding of the need for school closings is increased knowing that such a low percentage of students near Germantown High are students at that school and that the school is so under-capacity. It seems to refute the idea that competition from charters and vouchers can improve community schools (not that that idea needed much refuting in my opinion). Is it too late to save community schools like Germantown? Are they worth saving? As someone with economic privilege who went to a private high school when my community school system wasn't working for me, I do understand the appeal of school-choice. Clearly access to safe, good-quality community schools and access to other schools for particular types of learners shouldn't be a one-or-the-other. I wonder what the average quality of the charter, private, and magnet schools is that the majority of Germantown students attend.

Fieldnotes- 2/12/13, 10am-3pm

Classes: 11th grade American History (Ms. R), 10th grade English (Mr. T)

As I wait outside of Ms. R’s classroom, a few students are in the hallway waiting for their classes to start. There is a big white board on the wall outside the college counseling office and it has an “SAT question of the day on it.” The students waiting for their classes begin to discuss the question and try to figure out which is the correct answer.

This seems like a great way to give students something to focus on at a time when they could get restless in the hallway.  

Students slowly trickle into Ms. R’s 11th grade American history class. Most students are there within the first 5-10 minutes after class officially begins. The students are friendly and say hi to me as they walk in. Ms. R quiets them down by turning off the lights and saying “screens down please” (in reference to their laptops). She asks me to introduce myself.

I like that Ms. R has me introduce myself to the students. It makes me feel as though I have a part in the class and makes it easier to begin getting to know the students and make sure they feel comfortable around me. She also tells them they can ask me about college because they are all beginning to think about applying to schools.

Christine Calderon

02/12/13

Field Post #3

Notes for first visit Feb. Thursday 7th, 2013:

I came in with the students lined up against the wall outside of their classroom. It was nice to get friendly hellos from the students who seemed to like my presence there. When we settled down we went over the same routine as last Friday. They had Morning routine, which was to take out homework if they had any and to take out their math word problems and start working on them. While working on their problems the morning announcements came on and they stood up for the Pledge of Allegiance and they did fluoride. After their morning routine they go into reading and after reading they go into writing- these are the two classes I will be apart of on Thursdays and Fridays. Today for writing they where going to go onto the “rug” and sit around and read. They were finishing up their story of the week that had to do with inventions and inventors. When sitting in the circle it was curious that the students sat on the floor cross-legged and one of the students pulled up a chair automatically for the teacher. I found it interesting that the teacher had to sit on a chair while the students sat on the floor and looked up. Having just had read Freire this simple action spoke to me.  I too pulled up chair since it seemed like the “right” thing to do. It felt odd to me but the students and teacher didn’t seem to react too much to this action.

                When we were discussing “threshold concepts” in class on Tuesday, February 5th, I thought about my experience in Introduction to Education at Connecticut College and shared a bit of the story. However, the extent to which this course impacted my way of thinking goes beyond a simple reference in class. Not only did we learn about one another’s feelings on the issue of race sensitivities and injustice, but we also watched several films that illuminated the thoughts of people beyond our classroom. One film, The Color of Fear, shows a dialogue about race and racism in America between eight North American men of different races (two White men, two Black men, two Asian men, and two Latino men). The conversation gets very heated and exposes many underlying and overt feelings associated with racism in their lives. Another film illustrated the differences between an extremely under-funded and low-income public school with a high-income public school. It was clear how much the disparity affected the children, and how inequitable it was.

                Viewing these films and discussing these issues in education class finally uncovered just how much they affect schooling and literacy in this country. I became aware of the inherent bias of textbooks and standardized testing, and was able to identify ways in which students’ learning was influenced as a result. 

I am not in my placement yet, but I thought I would write up some placement-like fieldnotes from my job at a kindergarten in order to participate. Here are some excepts: (as you can see, I adopted a fellow group member's style)

Friday, February 2, 2013 - Field Placement Visit #2

Ms. Bard greeted her students as they entered her classroom. They came in doing the usual routine, which is to settle down and work on things listed on the do-now paper. Students walked into the classroom carrying their binders, folders, books, and other materials they needed. No backpacks were seen in the classroom. All students left their belongings on their blue rectangular desk. Each desk could fit only two students. However, I found these desks too small for some of Ms. Bard's students. It caused them to slouch in their chairs in addition to having their legs spread out very wide. While peering over one student's desk I noticed clean copies of Maus I and Night wrapped in a rubber band. I assumed that they were reading these books in 10th grade English. Seeing these books made me recall my 10th grade English class where I also read these two books when learning about the holocaust.

In preparation for our upcoming paper, I have been thinking about literacy: what is means to be literate, different types of literacy, how we “gain literacy” and how our family life and experiences are intertwined with our literacy. Last summer, I worked for the United Way in Tucson and was asked to write a piece for an online journal about financial literacy and the support that the United Way offered. When I was asked to write the article about something of which I was not literate. Of course, I took the assignment with no complaints or questions because I felt that I should know and my ego kept me from admitting I had no idea about financial literacy. I myself am not financially literate. However, I am pretty technology literate which allowed me to research online about financial literacy. I used one form of my literacy to understand another. Now thinking back and reflecting on this experience, I wonder how many types of literacy there are. Are they endless? Can you be literate in music or dancing? Can one be literate in cleaning or cooking? Where is literacy different than having a knowledge of something?

lines and colors of menacing lullaby, a child
trapped inside a wooden sub
my brave painting --

changes.
ribbons  cuts   and    writings.
watchful eyes of a figure at the top
turn to loops, now

magnets.
also small gently pillared dwellings,
mini mausolea maybe

now when the cradle starts to fall
the magnets pull it to

now somebody sings a yellow song
now a swirled one
now a baby bounces

when the wind blows
the artist breathes

-- Alice Lesnick, 2012