EDUC 1301: Introduction to the Teaching Profession

Classroom Observation #1: Student Diversity

School: Elder Elementary District: Joshua ISD

Teacher: Mrs.Ybarra (Kindergarten), Mr. Howington (4 th grade), Mrs. Young (2nd grade)

Grade(s): Kindergarten, 4th grade, 2nd grade

Date: 9/11/19 Start Time: 9:00am End Time: 1:00pm

Domain I—Designing Instruction and Assessment to Promote Student Learning

TExES Competency 002: The teacher understands student diversity and knows how to plan

learning experiences and design assessments that are responsive to differences among

students and that promote all students’ learning.

1. Describe the diversity of the students you observe.

● Race and Ethnicity- I was very surprised that in Mrs. Ybarra’s class and Mrs. Young class

there was only one Hispanic student in each class. Recently, the Hispanic population

has bee rising steadily especially at Elder since they offer a bilingual program. So, to

see only a few Hispanic kids in those classes was very confusing but then I realized that

most of the Hispanic kids were in the bilingual classrooms. In Mr. Howington’s class,

there were only four Hispanic students. A few more than the other classrooms but still a

minority. Unsurprisingly, in all three of the classrooms, there were no African American

students. I say unsurprisingly because as long as I can remember, you could count the

number of African Americans in a grade with just one hand. This means that most of the

students in the classrooms I observed were white.

● Culture- Everything in the three classrooms were in English which makes sense because

those weren’t bilingual classrooms. There were many signs around the classrooms that
 helped students identify numbers and letters but there was not anything that portrayed

anything from other cultures.

● Gender- The classrooms were equal in terms of gender. I noticed that in all the

classrooms, the girls were friendlier with other students and the boys argued a lot. The

girls were more energetic and participated way more. The boys would occasionally get

in trouble for playing too rough or not focusing on their work. When I first walked in to

the classrooms, the boys were the ones to ask me questions and give me hugs while

the girls mostly kept to themselves.

● Socioeconomic Differences- I did not grow up in Joshua so I don’t have first hand

experience on what Elder was perceived as as a student but from what I have been told

from other people that have gone there, Elder was and is considered a “poor school”.

I’m not sure if that is because Elder is a small school or because the students are

considered “poor”. From this first observation, I did not see any of that. All the students

were well groomed with good clothes and shoes and no one looked to be better off than

anyone else. The building is in very good shape and most of the things look new. All the

classrooms were filled with supplies, computers, smartboards, and if they needed

anything, the teachers could ask the administration for it.

● Language Background- The classrooms that I was in were not bilingual, so English was

expected to be known well. Most of the Hispanic students were quiet and shy. I could

not tell if all of them spoke and read English well. One Hispanic student was asked to

read something in the 4th grade class and he was struggling. I don’t know if it was

because he was shy or because he just doesn’t truly understand English that well. I

know, personally, that I was very shy because I did not truly know English like everyone

else and that caused me to stutter my words a lot. With all the other students, it was

evident that English was their first language.

2. Observe how the teacher shows the students they accept and respect students with diverse

backgrounds and needs; quote the teacher’s words or actions. If the teacher does not

respect student diversity, explain that as well.

I was in each classroom for a short amount of time. It left me to only see each teacher do one

activity. The classrooms I was observing were not bilingual classrooms and despite that, it was

obvious that these teachers understood the struggles of the Hispanic students and never put

them on the spot when they didn’t raise their hands when one of the teachers would ask a

question. All the teachers spoke in a sweeter quieter tone to the Hispanic students. Since the

classrooms are not bilingual, they could have easily ignored those students, but they chose to

go the extra mile and help the Hispanic students more because they understand that some

students might need more help understanding. those short times, I noticed the big difference in

teaching styles between the three teachers. Mrs. Ybarra would correct them in a nice manner

and not yell at the students. If a student made a mistake, she would just remind him or her

what to do

● Higher achieving students? During “Reading mastery”, Mrs. Ybarra would send students

whop read at a higher level to a different classroom where they were doing more

advanced lessons.

● Average achieving students? - To be able to focus better on the students during “reading

mastery” Mrs. Ybarra would break the students up into two groups. One group would

read and the second group would work on worksheets, then the two groups would

switch. In the other classrooms, the students were all in the same group.

● Below level achievers?- I would not say that there are any below level achievers but there

are students who seem to never participate in class unless called on. In the classrooms,
 the teachers did not call on someone when they didn’t raise their hand. The only time I

saw that everyone had to answer a question, was for a game in Mrs. Young’s class

about vocabulary.

● English language learners? The students in the classrooms I was in, were fully expected

to know and speak English well. There were a couple of Hispanics students that I was

not sure if they understood everything because I was not in the classes long enough to

observe everyone I detail.

● Students with special needs? There is one student in Mrs. Ybarra’s class that gets sent to

different classrooms for extra help. I am not sure on what level of needs the student is

at. Mr. Howington and Mrs. Ybarra do not have any special needs students in their

classes.

Critical Analysis Reflection

1. What is one observed attribute, activity, method, or interest that you will try to

include in your future classroom? Explain why. I really enjoyed observing when Mrs.

Ybarra would give out to students Monster points if they paid attention. If they got

enough points, they would get a prize at the end. I think that is something that really

motivated the students to participate and pay attention. I would like to include something

similar to that in my future classroom and show students that sometimes after all that

hard work, they can get something good out of it other than just learning something.

2. What is one observed drawback, concern, method, activity, or event that you will try

to avoid in your future classroom? Explain why. In Mr. Howington’s class, he has a

document for each student and if a student did something wrong or did not pay

attention, he would take the document away from them and write down what they did
 wrong so it can later be reported to their parents. I did not like that. I feel like that

method just inflicts fear into students instead of respect.

3. Describe the climate of the classroom(s). What were your thoughts on the room

arrangement and room decor? In what way(s), if any, did it impact student

engagement? Mrs. Ybarra’s class was filled throughout the walls of decorations, of

supplies, books, anything the class could possibly need was there. I loved the

atmosphere of her class. It did not just feel like a classroom, it felt like a home. Mrs.

Ybarra said herself that that is what she wants for her students, for them to be able to

escape any problems they have out of school and come into a loving, safe space. I

noticed that her students talked to her like family. Mr. Young’s classroom was what you

could expect from any strict teacher. His room was not bare, but it just felt like a

minimum effort and like any other classroom. I did not feel as comfortable as I did in

Mrs. Ybarra’s classroom. His classroom just “spoke” , “come into this regulated

classroom where you aren’t going to have fun and just learn what you need to know for

the tests”. Mrs. Young’s class was colorful and energetic. Her walls had things that were

from the students and I think that helps the students feel more at home. It shows them

that she cares about them. The atmosphere felt fun and comfortable, while still being

ready to start learning.

4. Describe the teacher interactions with students? Mrs. Ybarra seemed more like a sweet

mother with her students. She never yelled at them or said anything that would make

them feel bad about themselves. I really enjoyed observing her interactions with her

students. Mr. Howington seemed more like a strict football coach with his students.

Expecting the best and only the best. He did not seem very sympathetic with his

students. Mr. Howington made it seem like it was his way or no way. I could feel how
 the students were not that happy in his room, as if they had to be careful with every

move they made.

5. What instructional strategies did you observe the teacher use? How effective were they

in engaging students and promoting success for all learners? In Mrs. Young’s class,

she had clips hanging with the student’s names on them. The starting point was letter A

and the Finish line was letter Z. For every letter there was an assignment for

mathematics. If they finished one assignment, they could move the clip over to the next

letter. After passing a certain letter, they could pick out a prize from the drawers she had

full of prizes. This really motivated students to do their assignments and would be happy

when they moved on to the next letter, knowing they were getting closer and closer to

the prize.