Visit Five

During this session at Lakeshore, I was scheduled to visit Mr. U’s class.  However, I was surprised to discover that he isn’t working at the school anymore.  Instead, a permanent substitute,  Mrs. T, has taken over his class.  I was extremely surprised at the progress she had made with the class after being with them for just one week.

As opposed to the disorder that was commonplace in Mr. U’s class, Mrs. T had all the students sitting quietly at their desks, raising their hands for assistance, and completing their worksheets independently.  She had implemented a set of classroom rules and procedures, of which the students were complying with easily.  The structure Mrs. T had created is working well for the students.

For the lesson this visit, Mrs. T coupled reading and math with life skills to create an interactive activity.  She had her students reading a recipe for cupcakes and baking them.  This lesson also required the students to work cooperatively, compromise, and socialize.  It was evident that the students were excited to participate in the lesson and felt comfortable with Mrs. T.

Furthermore, rather than requiring the students to work with first grade level materials, Mrs. T is working on identifying the reading levels of all the students in order to differentiate instruction and utilize age appropriate materials.  Although this may takes some time and preparation, I believe this decision will be successful with her students. 

Overall, I feel that Mrs. T’s presence has had and extremely positive effect on her students.  With the introduction of age appropriate practices and a structured and nurturing learning environment, the students are thriving.  They are eager to learn and participate in all activities, and Mrs. T attempts in involve every student at all times.