Entry 5

This past week I was able to look through the lens of pre-service teachers as they visited an urban elementary school. This Title 1 school is located near downtown Orlando and, in addition to families from the neighborhood, it has many students who live in the Coalition for the Homeless Shelter. I selected this school as an observation site because it is one which has many star teachers (thank you to this week's Martin Haberman article for assigning a name to what my students observed!).

At first, some of the students were tentative in their feelings about the school.  One student, after hearing the principal's description of the school's population, told me she "felt sad" for the children.  However, by the end of the (3-hour) visit, the tone of the students had changed completely.  Their feedback focused on the positive school climate, how the teachers maintained each child's dignity even when an incorrect answer was given, how happy all of the staff and faculty seemed at the school, and how welcome they made the children and visitors feel.

When I asked what indicators helped them in processing these observations, the overwhelming response was that ALL of the school staff/faculty seemed to care about each child--it felt like its own community.
The students were upset to find out that this school was going to be closed in a couple of years to make room for a K-8 school.  They could not believe that such a successful school would be closed. A discussion ensued with talking points relating to whether a school in a "different neighborhood" would be closed when it was successful, and how the students could advocate to keep this school open.
I will continue to focus on the need for teacher education programs to move out of the traditional content course teaching and truly prepare teachers for their role as professionals, advocates, and a commitment to becoming star teachers.