I observed a 10th grade
English class at Hope High school in Providence. I signed in at the main office and headed to
the 2nd floor to find Ms. Fandino’s classroom. I walked into Ms.
Fandino’s class at 7:55am, five minutes before 1st period. I chose
to sit in the back of the class so that I could have a view of the entire room.
Looking around I noticed that the windows were decorated with bright sheer
curtains that Ms. Fandino obviously brought from home. There were huge ornamental butterflies placed
around the windows. The walls were covered with neon-colored poster boards,
motivational posters, reminders, rules, definitions, and assignments. It
smelled sweet like perfume and a YouTube music playlist played quietly in the
background as students began to arrive.
The
desks were organized into four columns of six. As students took their seats,
Ms. Fandino pushed a cart full of laptops into the room from the hallway with
the assistance of a student. By the time class started, 12 students had arrived
as well as a teacher assistant. Each
student took a laptop and for 50 minutes they worked on a computer based
literacy program silently. Some students used headphones to listen to music as
they worked. Ms. Fandino sat at her desk, which was located at the front of the
classroom to the left, and graded student work. I realized at this point that I
felt like I was in someone’s house because of how comfortable the room made me
feel.
At
the end of the 50 minutes there was a total of 14 students (2 arrived
late). With 2 adults and 14 students,
the ratio in the classroom seemed balanced. There was a mix of white, black,
and Hispanic students with boys being the majority versus girls. There were no
visibly disabled students but I did not discuss this with Ms. Fandino so I
don’t know if other types of disabilities (such as learning) described students
in this group.
Next,
after putting away the laptops, each student grabbed their textbook. Ms.
Fandino turned on the smart board and projected the relevant page of the
textbook on the board. She read the first paragraph out loud twice and then
asked the students to annotate the paragraph in their books. She gave them 3
minutes before asking them to share as she copied their responses on the smart
board. Most of the class contributed to the lesson by sharing or discussing
other responses. The 2 or 3 students who did not to participate remained quiet
and undisruptive. The students who shared the most sat in the front.
The
power in the room belonged to Ms. Fandino. When the teacher assistance tried to
get the students to pay attention they were unresponsive to her demands. They
definitely respected Ms. Fandino more than to ignore her when she spoke. The
students also shared this power when they took the chance to share. The class
lasted for 90 minutes and as I walked down the hallway during the transition to
2nd period, the school reminded me of the 1990’s. It was dark,
dated, and plain. It seemed that life only existed within the classrooms.
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