Field Post 1 (Mercer Elementary)

On the 30th January we went to Mercer Elementary to have a look around and observe a lesson for half an hour. Mercer is an IB school which is different to many others throughout America and, as such, has different values and ideals. It looks to educate students in critical thinking and not just 'learning for the test', therefore it highlights the importance of learning for learnings sake. This is a picture of what the IB schools Primary Years try to teach/achieve:

When we were walking around the school the walls were very colourful and had much of the childrens work on them. There was also a hallway which was designated as an Art Gallery with pictures done by the children. On some of the walls were core things that the children were taught to think, like learning to be inquisitive. As we were walking around the PA system came on and the morning started with a short burst of announcments and then everyone recited together what the IB schools stood for and what they were trying to achieve today.
I then went into a Kindergarten class where they were learning how to write. This is a table showing my observations and interpretations about the classroom itself:

Observation	Interpretation
Colourful decorations (Letters and numbers, calendar, name board)	Help learning and keep the children interested
Tennis balls on chair and table legs	Protection
Open center space	Room to move and actively learn
Useful materials, art stuff, etc. on shelves and smart board
Toys to one side (blocks, kitchen things, etc)	Somewhere to play but that is not the primary purpose of the room
Group tables of about 6	Teamwork is good
Magazines and books for many reading levels	Encourage to learn through doing
TV set and water fountain

This is a table of my observations and interpretations of the children in the classroom:

Observation	Interpretation
Talkative but not too loud, liked to move	Involved/Engaged with class
Put hands up	Respect teacher
Happy and excitable	Wanted to be there
Write on white boards	Interactive and easily corrected
Excited when right and ask if they are unsure	Want to do well
Disabled child has special help from  personal helper and equipment	All included and extra effort made for those who need it

This is a table of my observations and interpretations of the teacher and helpers:

Observation	Interpretation
Uses a smart board, writes the correct form	Everyone can see and everyone will know
Makes jokes about things	Learning is fun and creates a happy environment
Checks boards after letter/word/sentence is written	No-one is not corrected/allowed to fall behind
Hugs and messes around with children	Personal relationship – like a parent in the classroom
Tells the children they are smart, they have beautiful handwriting and pretends to try to trick them	Positivity allows them to believe they are good at what they are doing (confidence)
If wrong tells the children softly and works with them individually to get it write	Cares for each individual child and wants them to succeed
Uses signs and sounds for each letter	Helps the children to remember them by association
Uses a points system for correct answers	Make it a competition so the children want to win
Letters then words then sentences	Working up to challenge them
Extra helpers for reading	Helps children one to one

This teacher had made the classroom look and feel like somewhere where the children wanted to learn, as described from the book, to teach:in comics. His relationships with the children was also very similar to those described in the book, he was on a journey of discovery with the children and they were very happy to be there with him. This reminded me about the Ray teacher in finding Nemo and the fact that they genuinely did go on a constant field trip and discover things together. His humour helped to engage the children and made them feel excited about learning.