Field Journal- Writing for educators.

3/6/18

I arrived to Ms. Pacaud’s 4th grade classroom around 8:10 am. P.S. 86 starts at 8:00,

but the teacher was still in the planning room talking with another teacher while the

classroom unpacked and chatted. When she came into the classroom, she

immediatedly jumps into the task at hand. I felt a lack of some kind of welcome or

introduction to the day. Although there is a chance this happened before I arrived.

Today the desks were arranged in stark rows for a mock ELA exam which would

be administered later on. Since the testing packets had not yet been distributed by

administration, Ms. Pacaud decided to use the time for her social studies lesson.

ELA exam- The teacher had me grade some of her mock ELA assessments of

the students which had been administered the prior week. I was grading the reading

comprehension portion based on two passages that the students had to analyze and

compare. The passages were on two different perspectives of an early 20 th century

flight across the Atlantic. The rubric was very specific that they had to mention certain

points from the passages, and defend which passage was more objective and which

was more subjective. One student got the “wrong” answer to this question but really

defended it well. Even so, I was only able to give a grade on a 0-4 scale. In this

parameter I was not able to show the students where they could improve or why their

answer wasn’t quite right. Based on what I could tell of the teacher and her priorities in

how she uses time, I do not think she will necessarily go over the answers with them.

All over the classroom are posters of writing strategies.

Observation of writing strategies on the wall (take pictures this week)

3/13/18

Today, Ms. Pacaud started off the math lesson with a video. Children tuned in

immediately to the music in the background of the video. They started dancing and

jamming to the music. The teacher shut them down real quick, pausing the video and

starting to yell. This was unfortunate, because the music really could have been used to

engage the kids in learning. Instead, it was punished.

When the video caught their attention with some interesting historical fact, the

students started to excitedly discuss it. The video was outlining a math concept about

fractions. It said, “you would think that you would multiply fractions in the same way,

right? Wrong!” The students were surprised and started discussing why this would be,

but the teacher immediately started yelling at them for talking during the video. This

would have been a great learning opportunity for the teacher to pause the video and ask

the students why they were surprised and what they think the reason might be for the

man in the video to have said this. That kind of interaction would have reinforced the

inquisitive mentality of the students, but oh well.

There was an incident in class which became a learning moment for me. The

teacher left the room to make copies, and the conversation noise level began to rise.

Because I was a student observer, and nothing more, I did not say anything, interested

to see how this behavior would be handled. When the teacher walked back into the
room, the class quieted at her stern look. Once she had sat down, a female student

walked up to the desk and told her something, pointing to a student named Mohammed.

Almost at once the teacher raised her voice and began accusing Mohammed of

“calling across the room to his friend” while she had been gone. The more he denied the

accusation the more he was accused and berated for lying and being disruptive. His

frustration grew visibly until, in a rage, he swiped all the items off his desk onto the floor

and stormed out of the room.

Ms. Pacaud let him go, but in a few moments she received a call from the office.

She began making excuses and blaming the child. It seemed that the person on the

other line asked why she had been out of the room, and she began making excuses,

saying her student teacher had been in the room (I am not a student teacher). She even

claimed that I had verified the story about the boy calling across the room, but she

hadn’t talked to me at all yet, and I certainly wouldn’t have. Only as an afterthought did

she ask me what had really happened. I am not sure how students are expected to

focus on their writing if they feel completely undervalued and untrusted. The classroom

should be a safe space, and no child would want to share anything of themselves.

4/10

Today the students were given a writing assignment in the field of social studies.

The class is still on the revolutionary war unit. The teacher started out the lesson with a

hook.

“Does anyone remember what the girl character in “Liberty Kids” does for a

living?”
 (Liberty Kids is a show they sometimes watch in class, depicting the

Revolutionary war from the perspective of two curious youth)

Silence.

“She’s a journalist! You all are going to be journalists today!” She explained that

the students would be discovering information about an event which occurred leading

up to the American Revolution. Then they would take notes on the event based on the

text. Finally they would create a news article based on the event, from the viewpoint as

if they were eyewitnesses.

She proceeded to pile books about the American Revolution onto the table groups’

desks. The books came in varying size and style.

It was a very complicated assignment and most of the students had trouble figuring it

out.

I can’t tell how many times I went around helping the students clarify what they were

actually doing. They were not given an example of what they should be creating. I

understood the confusion.

One boy brought his finished article to me to check, and as I started reading it, I realized

he had done it on an event which took place during the American Civil War! I broke it to

him gently, that the battle he wrote about occurred almost a hundred years after the

intended time frame. He was disappointed, but determined, and almost immediately

grabbed another book from the pile and began to research.

I watched his process a little bit, and saw how he just scanned the text and began

copying. I halted him again and walked him through the process of finding an event of

interest, jotting down some key points, deciding on his witness perspective, and then

writing creatively from that viewpoint.

Although a lot of the students I think missed the point of the assignment, a handful of

them hit the nail on the head.

4/20

“Why was it so easy this time, when I couldn’t do it at all before? Oh, maybe

cause I read the problem. I guess I need to do that” Sometimes what you think the

easiest lessons should be just take that one experience to drive the message home. I

hope this student actually begins to read her math problems!

The students and I were sad to say goodbye at the end of the day. Throughout

the semester I have enjoyed working with a few of them more frequently then others. A

handful of the girls were bold whenever I came in to observe to walk up and say “I need

help.” I think they identified me early on as someone who was willing and able to help,

and someone they could trust. I doubt that their teacher is able to provide patient,

regular help to these girls, who struggle with math and reading, since she has a long

roster and a short temper.

Nevertheless, I enjoyed my time in the classroom because of the students, and I

hope to be a teacher who is able to maximize the amount of meaningful instruction and

individual attention for each students.