Middle School Observation
Environment, Interactions, Atmosphere, Experiences
Maize South Middle School
I came to education later in life and with a passion. I did not expect that I would have a second career. I started working for Maize South Middle School four years ago as a Para. I quickly discovered that I was being called to do something bigger. The children I worked with were exciting, challenging and loving. I wanted to help and make a difference in their lives. The teachers I have worked with over the last four years have made a huge impact on my life and career path. Their caring professionalism and openheartedness moved and inspired me. The two teachers I choose to observe each have uniqueness about them that drawl students in and want to learn.
"Teaching middle school is an adventure not a job." - Angela K. Bennett
Teaching and Learning Environment
Mrs. Frye and Mrs. Eastlick are very organized and plan all of their activities ahead of time. Mrs. Frye teaches 7th grade science and makes it fun for the students to learn about. She has open discussions to make the kids think about things. She always relates the information back to the student so they can understand it from their point of view. She is good about teaching
Mrs. Eastlick teaches Literature and Composition. In Literature she encourages the children to love reading. In class she researches books that the children can relate to and want to come to school and read. This year we have read The Outsiders, Freak the Mighty, Touching Spirit Bear and we will be finishing with The Boy in the Striped Pajamas.
In her composition class she teaches the kids how to write without getting overwhelmed. She does not rush getting through information, her system takes longer than most of the teachers in the school but she has better results. Once the students are on their own and writing they are able to write a well written paper.
Both teachers use differentiated instruction, tailoring instruction to meet the individual needs of the class.
Bookcase for the kids' binders
Teacher showing an easy way to write
Agenda for the day
Student-teacher and student-student interactions
Ask students to describe their best teachers and they’ll almost always have a fairly simple answer: their best teachers are supportive, nice, amusing and helpful. Mrs. Frye and Mrs. Eastlick are all of these.
For both of their classrooms to run smoothly classroom management is key. Both teachers implement classroom management and expectations from the first day of school. Be on time, come prepared to learn, respect yourself and others. Each teacher has a genuine interest in hearing her students opinions, they are friendly and approachable. By modeling this behavior other students in the class know what is expected and show respect towards their fellow students and the teachers.
Each classes a routine:
Mrs. Eastlick’s Composition and Literature class:
· Kids always look on white board outside of class to see if they need anything special for class that day.
· Come into class get notebook
· Write in agenda – she will write what they are doing for the day as well as anything they might need to know for additional days.
· Literature class waits for teacher instruction
· Composition class begins on the daily assignment that they pick up as they come in.
Mrs. Frye’s 7th grade Science
· Kids always look on white board outside of class to see if they need anything special for class that day.
· Each child has a job, they change each week.
o Science book and class notebooks are passed out by 2 kids. This way there is not ciaos, everyone running to get books. They are also responsible for picking them up as well.
· The students come in a look at the schedule on the board, they write in their agenda.
· The students talk quietly until class starts, once Mrs. Fyre is in the front of the class the class settles and is ready to learn.
School Atmosphere
Maize South Middle School is a positive and friendly environment. It provides at atmosphere that is conducive to learning. There are many opportunities for studies to get involved.
- Morning announcements provide a way for each child to know what is going on. The broadcast class puts the announcements together and finds interesting topics that the student body is interested in.
- Each month the school focuses on charter education promoting strong social-emotional learning. Last month was perseverance and this month is caring. The school has adopted two families that have children with cancer.
- The Green Team collects and recycles waste.
- Mr. Wolff one of the Physical Education teacher was awarded Central District Middle School Physical Ed Teacher of the Year by SHAPE America. He has motivated the school to participate in a lifetime of physical activity. Each month he holds a school wide challenge for students to challenge each other as well as teachers. During passing periods or during the day with teacher permission students can challenge each other to the challenge of the month. Last month was wall sits. Whoever has their calendar filled out will be entered into a drawing and can win various prices. It really has motive everyone to get into shape.
- Sports, right now they are cheering on the Maize South High basketball team. The school is a community and all schools support each other.