Week 12 Reflection

Post #1

Although I cannot take credit for the activity that took place at my PDS this week in concern to the Presidential Election, I would like to share it anyways because I was impressed by the amount of interest from the students that was generated by participating in a particular class period. Throughout the school year, there have been several changes in teachers--some have left the building entirely and new faces have arrived, while others have simply moved down the hallway to another classroom and grade level. One of these changes has affected the 5th grade social studies classroom. To make a long story short, the teacher who the students started the year with in social studies is now their science teacher. The first week of school, this teacher explained to the children that they would have the opportunity to partake in a mock election and that their results would be compared to the actual results generated by the American public on Election Day. I remember that the students were very excited about this, as they would be able to vote for their favorite Presidential candidate. In addition, I believe that this exercise made them feel empowered and gave them a voice. After the change in teachers was made, however, I guess I just assumed that the students would no longer get to partake in the mock election. Luckily, I was wrong: the teacher went ahead and did this activity in science class since he was not able to carry it out in social studies! I think that in an age where there is so much emphasis on test scores and students achievement that this act speaks volumes for this teacher. Many others would have brushed off the idea for fear that a particular science goal would not be covered, but this teacher went ahead and allowed the students to participate in an activity relevant to their own lives even though it may not have "fit" with what they were doing in class.

Post #2

Tonight I attended a family night at East Park sponsored by Benedum and Title I. The planned events were very beneficial, as parents had the opportunity to learn how to navigate the Scott Foresman website that accompanies the reading textbook used at my PDS and receive tips on how to help their children build comprehension skills. This was a make-and-take session where the students partook in and created some of the ideas that were presented so that parents could see what they were all about. Initially, there were nearly 30 RSVPs for the family night, two of which were turned in the day of the event (today). However, only 9 students and their parents showed up for the event, 2 of which were my coordinator's kids. In a school of nearly 400 students, this is very frustrating, and, while we can all complain and ask ourselves why parents do not want to get involved or seem to demonstrate a lack of commitment to their child's education, the big question is "How do we improve this situation?" In response to this incident, surveys are being sent out to help provide feedback about what times are convenient for parents to attend and what types of things they would like to see happen at such events. Hopefully we will receive enough feedback to begin to improve parent involvement.