Reflection #2

I think that one of the great challenges of teaching is being able to cater to all the many different needs of your students. It is so important that each of your students feel welcomed and comfortable when they come into your classroom each day. I think that the more comfortable a student feels in their classroom, the more they will want to succeed and get from that class. It’s important that students know that their classroom is a judge free environment where they are safe to share thoughts and reflect. The teacher’s job is to make the students feel comfortable in the classroom and set an example for what is appropriate. From what I have noticed in my field experience, Ms. Patrick does a really job at creating a sense of community within the classroom.
One of the first things I noticed about Ms. Patrick is the great amount of sarcasm she uses with her students. Although this is something that I would not do in my classroom as much as she does, I think that for Ms. Patrick and her students, it seems to work. She is very sarcastic with her students and is always calling out certain kids to add some humor to her lessons. At first I found this to be very inappropriate. I think of fifth graders to be in their “awkward stage” and not having very high self esteem because of that. When I heard Ms. Patrick joking with her students and calling some of them out for embarrassing things, I worried that it could make their self-esteem issues even worse. After talking to Ms. Patrick more and getting to know her students better, I have noticed that this is not the case. By now, Ms. Patrick knows her students very well. She knows which students can take a joke like that and which ones can’t handle her sarcasm. She also told me that her students let her know before class if they are having a bad day and might not want to be joked with. As I said, I do not see myself being so sarcastic with my students; however, I think that Ms. Patrick’s relationship with her students enables her to joke with them this way. I can tell that her students really do respect her and enjoy her humor. I think that the reason I was so surprised when I first heard her calling her students out is because last semester when I was in a kindergarten classroom, that would have been completely inappropriate.
I do think that Ms. Patrick does a great job at making her students feel comfortable in her classroom. Before class starts in the morning, she is almost always in the hallway talking to the students as they walk in. I think it is very important for a teacher to address his or her students as they come in so they feel welcomed and comfortable. It is very evident to me that Ms. Patrick’s students do feel quite comfortable in her classroom. Her students do not seem to be shy when it comes to speaking out in class or asking questions. Ms. Patrick has done a good job at showing her students that they are free to ask questions and that they shouldn’t feel embarrassed. In fact, with one of her classes, she has a limit on the amount of questions her students can ask because they ask so many. I think it is great that her students feel so comfortable with her that they can open up and feel okay with talking in front of their peers.
I have not noticed any instances where the students do activities to get to know one another better but they all seem to get along and have good relations. Since they are fifth graders, most of them have been together since kindergarten, which makes it easier to feel comfortable. I think that this class has a great sense of classroom community. They seem to know when it is appropriate to joke and have fun but also when it is time to be serious. Ms. Patrick, although she is extremely sarcastic, is also very authoritative. She definitely knows how to keep her class in line and on task. I think that part of the reason Ms. Patrick’s class seems to be so close is because they can joke around with one another with out taking it overboard. Their class seems to be a healthy mixture of learning while having fun at the same time. I have enjoyed seeing how Ms. Patrick has built this amount of community in her classroom.