Week 1: September 7-September 10

For the first week of my internship in 7th grade English/Language Arts, I decided to focus on my mentor teacher's classroom management style. I felt that by paying close attention to how she manages her class I would be more prepared to start shadow teaching. I also felt that it would benefit me because I started my internship two weeks late, missing the students first weeks of school. The first thing I noticed about the class was that the desks were arranged in rows. Although the students got to choose where they sat on the first day of class, they have to remain in that seat unless the teacher moves them for behavioral purposes.
The second thing I noticed was that my teacher keeps an agenda of the days activities on the board for the students to write down when they enter the classroom. I think that this is a very good organizational tool not only for the students, but for the teacher. I believe that by writing the agenda on the board teachers can manage their time and students can be prepared for what they will learn.
Another thing I noticed about my mentor teacher's class is that she had bulletin boards with student work up already. I felt this was unusual for a middle school classroom, but was very pleased to see it because I feel it creates a positive atmosphere and promotes quality work. During this week my teacher showed me how the county uses Livegrades to manage student grades and keep parents informed of their child's classroom performance. This program was very easy to use and I like how it keeps parents in touch with what is going on in the classroom.
Finally, during this first week I chaperoned the school dance sponsored by the volleyball boosters. At the beginning of the dance it seemed that the students stayed in their individual cliques. By the end of the dance I found that the students mingled with one another more freely. Also there wasn't much "dancing" going on. The students seemed to have replaced dancing with jumping. The DJ only played one slow song and very few partnered up and he also played the ChaCha Slide which was probably the biggest hit of the night. I enjoyed chaperoning the dance and the students seemed to really enjoy themselves.
I am excited to continue my internship at Bridgeport Middle School. I can already tell that students are generally well-behaved and the parents are very involved with their child's education. I believe, for that reason, I will enjoy teaching here and will have a positive outcome with my action research.