North West Middle School Observation

The middle school Northwest Middle School setting is in an urban area, also high in poverty, which means that the students all come from different backgrounds. Today I observed Mrs.Jackson’s 6th grade reading class. She seemed like a good teacher. The students respected her and it was obvious that she respected the students as well. Today, the class was working on a pre-write over their personal beliefs. Mrs.Jackson started the class off with bellwork. In the bellwork, the students were reviewing the suffix -ness, and were asked to place the words dampness and fondness into the correct sentences that were given.

After the students did their bellwork, they worked on their pre-write to prepare them for their final essay, which they will write on Thursday. While the students worked on their pre-write, Mrs. Jackson pulled up “This I Believe” on her laptop so the students could see examples. The final project is to write an essay about personal beliefs and post it on edmodo. Overall, the class seemed like a safe place and every student seemed like they were comfortable.

At first, I thought Mrs.Jackson would be a teacher that the students did not respect and would not have control over her class because she is young and speaks in a quiet and calm way. As the class went on, I realized that as a teacher having a calm voice can be beneficial because it makes the students pay attention more. Also, I realized that she had more control over her class than a few older teachers that I have previously dealt with.

Although the room was packed because of it being the last week of school, it was obvious that it was a safe environment. I could tell that it was a safe environment because for it being the last week of school, the class was very quiet and seemed interested in the assignment which was really unusual to me because in the schools that I have been in, the last week of school is really hectic.

In conclusion, this was a great experience even though we did not get the opportunity to teach this year, but this observation showed me that students in urban area schools need more attention. After learning about the different psychological development theories, Abraham Maslow’s theory really goes in hand with this. Students in urban areas usually come from broken families as well as broken homes. Maslow’s theory of the “Hierarchy of Needs” explains that if a person’s basic needs are not met, then the person will not perform to the best of their ability because they will be distracted by what is lacking in their life, such as: food, water, sense of confidence, protection, and not knowing what they are capable of doing. People that come from neighborhoods and families that are poverty stricken often times lack many of these basic needs and/ or more. This is the reason why it is important for teachers specifically teachers, that are in schools that are in poverty stricken areas, to be aware of these theories and keep them in mind, when handling a situation. For an example, the student that may be misbehaving in class, may be going through things at home and temporarily escape the harsh reality by misbehaving in class. This is why building close relationships with your students is tremendously important so that you have a better chance about being informed about this.