Observations in Newark

Today the class was doing research for a school mandated paper on World Hunger. Upon entering the computer lab I noticed that the students were not on task and refused to do their research. There was already my cooperating teacher in the classroom and a co-teacher working with the students. My main goal that day was to help Mr. N and Ms. P keep the students on task and offer advice if they needed it. One thing that stood out to me when working in the classroom was the management strategies employed when the students became rowdy and restless. More often than not, the teachers resorted to yelling to get the students to calm down. This rarely worked, as the students would just yell back or come back with a clever and insulting retort. I decided to try something different when walking around the room, I just asked what the student’s paper was on and move on. The subtle gesture of showing interest in their work seemed to have a more calming affect on the students than yelling did. I’m not going to say that it’s always going to work because Mr. Nazaire does know his students better than I do and he knows how to connect with them better also.

            Going into a Newark public school was certainly an eye opener. It was Friday, so the students didn’t have to wear their uniforms and I think that definitely had a negative affect on their behavior. Also, the fact that they were in a computer lab and not a regular classroom had a negative impact on their focus and led them to not stay on task.