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first impressions
Friday was my first day going to Western Middle School and it was very interesting. I think I am really going to enjoy my placement with Mrs. Russell. She seems a lot like me in her philosophies and seems to really care about her students. I will be going to 3rd and 4th block. I only got to see her 4th block, which is the "bad block." Third block is an AIG class. But the whole time I was there, I couldn't help but compare this lower than regular block to the classes that I taught last year at Turrentine. Maybe it has something to do with 8th graders versus 7th graders, but the "average-good" 7th graders were less behaved than these "bad" 8th graders!
I was really impressed with this class for a number of reasons:
-there was only 15 students!!
-when the teacher told them to read silently and answer questions, they actually did except for a few bathroom visits
- they had a strong grasp on what was going on in the text that they were reading and needed little coaxing from the teacher in their responses
-they seemed happy to be there
Once I got to sit down and talk to my teacher, she told me more about the class. There are two repeaters who based on their grades at the end of 2nd quarter, may be able to go to the High School. One of these repeaters just became a father! So even though you always hear about, oh those Western kids... they are all of the white, rich kids... But this school is not lacking in its difficulties, even though it seems that there may be some higher standards set for the students. No matter what school you are at, you will have similar problems because students are students, and parents are parents, etc.
I am really looking forward to my experience here. The teachers I met were really nice and were really positive and welcoming. The team does not currently have a Science teacher, but a permanent sub until they find a replacement, which is really unfortunate, but hopefully something will turn up soon for the students' sake.
I was really impressed with this class for a number of reasons:
-there was only 15 students!!
-when the teacher told them to read silently and answer questions, they actually did except for a few bathroom visits
- they had a strong grasp on what was going on in the text that they were reading and needed little coaxing from the teacher in their responses
-they seemed happy to be there
Once I got to sit down and talk to my teacher, she told me more about the class. There are two repeaters who based on their grades at the end of 2nd quarter, may be able to go to the High School. One of these repeaters just became a father! So even though you always hear about, oh those Western kids... they are all of the white, rich kids... But this school is not lacking in its difficulties, even though it seems that there may be some higher standards set for the students. No matter what school you are at, you will have similar problems because students are students, and parents are parents, etc.
I am really looking forward to my experience here. The teachers I met were really nice and were really positive and welcoming. The team does not currently have a Science teacher, but a permanent sub until they find a replacement, which is really unfortunate, but hopefully something will turn up soon for the students' sake.