Classroom Photos

Another class completed and one more class closer to graduation! I am also half-way done with my SEI endorsement as required in Arizona to be a "Highly Qualified Teacher."

This class was a difficult one, not because of content but because of the instructor. This is the second time I have had an issue with an instructor and am sooooo not happy with the way that the university handles these issues.

The issues are not me-related but instructor related. For example, this class the teacher's only living parent was diagnosed with a terminal illness. He has a few months to live. So she was gone as expected so several of asked for another instructor. This seems reasonable, right? Its not her fault but ummm... we need someone to grade papers and answer questions.

And that's where the problem began. So I am anxiously awaiting my grade as my teacher hates me. Yes... seriously. She has not spoken to me since my request. She gave me a D on an assignment for being 3 words shy of the minimum word count. She graded me down on a lesson plan for not starting every sentence with "the student will..." Sigh...

So enough whining and complaining... time to move onto the good stuff. Check out these photos from classrooms I visited during my practicum.

This I have seen in SOOO many classrooms lately. It is the floor-ceiling-bulletin boards. When I first saw them I really loved them and now... I am not so sure. Every inch of the room is covered!

This is another popular type of board where each student has there own place for their work. She laminated construction paper and uses paperclips to hold on the student work. In another room, the die cuts were glued onto clothes pins for a similar effect.

 I like how the papers here were crinkled up to make them appear older.

This is another floor to ceiling bulletin board. Each one is set up as a demo board. She has chart paper tablets hung on the boards so she can write on the board. The clip boards to the side usually hold sentence stems for ESS/ESL students.

Check out the robot! It is the colors, shapes, alphabet, number line, days of the week, and months of the year all in one little area. This is right next to the calendar in a first grade classroom.

This is a poem outside the classroom about the Bad Words "I can't." Students see it and are reminded that this is not allowed in the classroom each day as they enter it.

This is the teacher section of the classroom. In the center is a bulletin board just for the teacher! It has all of her reminders, her schedule, her degrees on it. next to it (on the left in this picture) is a pocket chart with yellow folders. This sorts things for her use. The white board on the same side have the objectives for the day, the vocab, the groups, etc... In front of the desk is the printer and turn it in section. The other side is the flag, calendar, and materials for the week. The white board is showing today's schedule.

One thing I noticed - these are ELL classrooms and nothing is labeled. This was the #1 recommendation to help these students learn vocabulary. Labels created with words and pictures. I wonder why what we are taught often does not make it into the classroom.