A peek into the Classroom

    When I first entered the school I was going to be observing in, it was much different than the school I attended as a teenager.  It was an older building and was not as inviting on entry.  There was a window to speak to the secretary and locked doors you needed permission to get through.  After being given a quick welcome we were allowed into the school, debriefed in a conference room, given our classroom address and released to find our class.  I felt like I was some politician at the White House.  Excitedly, my classmate and I scrambled to find out which number coordinated with our class and journeyed through the empty halls.  We took a peek into the classroom and found it empty. There were about fifteen computers lining two walls, a projector and about twenty empty desks in the middle of the room. It was obvious work had ceased abruptly.  There were backpacks, pencils and paper on random desks,  which were situated in no particular order.

    The teacher explained that the students were at lunch, they were working on a new ESL program called Achieve 3000, and they would be coming back shortly.  My classmate and I sat patiently and soon students began to trickle into class.  They entered in a great mood!  Some came in singing, laughing, some were speaking Spanish, others English, some a little of both. The class was made up of mostly boys and only three girls.  One girl sat at each end of the situated computers and the third dead center, all as far apart from each other as possible.  All three girls had at least one male admirer distracting them.  The teacher entered the room as well and she was helping one young boy to pronounce “bathroom”.  He was having trouble with the “th” sound, something that doesn’t quite exist in the Spanish language.  It was a playful lesson and you can tell the students trusted and respected their  teacher.  She asked them all to log in to their computers and began taking stock of the situation.  She helped the students having technical difficulties and stopped when she heard the slightest sound of music.  “Who has earphones?” she asked. One boy pointed to another and some piercing looks were exchanged between the two boys. 

    There was no clock in this classroom but it became clear that it takes time for a classroom to get in order before any teaching can take place.  The teacher’s next task was to instruct three sets of students.  Because it is an ESL classroom it’s obvious that they were all at different levels in their abilities.  So the teacher has to take time to give each group their own instructions.  She does this by using a projected copy of the questions they will be asked to answer.  She uses many strategies to get them to understand including gesturing, stressing the similar sounds of cognates and using simple descriptive words they are more familiar with.  My impression is that she knows exactly what she needs to do in order to get them to understand what she is asking when they can’t understand the language yet. 

    When the class begins their work the teacher then is able to talk to a student about some altercation he was involved in.  She does her best to encourage him to deal with his disagreements calmly and respectfully.  He struggles to communicate his feelings in this new language and becomes somewhat irritated. As she is attempting to demonstrate what it means to have a meaningful confrontational talk with him another authority figure enters the room.  He speaks directly at the student with aggressive hand gestures and body language. He begins with by taunting him with the  information that he has contacted the student’s parent and comment’s to the other teacher “I’ve been waiting to make that call”  When the student does try to explain it is clear that he is frustrated with his lack of ability to communicate the situation.  The accuser simply waves their hands and innocently says “I wasn’t there”.  The atmosphere of the whole room changed while this person was in the room.  As an observer I found myself on guard and the teacher was watchful but she did let the conversation complete.  The bell rings and everyone rushes out the door but she holds back this one boy and in the few seconds she has left she attempts to reiterate her advice.  However you can see that her intention was spoiled.  He simply says “see, no one listens to me”. 

     The truth is that he didn’t have to do anything to prove his point.  It was clear that he felt trapped by his inability to state his case clearly in this new language. With no option to speak in the language he can express himself he was locked out of the intellectual conversation.  His frustration was multiplied by a teacher who had already made up his mind about the kind of person this student was.  In all fairness, I don’t know the student, the teachers or any of the history that has taken place before this day.  What I did see was that the teacher earned the student’s respect.  She also respected the students. She felt that she could encourage this young man to make a different choice next time he was accused of something.  What I saw as well, was how quickly a good intention could be squashed.  The self esteem of these young people is so fragile. Their ability to learn English will be highly dependent on whether they believe they can even do it.  Therefore, it’s so important that while being firm on what is appropriate behavior and what our expectations are, we also show a belief that they can achieve that expectation, and not crush the small chance that they will make an effort in the future.    

       Soon a new class enters and the atmosphere is different.  These students can speak more English  but they come with their own set of social issues, including a young girl who has been missing class and a couple whose relationship is on the rock.  It seems to be the norm as the teacher asks "Did you make her mad again?".  By the end of my observation period I came to realize how much of a teacher's job is  dealing with every issue besides teaching content material.  Most of her time was spent dealing with things that had nothing to do with learning English.  I think it's safe to say that the only true lesson I saw learned was when the first student was taught how to make the "th" sound.  In reality I know much more was learned but it's not something that can be seen with your eyes immediately.  As a mother I have experienced the frustration of not knowing whether your sacrifices are worth what you expect them to be.  I can see that teaching will be similar.  What you teach will not show immediate results most of the time.  It will be something that will require patience, hard work from the teacher and the student,  as well as,  respect and trust.