As I walked through the big front
doors of Mount Pleasant High School, I made a conscientious effort to analyze
my surroundings. I have been here before, but I never took the time to admire
its interior walls. Blue, red and white are the colors that seemed to coat the
cinderblock. As I glanced around, I noticed a powerful quote written in big
white letters. It read, “experience is a hard teacher, she gives the test
first, the lesson afterward.” I stood there for a second to let this quote sink
in. How powerful. Experience is life
in and of itself. That was when I realized I was there for a reason, to broaden
my experience in the classroom.
I made my way up the staircase to the
front office, welcomed by the friendly faculty and staff. I signed in, obtained
my visitor’s pass and began making my way up to 307D. As I walked, I began to
notice the diversity among the student body, and I began to focus my attention
to conversation. I heard a lot of slang, a ton of swearing and languages I am
unfamiliar with. None of the students smiled, they kept their conversations to
themselves, and they stared at me (almost as if I had crossed a boundary). I
honestly felt as if I didn’t belong. The wood in the hallways were stained a
dark color, the floors a dark shade of green, all of which attributed to the
dreary, intimidating atmosphere. I walked up two flights of stairs, through the
double doors, and arrived at my destination- the first door on the right.
When I opened the door to room
307D, the atmosphere changed. It felt safe once more (maybe because it was a
smaller area in an unfamiliar environment). I walked in the room and was
greeted by Mr. D, whom I know from previous visits. I took a seat in the back
of the room and began to observe the environment. I began to pick up on things
I have never noticed before. I sat straight facing the front of the classroom.
For a second, it felt as if I traveled back six years to my freshman year of
high school. This was a new environment. I noticed a poster on the upper left
hand wall highlighting opportunities for the future. The poster read, “you
choose the future ahead of you,” with pictures of logos from our very own Rhode
Island College, URI, CCRI, the United States Navy, Marine (etc).
I
quickly changed perspectives, from high school student Alisha, to teacher
candidate Alisha. At that point I noticed a lower and higher ordering thinking
chart. The words remember, understand, apply, analyze, evaluate and create
spread across the middle of the wall (sure sounds a lot like Bloom’s taxonomy!)
Below this was a word wall with words relevant to the teacher’s unit on
genetics- allele, genes, genotype, phenotype, homozygous, heterozygous,
dominant, recessive (etc). Next to the word wall was an “Effort-ometer”,
displaying different levels of effort. If a student were to put very little
effort into their work, they would fall under the category “started from the
bottom.” As students put forth more effort, they make their way towards the top.
As I continued to scan, I saw student’s work displayed across every wall-
multiple diagrams of the human heart with blood flow (how can I forget those
red and blue colors displaying the difference between oxygenated and
deoxygenated blood!), a cycle describing homeostasis, a list of rules, a cell
phone policy and multiple biology books stacked against the wall.
Once I focused less on the walls, I
made it a point to analyze the furniture in the room. This was a science
classroom, so there were benches rather than desks. Each bench sat two students
and there were a total of nine benches (three rows of three), all facing the
front of the classroom. The teacher’s desk was at the front of the classroom
near the Smart Board. As students began to file in for class, I watched them
take their seats. I was introduced to Mr. T and Mrs. Brown. I was wondering who
they were, and I quickly learned. I was lucky enough to be observing an
inclusion class co-taught by three teachers. I counted the number of students
in the classroom: 9. Out of the nine students, one student was white, and the
others were of African American and Spanish decent. Although Mount Pleasant
High School falls in a low-income district, many of the students’ feet were equipped
with the newest Jordans, and their backpacks and jackets were of the Northface
brand. All nine students sat down and began their 5-minute “do now.” Some
needed help focusing their attention, while others got right to work.
As the teacher began his lesson, I
realized which students needed the extra attention, mainly due to their short
attention spans, others for accommodations due to disability. There was one
student that I noticed had hearing aids in both ears. He was not treated
differently or accommodated unless requested. As I watched these students go
about their school day, I quickly realized those whom yearned for attention and
those who simply wanted to learn. There was one student, whom for this purpose
I will call Max. Max spoke whenever he had the opportunity. He often spoke over
the teacher, and raced to answer each and every question (without raising his
hand or giving others the opportunity). It seemed at though the females in the
room were in tune and paying attention, while the males in the room were talking
about sneakers and other irrelevant topics. They were asked multiple times to
quiet down and pay attention. There was one boy and one girl who sat towards
the back of the classroom and did not participate. They could have participated
if they chose, but it seemed as though they didn’t want to or were
uninterested.
One thing I have noticed is that people lower their
expectations of Mount Pleasant High School students. This is mainly due to
their low ranking amongst Rhode Island schools and their low standardized test
scores. However, if a stranger were to sit in a classroom, they would realize
that all students at Mount Pleasant
have the skills and abilities that match the expectations of the school. They simply
need to be motivated to learn and succeed. I’ve noticed time and time again
that with a little push, they soar far beyond what is expected. Part of this
motivation lies in the hands of the teachers, and the environments they create
for learning. In this particular room, it was clear that the teacher had the
upper hand. However, he didn’t make the students feel inferior to him. He was
interested in their extracurricular activities, and more generally their lives
outside of the classroom (he often asked what they did over the weekend, how
things were going etc). As long as the students showed him respect, he showed
them respect.
As I sit here writing, I switch
gears once more and wonder what it would be like if I were a student in this
classroom, and in this school in general. For me, it would definitely be a
struggle. Granted, if I were in the situation I would probably think
differently. I have lived up the street from Mount Pleasant High School my
entire life, on the North Providence/Providence line. I enjoyed my time at
North Providence, and I wouldn’t have traded my high school experience for the world. After all, it
is the reason I never want to leave. For as long as I can remember, Mount
Pleasant always had a negative connotation attached. This led me to believe
that attending class at Mount Pleasant High School would be the equivalent of
jeopardizing my future. After spending some time in the school, I have realized
that I was wrong, and each and every student has the same potential. I say this
knowing that although there is potential, there is also a struggle. It is
disheartening to sit and watch students who want to learn get frustrated with
those that interrupt the flow of the class and the learning process. I’m not
sure I would have been able to succeed as a student in this type of
environment. At an age where children are highly influenced, they could be
influenced to reduce their own standards and expectations. I think if I were to
have attended Mount Pleasant, it would have been just like any other experience. The test would have been
dealt first: do I conform to the rest of the student body or focus on my own
desire to succeed? And from there, the lesson would have resulted depending on my
level of success.
No comments:
Post a Comment