Hobie Cox Blog Spot

  Are you making connections between course topics and Service Learning?               Over the span of this course, I can say that I have made some key connections with the course topics and                service learning. With each course topic I have been able to apply the material within Ms. Mitari's classroom               and while I observed Ms. Mitari's classroom within the span of three weeks, I luckily wrote logged and wrote              down everything that occurred on a given day and was able to thoroughly backtrack and apply the course               topics to my service learning experience. Have you been able to articulate your own learning and understanding?                  At the beginning ...

       When it comes to the standards and standardized testing, I was able to observe some of the impact it had made during my time observing Ms. Mitari's class. The way the class structured really showed how much emphasis the state feels what students are needing to learn more about by giving very specific time frames depending on the subject. For subjects such as math, science, writing, more time was allotted for these subjects with each subject having a 45 minute to 50 minute period. Other subjects such as social studies and art were given 25-30 minute time blocks. This structure of periods seemed odd to me as these were very specific set times for each subject that it seemed that Ms. Mitari was micro-managed by the state. I asked Ms. Mitari how she liked the structure of the class and she had expressed dislike with this way of scheduling as she truly felt like she was micro managed and never felt that she had had enough to cover each topic, or that she was scramb...

  What areas of diversity do you see in your service-learning classroom and how is the teacher addressing them?   There are many different areas of diversity in which the Ms. Mitari addresses within her classroom. Some Aspects of diversity in this classroom are the students cultural backgrounds, learning styles and development. Ms. Mitari puts in alot of effort to ensure that she is a responsive and thorough teacher for when it comes to her students. During my observation in Ms. Mitari's classroom the students were very respectful among themselves and her as a teacher, regardless of whatever differences that they might have had.  Specific aspects of diversity within Ms Mitaris classroom fall into many different categories. While the majority of Ms. Mitaris students are white, there is still diversity within her classroom with students of varying cultural back grounds. About 7 out of 24 students have IEP plans where they have varying types of learning disabilities that has...

                With the observations I've made, I can see that there is a lot of  support for English learners. In Ms. Mitari's class, she has ensured that every student is keeping up with their assignments and has made various approaches in how she teachers her students. For example when it comes to teaching a subject, like math, Ms Mitari goes over a subject through multiple steps in which she utilizes methods like group learning, and one on one lessons. While she has a total of 24 students, she is able to address each students particular challenges by having a steady line of communication with her students parents. She also had discussed  with me that 6 of 24 students have IEP plans, where Ms. Mitari had a vital role in each of those students IEP plan.                It should be noted, that Ms. Mitari did not disclose the identity of the students who had IEP plans and what their...

       Ms. Mitari keeps her students engaged through many activities  in order to teach her students in a way where they are able to retain information to the best of each students ability. I can see how activities within the classroom are important as it allows students to remain active and engaged when it comes to learning new materials or concepts. There are three examples of activities that I will talk about that goes over how Ms. Mitari kept her students engaged.       For an English assignment, the class did an investigative analysis on the death of King Tut. Throughout the week we learned about King Tut's death. Ms. Mitari used a textbook, an essay, and informational videos that discussed the details surrounding King Tut's death. At the end of the week she posed the question to the students on whether or not King Tut died by murder or by natural causes. This gave the students an opportunity to write an argumentative essay, where they h...

  Describe a time your cooperative teacher has offered choice to students.                  Ms. Mitari uses a lot  of opportunities  to provide choices for her students. When it comes to learning a topic, she allows the students to make choices if they want to group up with their peers. She takes this as an opportunity  to gage  the understanding of what the students know and what they don't. A lot of the times the students decide to do group work which  Ms. Mitari goes to each group and asks them questions regarding what they are learning . Another example of Ms. Mitari giving her student choices is the way they are allowed to spend their classroom points.               At the end of each week, her classroom collects points based on if they followed instructions correctly, completed a task, participated in the classroom, or any positive act that can be reinf...