Reflection Paper On Middle School Observation

I had the privilege of doing my middle school observation at Corkscrew Middle School. While I was there I observed a seventh grade language arts class. This school has a total student population of 726. Of those students 320 are White, 55 are Black, 325 are Hispanic, 3 are Asian, 15 are Multiracial, and 8 are Indian. Approximately 52% of the school’s student population are economically needy. Upon arriving at the classroom, the first thing I noticed was everything was covered by large sheets of paper on the walls. I was greeted by the teacher at the door who then informed me to sit anywhere. Students filed into the room found their seats and were informed to open there books because they were going to be reading three stories. As they were

As the students read the first two stories the teacher came back and started talking to me. She had informed me that the students were preparing for the State writing test which was that next week. She had said that she was going to change what they were supposed to do today for my observation but thought the students really needed to prepare for the writing test. This statement bothered me. I did not feel that the observation was a “normal” class instead she wanted to change it. She later asked me if I would prefer for the students to read out loud. I had no personal preference on the matter I just wanted to see how they do things. So she decided that she wanted me to hear the students read out loud. When it was time for the third story to be read she informed the students that they were going to be reading this one out loud. She first asked for volunteers but nobody volunteered so she called on a students. As the one student began reading many of the other students paid attention and kept up with the reading. This was surprising because I remember when I was in school there would always be at least one person who would not keep up and therefore the teacher would call on them. However, this did not occur. As the