As part of the study abroad experience, we have to journal about our experiences in our home stays and in the school we are observing in. I have decided to do my journaling over my blog site so that I can keep this forever in my memory. That being said--Hi Dr. B! I'm so glad that your luggage arrived!
We are all placed at Glaitness Primary School. This school houses preschool aged children all the way up to our equivalent of 6th grade. They don't have grade levels like we do, but instead primary levels. So kindergarten is Primary 1, 1st grade is Primary 2, and so on. Also, I am really impressed with the school and the amount of assistive services they have for their students. The Orkney Islands have (in my opinion) a high level of students with special needs. These needs range from downs syndrome to autism to EBD to cognitive disabilities. They really service them all. Something that I thought was very impressive is that each primary level has an assistive classroom. These students go between a general education classroom and then get personal instruction.
A lot of the lessons and instructional practices that I saw were very student led. I saw little or no direct instruction (granted these two weeks have been filled with field trips and such as well). They mainly work in their own workbook for reading and maths. In the States, we don't necessary do ability grouping, but here they have a lot of it. The students get divided into groups and then they have their groups. For example, in the P6 classroom their reading groups are split into band names, their spelling groups into colors, and their reading groups into insects. I helped the students out during their reading and spelling time. They were first split into their reading groups. The students weren't given any instruction before this other than the page they were on in their group. The students separated themselves amongst the classroom and in the shared resource classroom with P7. I assisted in helping the students complete the pages and make sure that I heard everyone speak. After about 15 minutes, some students switched out of the group and moved to spelling (again no real instruction or even identification that we were switching). During spelling, they had a work book that they had to read the directions out of and make sense of the page. Some students struggled with understanding what to do and others thought they knew what they were doing, but misinterpreted the directions.
Something else that struck me while working with both the P1 and the P6 group is that the students spell based on the sounds that the letters make. They do not spell using the letter names. It is very hard to demonstrate over technology but I will try: so if the students were spelling the word "that" they would say it is spelled "ta, ha, aa, ta". It was very difficult for me to get used to because I grew up not learning the phonetic spelling of words but rather the word language approach. I really like something that the P6 classroom had. The students needed to fill out a composite notebook called their "Success Criteria". Every day, the students needed to fill out if the objectives of the day "I can use long multiplication" "I know how to do long division" and then the students needed to give themselves a star rating out of three on their confidence and ability to perform the task. Something else that I really liked was that the students didn't really have nightly homework. For math, they had homework problems given to them on Monday and they had to have it turned in on Friday. During the week, the students had problems that they would continuely work on in class.
From what I have seen of the teacher's role and responsibilities in the classroom, I can definitely tell that they are more relaxed (other than dealing with students' behavior) than the teachers in the US. They are not constantly gathering data from their students and they simply do a check system grading. I haven't seen or heard anything about lesson plans yet. Again, I have not seen everything since it is just the first week. The school follows heavily on timetables and the teachers get a lot of help from other adults assisting in the classroom. The teachers all get a 20 minute tea break at 11am while the students are out at playtime. The non-instructional staff then covers the playtime and they get a break later. During this tea break, the teachers usually socialize with the other teachers, some stay in their classrooms. We have an assessment meeting next Thursday where the teachers will be talking about data and progress so I will report back on what I have found and the comparisons there.
I was able to observe in a P5A classroom (the A's mean the assistive classroom). This classroom had five students: two labeled with dyslexia, three and a half (not diagnosed but suspected to have it) on the autism spectrum, one of those three with some EBD (they call it social emotional learning difficulties). I very much enjoyed my time in this classroom and the teacher was amazing! Nothing fazed her and she always remained calm even when one of the students blew up at her three-four times that day. One of my favorite incidents was when the child was screaming, "You never let me talk! You're just like my father! I am going to talk over you! I know everything!!!!" The teacher just looked at her and in the calmest voice said, "I wish I knew everything". It was great! The students in that class work very separately from one another during their academic work. They each have their own desk area that is covered on three sides and they each have their own folder with the different work they have to do. The students age range is from 9-11 so they have different things that they have to accomplish and goals to work on. They have a system of picture cards (with velcro on the back) that the teacher sets out every morning, the students get to move over the picture when they have completed the task. That group of students have their own specials time (art, PE, music), but also accompany their age group to their specials and they are outside with them on the playground (as is everyone P1 to P6, P7 has a different play area). The teacher said this often causes problems because so much of these five students' day is structured and play time isn't so it is hard on them to understand what to do and how to get along socially with others.
The general environment of the school is fantastic! They have so many decorations in the classroom and a lot of really positive posters and student work in the hallways. That is one of the biggest differences I have seen. They do not have as strict of fire codes as we do. Their rules only include that things are clear of all door areas and are flat on the wall. Their recess is also shaped differently than our own. The play pod is for outside activities and the teachers receive 10 hours of training in order to supervise and assist this play. Outside on the play ground there is a "Scrap Shed". This shed holds all sorts of materials that the students are able to play with: old tires, broken chairs (duct-taped), pool noodles, ropes, crates, nets, old play equipment, garbage bins/lids, etc. The studetns use their imagination to play with one another and make up games or pretend play. The conflict resolution is also student centered but the training that the adults receive helps them aid students into solving their own problems. This is very similar to the training I have received when working at the university day cares. I really like this model of play but I am a bit apprehensive on some things. Overall, safety hasn't been a huge concern but the students are taught how to play with these objects (scrap on scrap--never scrap on person). If w3e were to implrement this type of program it would have to been in stages and we would need to look at liabilities as well as the students are allowed to play in the trees too. Also, I don't know how I feel about every age group being outside playing at the same time. The younger students get 20 minutes by themselves then the older kids come out for the last 20 minutes. This can be good or bad. There is a system of care amonst the older ones, but then they hcan be dominating on equipment and more aggressive and forceful in play than the kindergarteners. The school is having issues with this as well and is looking for solutions to these problems.
The absolute biggest difference that I have encountered is with behavior management. In the States, we have been working hard on having positive instruction and positive directions or incentives. We also give a lot of non-verbal cues for directions. Here, I have witnessed a lot of great positive and specific feedback from teachers to the students. However, their tactics to get students attention is quite different. From what I have seen it is a lot of "shh-ing" "quiet down!" "now listen". The teachers spend the majority of their time talking over students while they don't have their full attention. I feel that the students miss a lot of the instruction and the teachers aren't being respected. I have witnessed this in music, art, and other general education classrooms. I have seen the Give Me Five method used one time throughout the day in a PE class and a P4 class. But most of the time teachers waste valuable instruction time "shh-ing" the students. I feel that it is very disrespectful and that the students just go along with their day and can do whatever they want to do or say or carry on conversations with their peers. I also feel that the teachers get very drained. One teacher I observed said this, "Now, I have told you six times, that is not where you belong!" Personally, I feel that you shouldn't have to tell a 11 year old child something six times in a 10 minute period. The teacher just seemed stressed out of their mind and too much of their energy was spent in correcting behavior instead of instructing.
Look for the post next week that includes some other interesting things about this school!
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