Prompt #1: First Impressions

Hello Bloggers,
Today was my third visit to a local kindergarten ESL (English Second Language) classroom at Mary L Elementary School. Perhaps it has to do with my background, coming from a school system in rural Maine, but I was very surprised to see just how much of an urban setting the school was placed. With no parking lot, and very narrow one way streets running through numerous houses, apartments, and many other not so appealing buildings, surprised may be a lenient word. The building itself is a large brick building with no decorations on the outside other than one run down sign. I noticed the apparent lack of a play area for the children both outside and also inside the school. Not only was this a huge contribution to the sense of seriousness I felt, but after entering the building and witnessing the children walking in silent lines, carrying passes, and witnessing how pertinent the staff was to strangers in the building, my sense of seriousness was confirmed.

Entering the building, the halls are very wide and tall, have very few posters, and are mostly cement. However, I was very happy to see how well decorated the actual classroom was. Hundreds of educational posters, symbols, and pictures cover every wall nearly from floor to ceiling. So, perhaps educational decorations are not valued by the school, but they certainly are by Mrs. Medos. Her classroom is set up with a number of tables that break the children up into about five groups, however, I have noticed almost the entire time I am in the classroom; the students are all sitting on the carpet together. The carpet functions as a form of control for Mrs. Medos, it makes it much easier to watch all of the children and keep them seated and paying attention.

Being an ESL classroom, the twenty-four students consist of two Caucasians, two African Americans, and the remainder is of Spanish decent. I am certain that the main focus and value in this classroom is the learning and development of the English Language. However, after spending a few mornings in the classroom, I have discovered that even though there is such a huge value placed on English, the teacher herself places a huge emphasis on the importance of behavior, respect, basic skills preparing the students for first grade, and attendance. She gives the students and parents are very hard time if they arrive to school late, have incomplete homework or are missing signatures on papers. Mrs. Medos tries very hard to help not only the children, but their parents, understand the importance of showing up on time and trying your best in and out of school. With a few exceptions the students all seem to be highly motivated to learn and explore new concepts. I think Mrs. Medos is very good at providing a variety of learning strategies to best accommodate all the children and she is a very patient but serious woman who has earned the respect of her students.