Observation #1:

Yesterday, I did my first field experience at a local elementary school in my area. I observed a 5th grade class during their 90 minute reading block. The class I observed is a very diverse group of students, from all different races and backgrounds, speaking all different languages. It was quite wonderful to see this kind of diversity in schools. Students were working as told and, since I observed in this classroom before they were already comfortable with me observing their class.

But what struck me in the most would have to be the text they were reading. It was a fictional sci-fi story from their textbook. The story was about a girl who was a writer, who travel back in time with the help of her genius friend. This particular story, at the start, really took time to discuss diversity in a very explicit manner. The characters in the story were of different races, and even various cultural aspects such as food or language were discussed through out it. For example, at one point in the story, the characters start to talk about spring rolls. While the students in the class are a very diverse group, you never know if they know what certain foods or objects are, so it was nice to see that their teacher took time to explain what those items were in a way that students might be able to understand. At one point, she even had me give some input regarding an author we were both familiar with. She also took the time to discuss the career of writing. She used J.K. Rowling, an author that the students were familiar with to explain to them how writers can make money off of putting their stories on paper for people to read.

She motivated them by telling them the story of a former student who wrote a children's book about horses while she attended the same school and was able to get it publish. This educator motivated her students, she made sure that they all felt accepted and cared for in her classroom. She was also able to connect with them and contribute to their discussion in the midst of their reading.

IF I WERE TEACHING THIS CLASS...
I would be doing the same thing as this educator. I would be introducing the students to different cultural aspects related to our content, but I would also find a way of integrating technology with the discussions. It would have been nice, if during the discussion the teacher showed students a quick picture of what a spring roll looks like. In the future, students who are confronted with this food item, might be tempted to try it!