International School Observation

On Thursday October 15th, 2009 I had the opportunity to visit the International School in De Pere, WI. Going into the school, I really had no idea what to expect. We first had met with the Head of the School, Mr. Way. He explained the general information about the International School and answered any questions we had at first.
Next we were able to observe in a classroom setting. This classroom setting was a Kindergarten classroom with their teacher Mrs. Clifford. Walking into to this classroom, I immediately came to a decision that I had liked the classroom a lot. This classroom consisted of 12 students (7 girls and 5 boys). All of the students were separated into three separate groups and working on word work. But each of these groups were working on words in a different way. One group was working with word puzzles and then writing the words on a sheet of paper. Another group was finding the letters of the words; putting them in the correct spot of the booklet they were working on and then recopying the word. The last group was putting 3 different cards together to make one word. This group was working with Mrs. Clifford. Mrs. Clifford would go around to each student and have him or her say the sounds of each letter that makes up the word and then say the word. After the student has said all of the words put together these students were able to write their words on a sheet of paper also.
In the classroom setting, I have also observed students sitting down for a circle time and reading a book. The students all sat on the carpet and answered questions that Mrs. Clifford had while reading the story. Mrs. Clifford gave each student a chance to answer at least one question. I also saw a different management style in the classroom. Not once in the time I was observing did Mrs. Clifford raise her voice. I also noticed that the children were not given an expectation of how to sit and it did not seem to bother Mrs. Clifford unless it bothered one of the other students in the room.
The last area of observation was in the playground setting. The International School for the older students uses the playground kitty corner to the school. The students have recess before they go to lunch instead of after lunch, which I thought, was interesting. The Kindergarten students also went outside with one or two other grade levels. The recess helpers would walk the students across the school. The students would line up on the sidewalk. When the recess supervisor would blow the whistle, all of the students would go and run to play. It was interesting to see what the children would play with because the only playground equipment available to these students was the swings. The students had brought out balls and cones also. Most of the boys would play a game of football that had lasted the entire time they were outside, and the girls would be scared and used their imagination by playing in small groups. When it was time for the students to go back inside the school, the students all had to run a lap or two around the park and then line up.