Sunday, February 15

Journal 5.4

Think about being a child in David’s class. What does it feel like for George? For Melaney?

I do not think I would like being in David’s class as a first grade student. David is using the Distar method in his classroom, which is designed and built around efficiency and structure. I think that if I was George I would feel good about myself, since I got the positive reinforcement when I gave a correct answer. However, I think that if I were any student in his class I would not feel very valued, since it does not seem he can give very much personal attention to any student. His class is very fast paced and structured. I don’t think that first grade classrooms should be as structured as Distar classrooms are designed to be. Students feel like just another child, and not someone special and important, which is how I feel teachers should be toward their students. Each student is an individual and important, and should not be rushed through learning, or experimented with to see what methods are the most efficient ways of learning. To me learning is about effectiveness, not efficiency. If I were Melaney I would feel very behind. I didn’t understand the exercise about the alphabet, but most of the class did, so everyone zoomed through the activity and I was left behind. No one helped Melaney catch up, or slow down the lesson to see who else needed help. I think that being a student or a teacher in a Distar classroom environment would be exhausting and frustrating. While I believe that there must be structure and order to all classrooms, the classroom environment in David’s class seemed too businesslike and unsuccessful.

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