Similarities and Differences

The more and more I am in my new 5th grade classroom, the more and more I pick up on. There are so many similarities and differences between this class and the class I was previously in at the Learning Academy.

The 2nd and 5th grade classrooms do many of the same routines, they just go about it in a different way. For example, they both do OG instruction, as these students are still working on ways to overcome the obstacles associated with dyslexia. The Learning Acadmey fosters to the needs of 2nd through 6th grade students; however, many of the students do not enter right at the start of their 2nd grade year. So, they must refresh the memories of the experienced students as well as teach the ways of OG to the newer ones. In the 2nd grade classroom, students are solely taught consonants and vowels. The students look at the flashcards, say the letter, the sound and then trace the letter or do an action associated with the vowel. For example, "A, ah, apple" for the vowel or "Y, (the sound), trace the letter." OG done only at the beginning of class for roughly 15-20 minutes. In this 5th grade classroom, on the other hand, students do OG instruction for at good two hours. These students have moved on from the sing-song actions as presented in the 2nd grade classroom. These students focus on the rules and procedures associated with decoding unknown words. An example rule would be, "Box in the suffix, find suffix le words, underline/label the vowels/consonants, identify if it is a compound word. The students then have to write the whole word, in cursive, on the whiteboards. These boards are not the large ones used in the previous class. These boards have room only for the writing of the individual word.

Another differnce I have noticed is the use of manipulatives, movements, everyday objects. I am only present in the class for a few hours, because of that I only get to see OG and specialties (i.e. arts and crafts). The 2nd grade classroom used many songs, dances, and movements when remembering a subject or concept. However, in the 5th grade classroom, the students are strictly instructed via lecture and Smart Board. The students are only given small individual white boards.

The acceptance level in the 5th grade classroom is much higher than the 2nd grade class. The 5th grade teacher makes it a point to inform her students of her own learning disability. "Everyone makes mistakes, we just have to learn from them and learn how to cope." When students make a mistake, students do not make fun or laugh instead they say, "It is okay, everyone makes mistakes," and they help each other learn why another answer is the best. There was a sense of concern and acceptance in the 2nd grade classroom, however, the students/teacher did not come right out and say that it is okay to make mistakes. Instead, the teacher corrects and everyone remains silent- students do not laugh at the mistake.

Rules and procedures are posted in both classrooms, however, the implementation is constant in the 2nd grade class. These students need continual reminders about what to and what not to do. Manners sticks is the go to behavior manager. However, in the 5th grade class, the students do not need these reminders- they know what is and what is not accepted. I would like the chance to see a classroom from the first day of school. I want to see how a teacher implements and sets these rules from the get go. These 5th grade students seem to understand the rules, but my wondering is how the teacher sets these and gets these in their minds.

The bulletin boards are used in both classroom settings for educational uses. Neither have a board dedicated to student work, which I am a firm believer in having. Both classrooms have boards for each subject. However, the 2nd grade classroom has a board for the days, month, and weather.

Both classrooms implement the use of student jobs, which I love. I believe that every student should be given a sense of entitlement and belonging. These jobs rotate every few weeks as to give each student an opportunity to receive and do each job. These jobs are posted in the front of the class, near the door, so each student can see his/her job for the time being.

It is very interesting to see the similarities and differences in each classroom. It amazes me to see what occurs in each classroom despite the age. The students have made huge leaps educationally between 2nd and 5th grade. However, I was surprised to see that not much has changed emotionally. The students in the 5th grade classroom still have some of the same emotional problems present in 2nd grade. For example, one student in the 2nd grade class becomes very upset when he does not get to answer a question; there is also a student very similar to this in the 5th grade class. Perhaps this emotional issues have not dissipated because of dyslexia? I am going to pick one student to focus on in hopes that many of my current wonderings will be answered.