school context

My Volunteers in Providence (VIPS) placement was at Anthony Carnevale elementary school. I’m from Woonsocket Rhode Island so I don’t live in the greatest city, but compared to the district Anthony Carnevale is in, Johnson would say I’m very privileged. The district that the school is located is in a high traffic area. There are many one story houses that need repair, that have unattractive yards with tall grass and spray painted words on random buildings. Anthony Carnevale school surprised my sight actually. The school is a nice brick building and has crayon pillars, the inside is very clean, floors are always shined, and fresh painted walls. The school is a great environment for the children who attend school there.
The environment inside the school does not reflect the neighborhood that is outside. Each student in Anthony Carnevale has a locker, they don’t share lockers, each student has their own personal locker. Students line up in single file lines to make going up and down the stairs easier for other classes or staff that need to get by on the stairways. The room that I was placed in for was the reading/math room. In the reading room there are two teacher desks, one for the math coach and one for the reading coach. There are two big round tables with many chairs circling the tables. There are many bookshelves that hold so many books its almost like a small library. There is a television in the room however, I have never seen it used to see the purpose of it. In addition, there is only computer in the room for the teachers use only.
Above all, the reading/math room is used for the privacy of students who struggle with mathematics or reading. For example I work with a English as a second language student and that student just started school on a fifth grade level because of their age. It is embarrassing for that student to sit in the classroom and not be able to comprehend what everyone else can. Students in the class will often make fun of her because of the “babyish” words she needs to start off reading. In the reading room there is no one there to judge her. Everyone has something in common whether it be difficulty in reading or mathematics. There has also been another incident when working with the same student. The reading coach came to check on us one time to see how everything was going, and we were in the computer room, working on star fall.com. When the reading coach left the room she left the door open just a little bit, and the student did not say a word. I looked at her confused and I said to her “are you having difficulty sounding out the word? What’s wrong?” She pointed to the door and said “You need to close the door, everyone will hear.” I got up from my seat and closed the door, she began to read again.
The curriculum that I was told to use with the students may be different from the other classrooms. In other words, I work with ESL students who need special attention in learning the English language and being able to read it. The curriculum that I use with those students is; sight words, books on vowels, star fall.com and sometimes even games where the students don’t know they are actually learning and having fun at the same time. The sight words build the students vocabulary. Every word the student learns is another word added to the sight word list. The different books on vowels are interesting to read because the book will use such small words but each word focuses on the vowel sound being concentrated on in that book. The game that the students love to play when I come every Thursday and Friday is concentration. In the game of concentration I use about ten sight words and use two of each word. I shuffle the words and make two columns with the words facing downward. The student picks up the first card says the word, and picks up another card and says that word. If the two words do not match the student puts the cards back down where they picked them up and it’s the next players turn. I enjoy my time playing this game with the students because I let them win, and they don’t know that. The confidence the student gets from beating me is a great sight to see. Starfall.com is a great website for students to practice using the computer while at the same time learning new words and being able to read them. The website has different levels, the first level will start off by saying find the letter that completes the word pan. The letter p will be missing and the student has a row of letters they need to pick from that completes the word to make it say pan. The students enjoy using this website and often ask if we can save that for last because it’s the best part.
The pedagogy I follow is very structured. The reading coach set up a schedule that shows the students name and the time I go to the classroom to get the student and what time I bring them back. She has written down how everything should go. Today start off with this and end with that. Everyday is the same thing, it’s a routine and the students know that routine. Lisa Delpit may not agree with this structure of teaching because not every student learns the same way. Different students may have different “codes” when it comes to learning. However, with the very short time working those students I have already seen an improvement. The students know what is expected of them and why I’m here to help them. Which is pretty much the “culture of power”. I respect those students for their knowledge of what is expected because when they go home their lifestyles are so different it doesn’t reflect the teachers pedagogy. One student I work with was held out of school for two months by her parents because someone needed to stay home and take care of the grandmother while they worked. The schooling of girls is not valued in their culture as much as it is in ours. That student missing school for two months straight put her at a disadvantage and gives her less time to do homework or study. She knew that’s not what her teacher expected but, she had no choice.
I have not had many informal interactions at Anthony Carnevale Elementary School. One Friday I was working in a classroom since some of the students I usually work with were on a field trip. That morning I had spilt coffee on my shirt while driving. I was wearing a white shirt which is a bad combination! One student pointed out to me, “You have coffee on your shirt.”
I shrugged it off by saying “ Yes I was very messy today.” The student beside the one who pointed out I had coffee on my shirt said “you shouldn’t be talking, your shirt has a big hole in it.” That point in time was very awkward and I just pretended I didn’t hear what she said because I don’t know what to do in a situation like that. I felt really bad for the student but I just didn’t know what to say. There was just one other incident. A second grader that I tutor in reading would just not listen one day. She would stop reading, get up and go do other things that did no relate to what we were doing. I asked her nicely to come sit back down and continue. She acted like she didn’t hear me so I just brought her back to the classroom and took the next student. Again, I don’t know if that was wrong of me, I’m still learning these things myself, but I am in no position to discipline her so it just seemed best to bring her back to her classroom.
Using the school demographics from Information Works! I found that Anthony Carnevale Elementary School is 69% Hispanic, 15% White, 11% African- American, and 5% Asian. In addition, there are 78% of children who are eligible for free or reduced- price lunch and 22% are not eligible. In regards to the neighborhood, Johnson would say this is a very underprivileged neighborhood. The attendance rate for time out of school is only 7%. I was wondering that maybe the number is so low because the children need to go to school in order to eat. The Rhode Island Elementary time out of school is only 5% there isn’t much of a difference to take into consideration that maybe they need to eat. It’s only an assumption. I have also taken notice that Anthony Carnevale Elementary School has two secretaries, not only have I never seen two, one of them is Hispanic. I was in the office one day and the white secretary got a phone call but had to transfer it over to the Hispanic one who then began to speak Spanish. Having diverse secretaries is a great idea considering there are 24% of children who receive ESL and their parents need to be able to communicate with the school.
Furthermore, I would like to acknowledge the academic achievements of the students that attend this school. In mathematics Anthony Carnevale was compared to similar students statewide and the school was below forty percentile. The Anthony Carnevale school however reached in the sixty percentile, setting the bar for similar schools. In reading similar schools were in the forty-one percentile and Anthony Carnevale reach just below sixty percentile raising the bar higher yet again. In writing similar schools were in the thirty percentile and Anthony Carnevale Elementary School did it again setting the bar at the sixty percentile again. The reasons for these stats could be that the school values education and the students know the codes of power. I can see how this school values education because the extra students receive who need it, and the willingness of the staff to provide it. Another reason could be the involvement of the administration setting the goals for the teachers and students of this school.
Anthony Carnevale has changed my opinion over the course of my time being there. I thought the children were going to behave badly, and not listen because of the neighborhood in which they live. These students have proved me wrong. I see the students try when I work with them to sound out those words and smile when they succeed. The school honors the different cultures that exist. There are all different kinds of bulletins hanging up the in the main hallway with the names of different countries, the flag of the country and pictures of students who are from that country. The staff is very diverse as well. There are teachers of different race, and not just your typical “white” teacher. I’ll leave that school with a different outlook on different neighborhoods knowing that Anthony Carnevale Elementary school is the one who proved my stereotype wrong.