Field Placement at Thurmont Middle School - November Observation #4

* For confidentiality purposes, a pseudonym will be provided for the observed student and mentor teacher *

    Reflecting back on the final full month of my field experience at Thurmont Middle School, I can confidently say that the month of November was the most enriching in terms of the classroom experiences. Not only did I perform my first lesson plan for students, but I also had the opportunity to observe some interesting classroom behaviors. The observation I am going to describe took place on Thursday, November 10th from 1:30-2:30PM in a 7th-grade social studies class. 

      On this day, students were tasked with completing a graphic organizer on the African kingdoms of Mali, Ghana, and Songhai. There were readings on Ducksters (https://www.ducksters.com/history/africa/) that students read which provided them the information needed to complete the graphic organizer. While nearly the entire class finished the assignment during class, there was one group of students that seemed to "struggle" the most, specifically a student named "Justin." 

    Now, the reason for Justin's struggles was not due to his intellectual abilities, but instead the "class clown" mask he wore. Ever since I arrived in the classroom in September, Justin had always been very hospitable towards me, saying hello and asking how my day was during all of my visits. The issue with Justin is that once his friends arrive at class, his attitude completely changes. This was no different on this day as Justin from the start of class began to make jokes with his friends and throw balls of paper at students sitting at other tables. Ms. G addressed Justin on several occasions, pleading with him to stop, to which Justin eventually obliged. 

    To no surprise, once students were sent off to work independently, Justin struggled to accomplish much of anything during the class period because he did not pay attention to the directions. He called me over at one point during the class to ask me what he was supposed to be doing. I went over the directions with him but made it clear that he needed to start listening when Ms. G goes over directions so we can avoid conversations like the one we are having. After observing Justin's behavior and other students who also wear the class clown mask, I concluded that I would support his literacy achievement by isolating him from his audience. Oftentimes, class clowns like Justin are provoked by others sitting nearby egging him on, and usually by moving them away from these students, it will lead to increased engagement and performance. Additonally, Justin also has a difficult time engaging in the material which also contributes to his antics. Another way I would support his literacy development is by sparking a discussion with him, figuring out what he likes to learn, and find discplinary-related texts that correspond with his interests (Tovani, pg. 79). 

    To conclude, class clowns like Justin often resort to this mask for two reasons. One is that there are certain people in the class that encourage this behavior, and two is that they take a disliking to the content being discussed. As I mentioned, Justin is a bright student, and I have seen him complete quality work in class; however, certain students influence him into making poor decisions which not only impacts his literacy development, but the literacy development of other students as well.