School Community:
School community and culture has been introduced as a main topic for the semester. We have discussed the underlying importance of community and culture in the classroom. This idea does not only apply during school hours but stretches well beyond the hours of 8-3. Webber Middle School has a wonderful culture set in place. This is created not only by the teachers and students, but parents, other faculty and community members as well. Each day the students walk into their classrooms they receive daily expectations, rules, and regulations. Miss Thomas’s art classrooms have the rules and expectations posted on the walls. This is a constant reminder for how the students are expected to act and behave in the classroom. The students have many different programs, resources, and activities. The students are able to pick from a wide variety of unique and engaging electives such as family and computer sciences, outdoor education, performing arts, visual arts, and technology education. Along with these electives are clubs like Math Counts, WAVE, Science Bowl, and the Science Olympiad. Parents are encouraged to participate in the students schooling and add to the community and culture of Webber. The average student GPA is 3.2 as well the school has scored high or excellent in state tests. Programs like Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) and the School Accountability Committee (SAC) are ways parents can engage with teachers and staff. Parents are encouraged to volunteer though book talk programs, tutor programs, help in the library, and sponsor in various events. Webber provides counseling services for students and parents in order to support appropriate student behavior. The learning climate is very successful and engaging. Webber emphasizes the 6 P’s, prompt, polite, positive, productive, persistence, and proud. This is apparent in visiting the school during the school day. Webber Middle School is made up of 805 enrolled students with 41.6 full-time teachers. This equates to a 19:1 students to teacher ratio. Webber Middle School’s mission is to support and challenge all students to learn and grow to their highest potential.
Students and Classroom:
In the time we have been at Webber I really haven’t really been able to fully teach many of the students. In the classroom I have made my way around and engaged with some of them discussing project plans and ideas. I sat down with 7th grade student Allie R and discussed her sculpture project. Allie is a very sharp student and excels in art. It seems as if many of the students in Miss. Thomas’s photography class don’t feel as engaged in the subject. The first day we were in class it took three times stopping and starting over the attendance due to students misbehaving. The classrooms are pretty evenly mixed with boys and girls and are comprised of 7th and 8th grade students. There are two special needs students in the photography class. The rooms are made up of clusters of four desks with assigned seats due to poor behavior. I feel as if some of the boys in the class act out poor behavior to get a rise out or Miss Thomas, whose usual rebuttal to send these students into the hallway.
Topic and Rational:
The instructional strategy in the classroom is worked into a project-based curriculum. Both classes get a majority of the class-time to use for studio work, with a small portion dedicated to lecture and demo. This type of differentiated education works well in the arts and allows for students to develop and execute their projects. As for the class so far I don’t believe there are any assessments or tests in Miss Thomas’s art classroom. I am interested to see if there is any type of critique for the student’s projects.
School community and culture has been introduced as a main topic for the semester. We have discussed the underlying importance of community and culture in the classroom. This idea does not only apply during school hours but stretches well beyond the hours of 8-3. Webber Middle School has a wonderful culture set in place. This is created not only by the teachers and students, but parents, other faculty and community members as well. Each day the students walk into their classrooms they receive daily expectations, rules, and regulations. Miss Thomas’s art classrooms have the rules and expectations posted on the walls. This is a constant reminder for how the students are expected to act and behave in the classroom. The students have many different programs, resources, and activities. The students are able to pick from a wide variety of unique and engaging electives such as family and computer sciences, outdoor education, performing arts, visual arts, and technology education. Along with these electives are clubs like Math Counts, WAVE, Science Bowl, and the Science Olympiad. Parents are encouraged to participate in the students schooling and add to the community and culture of Webber. The average student GPA is 3.2 as well the school has scored high or excellent in state tests. Programs like Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) and the School Accountability Committee (SAC) are ways parents can engage with teachers and staff. Parents are encouraged to volunteer though book talk programs, tutor programs, help in the library, and sponsor in various events. Webber provides counseling services for students and parents in order to support appropriate student behavior. The learning climate is very successful and engaging. Webber emphasizes the 6 P’s, prompt, polite, positive, productive, persistence, and proud. This is apparent in visiting the school during the school day. Webber Middle School is made up of 805 enrolled students with 41.6 full-time teachers. This equates to a 19:1 students to teacher ratio. Webber Middle School’s mission is to support and challenge all students to learn and grow to their highest potential.
Students and Classroom:
In the time we have been at Webber I really haven’t really been able to fully teach many of the students. In the classroom I have made my way around and engaged with some of them discussing project plans and ideas. I sat down with 7th grade student Allie R and discussed her sculpture project. Allie is a very sharp student and excels in art. It seems as if many of the students in Miss. Thomas’s photography class don’t feel as engaged in the subject. The first day we were in class it took three times stopping and starting over the attendance due to students misbehaving. The classrooms are pretty evenly mixed with boys and girls and are comprised of 7th and 8th grade students. There are two special needs students in the photography class. The rooms are made up of clusters of four desks with assigned seats due to poor behavior. I feel as if some of the boys in the class act out poor behavior to get a rise out or Miss Thomas, whose usual rebuttal to send these students into the hallway.
Topic and Rational:
The instructional strategy in the classroom is worked into a project-based curriculum. Both classes get a majority of the class-time to use for studio work, with a small portion dedicated to lecture and demo. This type of differentiated education works well in the arts and allows for students to develop and execute their projects. As for the class so far I don’t believe there are any assessments or tests in Miss Thomas’s art classroom. I am interested to see if there is any type of critique for the student’s projects.