Sarah Golightly--Course 3--Blog 2--PBL Unit Observation

Sarah Golightly—Course 3 – Blog 2—PBL Unit Observation

On Friday, February 23, 2018, Mrs. Mitchell observed and co-taught my fourth period ELA class at Fairforest Middle School.  For my second PBL we have been looking at the effects of bullying.  My twenty-two students were going to read bullying books to the special education classes of Mrs. Bullman and Mrs. Gosnell. 

            The students read some of the following titles to the group:  Enemy Pie, The Invisible Boy, The Recess Queen, Chrysanthemum, Each Kindness, and several others.  My students preread the books in order to read with expression and without hesitation.  We also visited both classrooms and introduced ourselves so that no child would feel anxious.  I must admit that the first meeting was rather awkward.  It seemed that the classrooms were just too small to hold two whole classes.  However, the next day when the children read to the special education classes, it was absolutely beautiful.  Not one student complained and refused to read.  I was completely impressed with the professionalism of the students.  The children from Mrs. Bullman and Mrs. Gosnell’s classes had heard the stories before, but they did not rebel and insist on not listening or act as though they were being talked down to.  My students read to the students for thirty to thirty-five minutes. The teachers and aides were also present in the library.  They thought it was a good experience also.  The upper portion of the library was completely filled, but the noise level was not high.  Even Mrs. Vigil, our librarian, said that her chess club was louder than we were. 

            My students totally enjoyed the experience and were ready to read to the students on another day.   The special education teachers said more interaction should occur between the academic classes and their classes.