SED506 Observation Assignment #1

Lee Mogavero’s Honors 9^th Grade Western Civilization class

St. Mary’s Academy Bay View

Today I am at St. Mary’s Academy Bay View, a K – 12 all girls Catholic school in Riverside, Rhode Island. I am observing a ninth grade History class, so I’ve been in the Upper School. The exterior of the building is brick and the interior is painted blue and white metal- the school burned down in the 1920s, so, when it was rebuilt, it was made as fire-proof as possible. Unfortunately, this means that there is little on the walls of the school, unless a poster is framed and hung or if there is a display case. The front foyer has four such display cases, each with different displays of artwork done by students. Right now, portraits of the girls adorn the case. There are also a few very nice murals around the school- especially striking is the one of a giant Bengal (the school mascot) in one of the hallways.

Lee’s room has two doors, each with a window. As a part of their security protocol, posters or fabric blocks windows out. In Lee’s room, a poster of Franklin Delano Roosevelt secures one window and a map of the Black Death’s spread covers the other. Upon entering the room I notice that the desks are set up in an usual row fashion. Rows aligned horizontally and vertically essentially created a box of desks- kind of a nice combination of both the clusters and single desk format. The biggest downside of this arrangement, however, is that it's very hard to work the room. The walking space between the rows was very limiting.

It's last period, so the girls coming into the room exhibit that bizarre mixture of tiredness and giddiness because they are going home soon. Once everyone is sitting, I take a look around. This is a big class! About 26 students, mostly white, but with about 7 or 8 students of color. The walls in this class are almost as bare as the halls- there's a cross above one of the boards, next to an American flag, and there are a few items around the room to signify this is a history class (a model of a tall ship, for example). The room does not feel sterile, however, nor does it feel unfriendly. Perhaps the energy of the students gave the room the life it was missing. 

Lee is a commanding presence in the class- he's the type of teacher that can joke about sending a student to the guillotine and get away with it (we are watching a movie about the French Revolution today). He is an impressive mixture of both intimidation and compassion- he knows who to be hard on and who he shouldn't mess with. I could imagine that this class would get your adrenaline running. You never know if he is going to rag on you, but that if he does it's because he likes you. I'm sure that some of the greener freshman don't know what to think of him, though. 

With a loud, commanding "Ladies! Take out a piece of paper," everyone knows it's time for their map quiz. Map quizzes are an infamous rite of passage for all of Lee's students. Students need to identify the names of countries and their capitals from a blank map- today is Africa. By December, students will have been quizzed on the Students are quiet as they complete the quiz. 

After the quiz, Lee sets the DVD player up to continue watching the History Channel's documentary on the French Revolution. During the viewing, students are mostly quiet, but those in the front definitely have been offering more comments than others. I'm not sure if certain students were placed closer to the teacher because they talk too much or if they have chosen to sit there on their own. The power of the classroom is definitely centered towards the front. Due to desk arrangement, Lee can't really walk around the room, so he is at the front, and the students in the front are more vocal. Lee pauses the video at certain points to have quick discussions, check for understanding, and take questions. At these moments, however, he makes a point to call on those in the middle and back of the room, balancing out the participation. 

Once Maximilian Robespierre has met his demise and the film is over, Lee has the students review their identifications for their test coming up on Monday. This review is totally oral and demands that the students be on their toes, which I bet makes the review more memorable.

The final bell rings and students pack up to leave. I imagine that they feel pretty confident about their test on Monday. Everyone had a chance to answer at least one of the review questions. Being a part of Lee's class must make you feel like, wow, I'm so not in middle school anymore. He demands a lot of you, but really makes you feel like you can live up to his expectations.