In accordance with the Florida state educational requirements, I completed fifteen hours of classroom observation.  I chose to complete these hours at Pinewoods Elementary School in Estero, as it is the school closest to my home.  Upon my first visit to the school, I spoke with the Public Relations Coordinator, Alex Wilkinson and she provided me with insight into the various observation opportunities at Pinewoods, as well a suggestions as to which teacher’s would provide me with the most interesting and meaningful experience.  She offered me the chance to observe Mrs. Debbie Fite’s second grade ‘gifted’ classroom and I gladly accepted this opportunity.  I felt that this would provide me with a unique chance to experience a non-traditional second grade classroom.

Pinewoods Elementary provides its visitors with a climate exhibiting safety and academic pride.  Upon arrival, all visitors are required to sign in and are given a visitor/volunteer name tag at the main office.  Once you proceed into the center courtyard you are warmly greeted by a display of student artwork as well as the smiling faces of parent volunteers who usher children between classes, lunch and recess.  There are gardens planted by former students where students may spend their recess, the sidewalks are decorated with a large painting of the map of the United States, the media center is adorned with class projects for student and parent viewing, and the awards and trophies received by the school for various academic achievements are on display throughout the school grounds.

My first Friday observing Mrs. Fite’s students, I arrived immediately after the morning announcements.  Mrs. Fite introduced me to her class, and I quickly became Miss Jonsson to my eager new friends.  Each of the days I observed, Mrs. Fite allowed me to circle the classroom offering guidance and assistance to students and assist her with grading quizzes and tests.  The first day I spent with them, the students completed a morning vocabulary building activity to get them reinitiated into the vocabulary and grammar skills they had been working on during the week.  They then completed a spelling quiz, which was handed out and collected by a student whose classroom chore for the week included those exact tasks.  Mrs. Fite seemed to increase the amount of engaged time (Sadker, 1998), in her classroom, by eliminating the time it would normally take for her to hand out work herself or to delegate those tasks to students.  By assigning these ‘jobs’ to students every Monday, they were aware of their weekly duties and were delighted to have individual responsibilities and Mrs. Fite was in turn able to teach uninterrupted.  Upon completion of the quiz, Mrs. Fite introduced students to a creative team building project.  She divided students into five groups and she quickly used this opportunity to split up two students who had been conflicting with one another throughout the morning.  As the students were arranged into their groups, Mrs. Fite explained that the activity required them to create the tallest or strongest free-standing tower using only straws, spaghetti, marshmallows and packing labels.  She also answered their questions as she circulated the classroom, offering productive feedback (Sadker, 1988), to each group’s efforts.  She also encouraged them to combine their individual ideas together to create one product that would be hard for other groups to match.  Similar to what John Goodlad recognized as appropriate methods of criticism, Mrs. Fite recognized the good points of each students work and then helped them to recognize where they could improve (Sadker, 1988).  Upon completion of this activity, the students then went to lunch and physical education, which served as time for Mrs. Fite and me to grade the morning’s quizzes and prepare the classroom for the afternoon activities.  When they returned she read aloud to them and then they were able to engage in silent reading or work on their independent book projects.  Students were then awarded with recess for their silent work ethic.  Mrs. Fite later explained to me that the students may earn recess each day, and each time the students collectively displayed good behavior or high academic achievement, she awarded them with one of the letters in ‘RECESS’.  If they spell recess before the day is over then they can play on the playground, do individual work or play board games in the classroom.  The students earned their recess so they were able to enjoy that time in the afternoon. 

Mrs. Fite’s classroom was an especially unique experience for me.  Initially, I was taken back because as I entered the classroom it appeared only some students were participating in the morning activities led by Mrs. Fite, while others were working on computers, some reading on their own and very few of these students were sitting at their desk; most were either moving about or sitting on top of their desk and some even sat on the floor.  There were many different conversations going on the side and the students seemed to all be doing their own thing.  This was behavior that continued during the majority of the day, regardless of what activity the children were involved in.  Mrs. Fite didn’t seem to mind and when I asked her later about the challenges she faced as a gifted teacher, she informed me that her students are very free thinking and very individualized.  She said patience, a tolerance for noise and a respect for the individual needs, learning style and interests of each child is what she focuses on to achieve success in the classroom.  She specifically mentioned that she does not require her students to sit still at their desk during lessons, because she recognized that many of her students preferred to move about in order to be more engrossed in the lesson.  She also mentioned that her students understood to respect the individualities of their classmates and knew that their personal learning habits needed to not distract or conflict with the needs of their peers.  I thought her flexibility and willingness to compromise what some might deem an ‘orderly’ classroom was quite brave and admirable of her.  I also felt that her classroom was model of a progressive classroom (Sadker, 1988). What impressed me the most, however, was the fact that regardless of the seemingly ‘chaotic’ classroom, Mrs. Fite managed to have every student complete the work, quizzes and projects (with high quality work and nearly perfect scores), they were assigned and in the time allotted, and their were only a few moments where students needed to be reminded of the respect they needed to give to their classmates.  When these moments did arise, Mrs. Fite demonstrated least intervention (Sadker, 1988), and was quick to give a reminder of good behavior and she often conveyed this with only a look and it proved to distract from the lesson hardly at all.  Overall, Mrs. Fite had high expectations for her student’s behavior and knew the greatness and potential that lied within each of them, and they recognized and were grateful for her confidence in their abilities.    

Pinewoods elementary school effectively integrated safety and technology throughout the campus.  The front and back gates were locked during the school day and all visitors were only allowed access through the office, making it easy to track who was signing in and signing out.  There was always an aide or parent volunteer monitoring in the cafeteria and throughout the hallways thus ensuring that students were constantly being monitored and supervised if not under the direct supervision of their teacher.  Technological resources were also abundant and Mrs. Fite’s classroom alone had 6 computers designated solely for her student’s use.  The school also does a live video morning announcements which are displayed on television monitors located in each classroom.  Because of the safe learning environment created by faculty, students can readily enjoy the benefits of the technological resources provided to them, making
Pinewoods Elementary an effective provider of a quality education.     

Although my experience in Mrs. Fite’s classroom was exceptionally special, I did see areas that could have used improvement around the school. The cafeteria was decorated with signs and posters displaying rules of healthy eating, however the menu consisted of corndogs, nachos and chicken wings.  I was invited by the students to sit with them during lunch, so I was able to buy a teacher’s lunch.  This consisted of chicken wings, salad and celery sticks.  When I sat down with the students, they begged me for the vegetables I had on my plate.  I feel that it is unfortunate that Pinewoods does not provide students with a well rounded and healthy lunch.  A healthy diet is essential not only for students to develop healthy eating habits but to also be able to concentrate in class.  This is most certainly a pitfall of Pinewoods Elementary.  In addition to the inadequate lunch program, I felt the physical education program was lacking. There is no indoor gymnasium on campus, and the entire forty-five minute special is held entirely outside.  The students were so hot and fatigued they could hardly focus upon return to their classroom, which became a large distraction from their academic learning time (Sadker, 1988).    

Regardless of the small aspects of Pinewoods that I was disappointed with, the students and teachers were wonderful to work with.  The last day I spent with Mrs. Fite’s class, the school held the Annual Author’s Parade, where the entire school gathered to watch the younger grades march around the track dressed as character’s from their favorite books.  The students all cheered each other on and many of the student’s parents were there to enjoy the festivities as well.  There was not an unhappy face in the crowd, and I couldn’t help but be proud to be a small part of it all.