Seeing Classroom Culture Notes

Building an Insider View of the Classroom Community

“Successful kidwatchers intentionally build an insider view of their students and the culture of
the classroom” (p. 3)
 What characteristics of writing workshop do you observe?
o The teachers begins with a brief lesson or explanation of what is happening before
students go into independent writing. The teacher and other adults in the room
then walk around the room working with individual students on their writing
pieces (conferencing).
 What ‘best practices’ in teaching writing do you observe?
o Writing time for the students is a time where they can freely be themselves and
work on their own writing skills. The classroom is a safe and open environment
where they can express their thought and feelings.
 How much time is designated for writing? How are activities paced?
o Writing time usually begins with a brief 5-10 minute lesson or review on what
students should be working on with their writing that day. Then students usually
write for about 30-45 minutes independently. Some days they are all writing
about a specific topic (ex. “When I’m 100…”). Other times they are writing in
their own personal journals, where they can write about whatever they want.
 What predictable structures and routines do you observe?
o When I come in the students have just came in from recess. They are usually
finishing up a snack while they watch a book on the projector (StorybookOnline).
After the book is finished they either get a brief lesson or another book is
physically read to them by their teacher. Then they go back to their desks and
begin writing for the remainder of the time.
 How many students are in the classroom? How is seating arranged?
o Students sit at a table of four, and those tables are combined with another one to
make a long table of eight. There are three rows of eight but not every seat has a
student, there are 22 students in this class.
 What can you say about the tone of writing time?
o It is kind of organized chaos. As kindergarteners it is hard to stay focus for that
long to write, but they manage to hold it together pretty well each time. They all
know what is expected of them, so as loud as the room might get, they are all
writing for the most part.
Organizing a Rich Environment for Learning
 If the class is currently working together on a type of writing, what is it? What can you
tell about the guidelines and expectations of the assignment?
o They’re currently working on writing with a narrative style. They’ve written
multiple pieces such as “When I’m 100…”, “If I had $100…” and a few others.
Besides some of the more structured assignments, they can write narrative styled
stories in their journals.
o They have to include a picture with whatever their writing about. For the writing
aspect they have to include who, what, where, and how they felt. This usually
 gives them about three to four sentences. They are then asked to make sure that
they have capitals and punctuation where needed.
 How engaged are students during writing time? How meaningful do writing tasks seem
to students?
o Students are usually pretty attentive for the beginning intro lesson and the first 10-
15 minutes. The room is relatively quiet and the main talk is about what they’re
writing about or their pictures. After that students tend to get off track and get up
and move around. By this time, they’ve usually finished their picture or the
sentences and so they need a break. They’re usually reminded to focus on
finishing their piece and then can refocus. Students are usually pretty into what
they’re doing, especially the fun stories like “When I’m 100…”.
 What opportunities do students have to learn through talk?
o Students get an opportunity so verbalize their thoughts during the brief lesson
sometimes before they start writing. Otherwise they talk freely as they write,
sometimes not about their writing. If it gets too loud the teacher will have the
students quiet down. There aren’t many opportunities for the students to learn
more about their writing through talk.
 What kinds of identities are students developing? (Ray, p. 33)
o Students are beginning to like the writing time and begin to see themselves as
writers. They’re always pretty excited to share their pieces with both me and their
classmates.
Understanding How Language & Literacy Develop
Knowledge Construction (How Learning Happens)
 What do you notice about students’ relationships and interactions with each other?
o Students for the most part interact really well with each other. Nobody seems to
be excluding anyone, and they all get along with each other. They all enjoy
sharing their stories and writing pieces with each other. Sometimes, they get a
little distracted, but they are always able to refocus.
 Based on your observations, what do the students already know how to do with
language? What are their strengths?
o They are good at coming up with their ideas for their stories and getting the main
ideas down, usually the “what” of what is going on. They are also are good at
conveying their stories through their pictures.
 What “errors” in using language (spelling, reading, writing, speaking) in general have
you observed children make? How do those errors actually reflect students’ developing
understandings about language and how it works?
o
Personal and Sociocultural Influences
 What are the demographics of the school?
o Enrollment by Grade:
PK KG 1 2 3 4 5 Ungraded
Students - 105 78 77 84 89 0 0
o Enrollment by Race/Ethnicity:
American Asian Black Hispanic Native White Two or
Indian/ Hawaiian/ More
Races
 Alaska Pacific
Native Islander
Students 8 27 18 15 0 347 18
o Enrollment by Gender:
Male Female
Students 240 193
o Free lunch eligible: 167
o Reduced-price lunch eligible:11
 What do you know about students’ interests, passions, talents, activities, or hobbies
outside of school? What are they good at?
 What do you know about students’ families and cultural backgrounds?
 What do you know about students’ home language and access to literacy materials?
 What “errors” in using language (spelling, reading, writing, speaking) in general have
you observed children make? How might these “errors” be because of cultural
differences?