CULMINATING EXPERIENCE

Culminating Experience for Liberal Studies Majors Fieldwork

Valerie Martinez
The University of La Verne

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Observations of Learning Environments: Middle School

The school I chose to observe was El Roble Intermediate School, which is located in
Claremont. This was my first time encountering a middle school where only seventh and eighth
grade were offered, so a majority of the students I encountered were halfway through their first
year of middle school. During my fieldwork experience, I was able to sit through four different
learning environments. I remained in the same class until the very end throughout my weeks
spent observing, but because it was a middle school each period brought something different. It
was really interesting to witness how a single classroom was able to be converted into a variety
of different learning atmospheres.
Upon entering the classroom the desks were arranged in clusters of four with students
facing each other. Overall there were three columns and three rows for a total of 36 desks. While
this seating arrangement could be quite distracting at times, it allowed students to form
connections with one another and rely on their peers for support. The furnishing fit the age group
of students who were using them and there was enough room to maneuver around. At the front of
the classroom was a whiteboard that converted into a book case when the board was slide to the
right and an overhead projector for PowerPoint lectures. On the right wall of the classroom were
windows that allowed enough natural light to come in when the lights were turned off for
lectures and all the walls were covered with posters of the students work throughout the year.
The first class that took place in the classroom was a seventh grade science period where
the students were learning about DNA. At the beginning of the week students had created their
own models of DNA using different colors of duct tape and the period consisted of the teacher
going over a PowerPoint of the importance and functions of DNA. Throughout the lecture, Mrs.

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Braun, the teacher whose classes I was observing, allowed for questions and input to be shared.
Her way of assessing the students was to take tally points of questions they answered correctly
on individual flashcards. She also always made it a habit to review any worksheets that were
assigned in class. I thought this was an effective way to know whether or not all the students had
fully understood what they had learned and created great opportunities to clarify the material.
While talking about genetic mutations, a student shared some discoveries that our heads are
getting bigger and our fingers longer because of the mass integration of technology into our daily
lives. I thought this was an excellent example of students learning from their peers and forming
connections from the real world into the classroom.
Mrs. Braun did an outstanding job of integrating common core standards and addressing
multiple intelligences within her curriculum. The PowerPoints, videos, and diagrams she had her
students draw not only targeted spatial intelligences, but also served as a great resource to help
students understand material being taught by having these visual aids. Through the labs she
organized, students had to learn how to work together, follow directions, and write up lab
reports; this simultaneously addressed interpersonal, logical-mathematical, and linguistic
intelligences. For students that were having a harder time following directions, she had areas
reserved for those that needed to be separated from their peers in order to get back on task. One
of the most culminating experiences I was able to be a part of within this period was when Mrs.
Braun asked me one day if I could read a test to one of her students who had a learning disability.
This experience went to prove that although some students may have a debility, it does not mean
that they are not intelligent, if anything it shows how hard they are willing to work despite the
obstacles they may face every day.

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The next two periods that would take place were AVID classes. The AVID program is
dedicated to ensuring that all students succeed in a rigorous curriculum, enter mainstream
activities of the school, increase their enrollment in four-year colleges, and become educated and
responsible participant and leaders in a democratic society. During these AVID classes, students
were working on their tutorials in groups no bigger than seven and with the aid of an AVID tutor.
Each group would arrange their desks in horse-shoe shape facing the white boards that were
provided within the classroom. Each student would take turns going up to the white board and
writing down a question they encountered related to their homework. Their peers and the tutor
would ask high inquiry questions to try to help the student arrive to answer for their question.
This learning practice greatly reminded of Lev Vygotskys social development theory.
Lev Vygotsky believed that social interaction plays a fundamental role in the
development of cognition and that community plays a central role in making meaning. Also
known as social-constructivist classroom, children participate in a wide range of challenging
activities with teachers and peers, with whom they jointly construct understanding.1 As the
students took the knowledge and strategies generated from their peers and tutors, they advanced
in cognitive and social development. These student-tutor and student-peer collaborations were
advantageous to students because it allowed them to receive multiple perspectives on a concept
they were struggling with from one of their classes in a comfortable and supportive setting.
Watching each student have an Ah hah! moment through the support of their peers and tutor
was definitely rewarding to witness and it was almost as if they were getting a second chance to
prove that they were capable of attaining the right answer.

1 Palincsar, A.S. (1998). Social constructivist perspectives on teaching and learning. Annual Review of Psychology, 49, 345-375.

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The last period that took place in the classroom was an afterschool intervention program
for students who were failing a majority of their classes. Unlike the other periods I had viewed
within that classroom, it was difficult to encounter students who were disrespectful, very rarely
stayed on task, and not interested about school. Bottle caps and trash were being thrown around
everywhere and only a few of the students were taking advantage of the resources that were
offered to them to use for their homework. Among the resources that were being offered were
textbooks, IPads, laptops, the teacher, and the AVID tutors who stayed behind. Because the
students did not seem to care, it affected how the teacher and tutors viewed them, which only
seemed to worsen the problem. Once teachers attitudes toward students are established, they
can become more extreme than is warranted by childrens behavior. Of special concern are
educational self-fulfilling prophecies: Children may adopt teachers positive or negative views
and start to live up to them.2 It was obvious that these students already had a negative view of
themselves, but this is where as educators we can make a difference in a childs life by being
supportive and helping them reach their full potential.
All in all this fieldwork proved to be very insightful and there are a lot of strategies that I
cannot wait to implement into my own classroom someday. As a teacher, I know that I must be
willing to go the extra mile to ensure that my students are receiving a quality education and
inspire them to be active participants within the classroom. The greatest lesson I learned was that
a strong teacher-student relationship is a key ingredient for a child not only to be successful, but
to believe in themselves.

2 Kulinksi, M.R., & Weinstein, R.S. (2002). Classroom and developmental differences in a path model of teacher expectancy effects. Child
Development, 72, 1554-1578.

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Reference Page

Kulinksi, M.R., & Weinstein, R.S. (2002). Classroom and developmental differences in a path
model of teacher expectancy effects. Child Development, 72, 1554-1578.
Palincsar, A.S. (1998). Social constructivist perspectives on teaching and learning. Annual
Review of Psychology, 49, 345-375.