Rashad Paige 2/6/13 EDUC: 421 Teaching ELA Mrs.

Saxon

Knowing the Classroom

My mentor teacher for this semester of field experience is 4th grade teacher Mr. Anwar Hodges. He is currently 10th year of teaching with all of his years being spent at Brookedale Elementary. Mr. Hodgess classroom is a classroom full of work but no clutter. He is very creative with the way he does things in his classroom and expects students to do the same. This year he has 42 students in total, in the morning he teaches 21 one boys and in the afternoon 21 girls. in his 4th grade class; all of which being of African American ethnicity except one being Indian American. Mr. Hodges is an experienced enough teacher to effectively manage his students in instruction. Ive noticed that with this group of students, he has taken a more student centered learning environment where students are actively involved in every lesson. When first arriving in Mr. Hodgess classroom I was amazed at the creativity of his classroom. I stated in my intro paragraph that he is a very creative teacher but I failed to go into

detail of how creative he is. He utilizes every corner of her classroom; there isnt a section of his classroom that is not designed with some kind of artistic flare to it. To be clearer I have included a picture that I can further explain detail.

The picture above is a picture of Mr. Hodges and it is positioned when you first walk into the classroom to your immediate left. This picture is unique not only because of its creative flare but because of the meaning behind the drawing. The drawing demonstrates Mr. Hodges as being this strong figure in the classroom that you must respect. Almost like a superhero figure whose super power is to educate the students in the classroom. Im sure when students look at the drawing they see a hero. Mr. Hodges uses this phrase in his classroom Hook Em Dano the meaning behind the phrase is that there should always be the one thing to grab the students attention. I believe this small drawing that is position as soon as someone walks in the classroom is one way in which Mr. Hodges keeps his students motivated.

Being that his classroom is clutter free he has a lot of teacher space and instructional space. His classroom is really student centered so much so that she has all his personal belongings, desks, and pictures at the back of the classroom. Mr. Hodges has two desks that are for him, like stated in the previous sentence they are in the back of the classroom. The other desk is the shape standard desk used by many students. That desk is more so for his belongings like his laptop and instruction book when teaching in front of the class. The second desk is in the back right corner of the classroom and is used for afterschool purposes when it is time to plan for the next day or week. I can see him doing more of his independent working at that table.

Being that Mr.Hodges is a veteran teacher he has a lot of experience managing his class to limit the amount of discipline problems. Mr. Hodges is a very stern teacher he doesnt allow any situation to go unchecked. When I asked what his classroom management strategy was he said its a lot of procedure involved mixed along with call and response to gain students attention and respect. My observations have told me that he is a stern but fair teacher; he rarely

shows favoritism to any student in her classroom. He believes in structure so as far as bathroom breaks he has a set time when all students line up and go to the bathroom but he also has a bathroom pass for those who have to go in between breaks. This procedure limits the amount of classroom distractions and missed instruction time. I hope to have a as structured class in the near future I feel that there is always a purpose for the things he does in her classroom and I have learned a lot so far in him class but look forward to learning a lot more.