Class Demographics and Their Affects on Learning

Mrs. Morgan’s 2nd Grade Classroom

AGE
All students are between 7 and 8 years old.
RACE
16 students are white; 4 students are African American.
GENDER
13 females and 8 males
LEARNING NEEDS
Speech Intervention- 3 students
Math Intervention-1 student
*all intervention students go once a week for 30 minutes to a resource room.

Demographics and Their Affects on Learning

Mrs. Beth Morgan’s second grade class at Guyton Elementary has become one of the highlights of my week. I look forward to going and seeing this group of kids every Monday morning. I will write about many aspects of the classroom during this spring, but to understand a class it is important to understand its demographics.
As you can see Mrs. Morgan’s class is a unique one compared to what we study in our education program. The class is not very diverse at all. I believe the small age range of students (all are 7 to 8) probably helps the teacher be much more effective. (Class discussion) Most students are at the same maturity level so teaching does not need to be as diverse as other classrooms may be. One student is technically a year behind, but because of his late birthday, it was probably best for him to be retained. He is now in a classroom that is appropriate maturity wise.
The small difference in race in the classroom I would normally say is not a good thing. It is important to expose students to lots of different cultures, as this country is composed of many races. (Lemlech, 2006) However, because the rest of the school is fairly diverse, I do not think students are missing out too much. The racial demographic per classroom will probably change next year and the students can transition smoothly.
The biggest shock to me was the small amount of learning disabilities in this class. We learn in our classes to prepare for inclusion and that we will be teaching a very wide variety of students. (Lemlech, 2006) The students in Mrs. Morgan’s class, for the most part, are quite similar in learning needs. If the teacher would not have told me which students go to intervention I would have never known they needed extra help in speech. The one student that goes for math intervention also seems to develop normally, but is easily distracted in math so he takes longer to get it. I think this shows Guyton is above average in identifying early on which students need more help and getting them that extra attention quickly.

References
Lemlech, J.K. (2006). Curriculum and instructional methods for the elementary and middle school. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall.

My First Day

Welcome to Georgia Southern University or as we like to call it "Southern". This is my first year at Georgia Southern and my second semester. Prior to this semester I was a chemistry major, but I switched to Early Childhood Education last November. So far I really like it, but getting used to so many projects and attendance policies is difficult. I understand that as a professional being late or missing class is unacceptable. I also understand the education department’s reason for implementing an attendance policy to “prepare us for the real world of teaching”. There aren’t many other professions I know of besides teaching where the same rules on attendance don’t apply. Yet as a student those other majors are not penalizing for missing a day! Honestly, the notion that missing a day of class potentially lowers your final average 2-4 points is insane! Sorry I went off on a tangent there, that is really my only issue with the TEP at GSU. Once you go into that school all those petty issues mean nothing. Those children take your heart immediately. Yesterday I went to my first day "in the field" at Guyton Elementary in south Effingham County. I'm in Mrs. Morgan's 2nd grade classroom and I love it! The teacher is stern, but not overbearing. The children are wonderful; I almost think "this can't be real". They stay on task without almost and disciplinary problems. They are inquisitive and always ready to answer. But, the second the kids get a "free" moment I see that this is real. The kids opened up and tell us their entire lives! Within 5 minutes of bathroom time I know the entire schedule as well as the disciplinary policy. I know who does there work, and who doesn’t. The funniest thing they do to me is one up each other. I know a lot of people in the adult world do this too, but it’s so much funnier to see it through their eyes. One person will start off by telling me they have a dog. The next student to come up has a bigger dog, and then the next has a dog and a cat. It keeps going and going until one person decides they’ve lost so they change the subject. It’s hilarious to hear! I have to turn my head or walk away a lot so I don’t encourage their bad, but often very funny, behaviors. It's only been one day but I know I am going to be really happy there!