Scott Posey - My Day at Somerville Road Elementary

“OH BOY! I get to participate in another classroom observation!” This was my thought after finding out that I would be visiting Somerville Road Elementary School in Decatur, Alabama. Many times when a person graduates from college, he really does not know what to expect from the real world. Will my job really be rewarding? Will this be a life-long occupation? Well, when one goes through the Education Program at Athens State University, those questions will have already been answered. Being able to participate in an actual school classroom observation has only solidified my desire to become a teacher.

When I arrived at Somerville Road School at 7:30 a.m. on January 21, 1999, I went to the office to sign in and was immediately placed with Mrs. Tera Pressnell, a second grade teacher. After the introductions, it was immediately apparent that Mrs. Pressnell loved her job as a teacher. Her smile and energy put me at ease at once.

The first place we went was the gymnasium for the morning assembly. Everyone at the assembly said the “Pledge of Allegiance” and then had a moment of silence. Then a baseball coach from a nearby high school came and gave a motivational speech to the children. After the speech, it was time to begin the day in the classroom.

Upon entering the classroom the first thing I noticed was that the desks were arranged in a horseshoe shape. They were placed that way because the teacher could get in the middle of the horseshoe and teach her class and be at an equal distance from all her students. Also, having the desks arranged this way, she could easily confront those who might misbehave in class. Speaking of misbehaving, I noticed that the teacher had a time-out corner for those inclined to disobey her and get into trouble.

During the day, Mrs. Pressnell taught the children about how to tell time, common and proper nouns and phonics for her English class, and her math class did some double-digit addition and subtraction problems. Her class also participated in a physical education class and a music class. Inclusion is also practiced at the school, as some of their classmates who are handicapped shared lunch as well as music class with the other children.

I noticed two computers in the classroom as well as four cassette players with headphones in another part of the classroom. Other manipulatives include pencils, markers, a large writing tablet, a plethora of written material on the walls, and of course the chalkboard and chalk. One interesting manipulative that was used, was the use of fake “money.” This was used to help the children learn about the value of real coins and how making change affects us each day. She also had a large cardboard clock that didn’t have any hands on it. The reason it didn’t have any hands on it was that she would place some hands on it and the children would have to tell her what time the clock read. I also witnessed another concept that was of interest. During P.E. class the coach would give two children a large foam die, then the children would roll the dice and whatever the total was, that’s how many repetitions of a particular exercise the children would do. Neat huh?

I really did not notice any particular pattern of the students in Mrs. Pressnell’s class, but she did have a student who suffered from hyperactivity and was placed by himself at one of the computers to do activities there without disturbing the rest of the class.

For the most part Mrs. Pressnell’s class has a good attitude. Her class was varied because she had white, black, and Hispanic children in her room. She told me that she had one Hispanic girl in her classroom that at the beginning of the first grade, knew no English. But, I witnessed first-hand her proficiency for speaking English, now that she’s been exposed to it daily. Her class seemed to be very personable and they eagerly spoke to me whenever the opportunity arose. Here’s an amusing story I think you’ll like. After lunch, one of her student’s spoke to me and said, “I recognize you!” And I said, “Oh, really?” Then he said, “Yes, you’re one of my dad’s patients.” So I replied, “Well what does your dad do?” The young lad then said, “He’s a brain surgeon.” Those darn kids, they’ll say anything!!!

I’ll spend a moment here and say that the school halls, the lunchroom, and the bathrooms were in impeccable shape. In all my observations, this school has been the cleanest by far. It truly was an enjoyable day and I look forward to the time when I get to spend my days “working” at school.