The Salem Leader
Educationally Speaking
11/17/08
Justin Harter
My Day in a First Grade Classroom
As part of my ongoing (make that “never-ending”) education at IUPUI, I’m enrolled in (another) advanced web site design class. Not surprisingly, the final project for the course is to “make a website.” Rather than waste my time making a site for some made-up company, I’ve decided to take on the challenge of developing a site for a first grade teacher at Bradie Shrum Elementary School.
I won’t bore you with the nitty gritty details about the project. Just know that my requirements are to have more than ten pages and the site has to have some form of video for visitors to watch.
Initially, the idea of making a website aimed at first graders and their parents seemed like a breeze. Normally when someone approaches me about a website, they run some sort of business I know absolutely nothing about. I do everything from wedding gown stores, clothing boutiques, used cars, fishing lures and RVs. First graders, on the other hand, seemed pretty straightforward.
Then I realized a real problem with developing something for first graders. That is, they can’t read well. I have since learned that by the end of the first grade year, they should know about 110 words. Do you know how difficult it is to write information with a vocabulary of 110 words?
I’m also faced with another peculiar problem in that this may turn out to be a real success. The success of a website in large part depends on who it’s designed for. If it’s not utilized and advertised, you can’t expect it to be used. While I hope it is, I don’t want every teacher in Indiana knocking on my door. That’s an endeavor I’m seriously planning for, but not yet. When I do get around to it, I’ll certainly start with my friends in Salem.
Last Friday was my day to visit the classroom for the video work. I took the day off work, got up early and made it down to Bradie Shrum by 8:15. I took a seat in the corner of the room in a chair barely large enough for a typical housecat.
I stayed quiet and snapped numerous photos and took over an hour of video throughout the day. Ultimately, the video portion will be published online with the rest of the website. There, parents can learn about the teacher, the classroom, activities they do and how the teacher interacts with the students.
Frankly, I’d like to see this brought into every classroom. I think parents would get a real benefit by being able to watch an instructor interact with students in an ordinary environment. Then, parents would have an expectation and if they felt the teacher might not be appropriate for their child’s personality, they can work with the school to find an alternative. That’s something my mom did for me each year of elementary school by finding teachers well versed in subjects that I wasn’t as successful in (namely math).
Sitting in that classroom silently observing first graders was a real trip down memory lane. I enjoyed watching the students and trying to match their personalities with members of my graduating class.
And, watching those first graders was like watching a commercial for Lysol. I’ve always seen TV commercials with kids sneezing on balls and each other, but I never figured that sort of thing actually happened. Turns out, it happens all day long. I’m surprised children aren’t sanitized at random points in the day.
In my one day in the classroom, I determined that teachers are incredibly patient. I don’t think you’d ever see a teacher in a road rage incident. Plus, I got to see four kids sneeze on each other, two kids get into a coughing match and one kid vomit on the gymnasium floor during the Veteran’s Day program.
It was at that moment I realized those kids are in good hands. I just stood there looking at the gagging kids and thinking, “Well. I guess I should go find someone to clean that up.” In reality, principal Gene Sutton and four other teachers stood up like super heroes at a HazMat scene and lunged into action scooching kids in different directions away from the “spill”, removing the sick child, and bringing in the necessary mops, which they must have strategically stationed throughout the school like sentries. All of this, while the entire second grade class kept singing The Star Spangled Banner.
By the end of the day, I didn’t feel frazzled or worn out – probably because I knew I didn’t have to come back on Monday. But, I certainly respect the folks that do take the path to teacher-hood. For me, I’ll just stick to making the site and hopefully helping out more teachers in the future.