Observations 12-10

I observed again at P.4 elementary school and was able to observe a Social Studies lesson in a 5th grade classroom. The students still were classified as being emotionally disturbed. The teacher did a lesson on geography and had the class identify and color in the different states on the map. They were able to work in groups and the teacher played music while they worked. The class worked nicely together and were awarded points for their behavior which can later be turned into a class pizza party. The teacher explained that they only do social studies lessons twice a week and that much of the work that they do comes out of a textbook through reading chapters and learning vocabulary words. She said that they try their best to include activities to break up the work and to make it more interesting but they are not given much wiggle room as how to teach the curriculum. The classroom management skills that the teachers in this school have were amazing because in some of the classes the students were completely out of control.