Bailey's Reflection 3

This semester my partnership school is Fuller Elementary. Fuller is completely different from any school I have ever been to. Since Fuller has the magnet program it is full of all different races, socioeconomic statuses, and different cultures. There is not just one particular group of students at Fuller. Everyone at Fuller is treated equally and they have a good sense of school community. I have noticed just walking down the halls that all the students are good friends no matter what race or culture they are. I think this shows school community. There is a system of goals that the entire school is required to follow called the Fuller Four. The Fuller Four consists of four goals which are respect, responsibility, productivity, and safety. The students are supposed to embody these characteristics and represent Fuller in that way. Since Fuller uses positive reinforcements, teachers and supervisors can reward students and classrooms for good performance of the goals. The classrooms are rewarded by getting eggs that are given to classes that show good performance and represent Fuller well outside their specific classroom. While the students of Fuller show a lot of school community, I think the school itself shows community as well. When you walk into the school the halls are all different colors and there is artwork everywhere. It is a very welcoming and friendly learning environment. The faculty and students make you feel very welcome and show how important their sense of school community really is.
This semester I am in a third grade classroom at Fuller. My teacher is a young woman, Ms. Waite, who seems to really connect with her class. While I do not think her classroom is very inviting she has a warm and friendly personality which makes the community in her classroom evident. She reminds me of a “warm demander”. She cares a lot about all of her students but they know the rules and they follow the rules. She has a set routine that they follow and she sticks to it. By sticking to her schedule it helps the students learn organizational skills and keeps them on task throughout the day. The students in her classroom do not need much instruction from her on what to do. They are familiar with the schedule and they just know to go from one thing to the next. I am assuming at the beginning of the year she really expressed the importance of a routine and has taught them good time management skills. All the students in her classroom are treated with the same respect and loyalty. By treating everyone fairly I think Ms. Waite creates a great sense of community in her classroom. I can tell that my SBTE tries to get to know her students and make them feel like she cares for them. However, she still keeps her relationship with them more at a teacher level which I think is good. Another thing that I have noticed in the third grade at Fuller is that all of the teachers are very close. The four teachers in the third grade all get along and appear to be having a lot of fun. I think by showing that they love their job creates a lot of community in the classroom. Since my SBTE shows respect and gains respect from her students and from her colleagues, I think there is an evident sense of school and classroom community at Fuller Elementary.