This past week we had the opportunity to observe Westlane middle school. Westlane is home to over 760 students and averages 16 students per class giving it a smaller feel. Westlane operates on an International Baccalaureate Middle Years Program. The IB Middle Years Program is offered for students ages 11-16 and it helps support and encourage inquiry-based learning. Westlane is described as an "urban education setting" which the principal was very passionate about, saying that he felt there was "no greater calling." In Urban educational settings, you are not only serving as an educator for your students but rather an emotional constancy who they can trust and connect with. This educational setting connected so well with my future educator identity and the emphasis that I put on building connections with my students.
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We also got the chance to visit an 7th grade AVID classroom taught by a Butler alumni, Ms. Neff. The term "AVID" stands for Advancement Via Individual Determination. This class serve as preparation for higher education and college exposure. Most of the students in this classroom will be first generation college students. Ms. Neff had us introduce ourselves and share a little bit about our college experience thus far at Butler to give insight into the life of a college student for the AVID students!
Not particularly in this classroom, but, Westlane has a strong digital-piece this year that allows each student to have a chrome book. These digital tools stay at school and are to be used only in the classroom as they are still working through distraction issues/safe ways to use tech in their classrooms! |
Westlane follows a model that they call WICOR. WICOR stands for Writing Inquiry Collaboration Organization and Reading. The teachers use this as a model in all of their lessons. A strong example of this educational model is the "tutorials" that happen in the AVID classroom once a week. Tutorials allow each student to give a small presentation to their classmates over something that they are learning in their other classes. This not only inspires passion and creativity but also allows the students to learn from their peers which shows extreme social-emotional benefits.
The teachers at Westlane were extremely impressive to me. There was a strong sense of excitement for teaching, learning and mentoring that they all exemplified. I truly felt the passion that they possessed for teaching and for their students. They all feel called to the urban educational setting and that is evident in their teaching styles. I got an extreme sense of comfort and respect between the teachers and students. For example, each teacher stood outside their classroom before and after the bells rang, greeting each and every one of their students. This is such a crucial part of my educator identity, strong student-teacher relationships, so it was inspiring to see it in action at Westlane! |