FieldBlog Post #3

Today we visited the Agnon School.  I was very interested to see how the school worked since we were told that the school was based on art and the students were allowed to address their teachers by their first names.  I was assigned to a kindergarten classroom along with three other students.  When we walked in, the students were already starting and I noticed how colorful and cheery the classroom was.  I noticed that each item in the room was labeled and there was a certain place for everything, which the students had access to.  First Michelle, one of the teachers, started the kids out with a song that they sang and danced to until they sat down on one of their spots on the floor.  After they were seated, she asked the students to write the weather, the day of school and the day of the week on the SmartBoard.  She then had them repeat some songs to her first in English and then in Hebrew.  I was very surprised to see how much these kindergartners knew.  They then were allowed to wash their hands and find their morning snack but only after they explained, in Hebrew, where their snack came from and how it was made.  She then had the students pray before opening their food.  My question before this trip was how much discipline do these children receive if they are free to do mostly what they want and they are allowed to call their teacher by their first name? However, right when I got to the classroom I could see how well behaved these kids were! They were all very obedient and almost seemed too mature to be kindergartners.  One thing I found extremely interesting was when a student wasn't doing what they were supposed to, one of the teachers would quietly go up to the student and ask "do you think that was a very good decision?"  The student would then say no and immediately improve their behavior.  I really liked that she did not yell at her students or punish them but rather question them to see if they realized their mistake.  I learned that calmly approaching a situation can really work to help the child behave better, if you go about it the right way.  I hope in my future classroom I can use this tactic to create a calm environment for my students.  Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed my time at this school and thought their method of teaching was extremely effective.  Although I was hesitant about how the school worked, I saw how bright and unique it made each student.