THE CLASSROOM

To begin to develop a picture of the first of three settings in the employment preparation program, two brief glimpses of the day–to–day routines of the classroom have been created. These take the form of vignettes: the first is focused on a vocabulary development activity; and the other is focused on a numeracy activity. Following the vignettes, is an analysis of the content, context, community of practice, and participation elements of the classroom setting.

Classroom Vignette One – Learning About Vocabulary

Hannah, Nadine and Marion, are working with five other students in the higher–level group. They are focused on a vocabulary exercise, an activity that the instructor, Suzanne, said is a highlight of their weekly schedule. The activity has been photocopied from a commercially produced vocabulary development workbook. Suzanne explained that her goal is to do one activity per week but often a single lesson can last up to two weeks. The students have been studying words such as exaggerate, mediocre, valid, and prominent for the past week and are now preparing for a spelling dictation. Before the dictation though, the instructor leads a variety of exercises to help them review and practice the words.

The group has gathered at the end of the cafeteria, behind a set of movable partitions, and is clustered around two of the cafeteria tables that have been pulled together. They are in the cafeteria because there isn't enough space in their classroom for both instructors to work with the higher and lower level groups at the same time. In the first part of the activity, Suzanne points out the tricky parts in each word that make them difficult to spell. She then tries to have the students connect the word to their daily lives by having one of the students explain how they might use the word. Next, the students are given the dictation. The dictation is done like a test and the students work alone. A couple of students use their forearms to cover their pages to ensure no one can take a peek. In the final part of the lesson, the students use their dictation words to complete a fill–in–the–blank exercise developed by the instructor. The sentences are related to the work the students do in the coffee shop. For example, one sentence reads "Mrs. Jones remarked that her muffins were only _______ and that she would try to make them better next time." The students are permitted to discuss the vocabulary with each other but not the spelling of each word. The dictation and the fill–in–the–blank exercise are then handed to the instructor for marking.