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Blog Entry #7

In my observations I see teachers striving to meet standards. I have seen this in the timing of their lessons, they have had to work through some things more quickly than intended to stay on schedule with the expected standards. This could be considered a bad thing but to me both teachers still ensure each student is in the best position possible to succeed and provides additional resources as needed. In my observations it seems as though math and science are far more emphasized in my service learning placements. It seems like these subjects get the most time and attention devoted to them. This is the case for both the 6th and Kindergarten classes. I don't see a whole lot of art or creative things going on. I see a few things implemented as part of a reward system of sorts. This was surprising to me especially in the kindergarten classroom, I expected to see far more of that type of learning. I think that teachers are under a lot of pressure to meet certain standards so some of the time things like art and creative play are the easiest thing to exclude as there are less standards and requirements for that subject. 
According to the 6th grade teacher I am observing, she feels that the standardized testing is somewhat unfair to her students. She feels this way because many of them are learning English as a second language and she is somewhat limited on what helps she can provide during said tests. The kindergarten teacher seemed to feel the tests were fair. 

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