I found this activity very interesting and I think that Dr. Turner did a great job acting out her role in the different situations. I was in the lower class and it was interesting to see the view from that perspective. It really made me think about how our actions and attitudes in the classroom towards students play a huge role in there state of mind. While in the "lower class" we were snapped at, not explained to, and not allowed to associate with our peers. There were spikes of attitudes starting to appear and some others (such as Tara and I) who were just extremely confused about why the teachers attitude was so harsh. This really made me think that as teachers we are going to have to control our emotions and attitudes towards the students so that we do not convey a atmosphere that was like this one. I want to be a teacher that treats every student equally and cares about them all, but in reality we are all humans and we will have bad days and we need to make sure that we dont have attitudes towards our students that make them feel like we did in class as the "lower class". -It also made me sad that there are really teachers who make there students feel like we did in that activity. I cant wait to be a good teacher!!!!!!

This activity really opened my eyes as well. I guess I had never really thought about this issue but it is something that must be noticed. Whether we realize it or not it is very easy to treat someone according to their class status. This is horrible though because it can definitely hinder a student from learning all that they can in the class and it is unfair to punish someone based on their social status. It concerns me because I wonder if teachers realize that they are doing this or if it is a complete subconscious thing. I have no idea but now that I am more aware of this problem I know that I will work hard in my classroom to steer clear of this. I just want to be a good teacher to all of my students regardless of their situation.

The in class activity based upon social class was quite amazing in that I have never had a teacher present an activity on this level of reality. Growing up in grade school, I feel as if I were treated like a middle to upper class. Therefore, I didn't see any direct effect on how I was treated compared to the rest. However, I feel as if I had been on the opposite side of the spectrum, I would have noticed and definetly felt the differences in how I was treated. In elementary school I can vivdly remember instances where I witness a teacher treating a student seperatly than she treated the rest. However, at the time social class status never entered my mind. In grade school, my mother worked within the school system as a speech pathologist, therefore all of my teachers and even my principal knew her and therefore associated me with her. Because of her placement within the school I was treated somewhat different, better, than other students. However, I remember a freind of mine who may have been acting up in class one day, and instead of explaining to him what he had been doing, she sent him out into the hallway to sit. I felt as if there were many instances where the lower class students recieved more punishment than middle and upper class.

Even as I worked at a daycare with the afterschoolers I noticed several teachers treating thier children differently based on behavior, social class, and other factors. However, I remember vividly, having students whom I knew had parents were not hom often and did not recieve the love and care they desevered. And because of this, I immediatly associated his home life with his behavior. On my own will, this was the student that recieved LOTS of my attention and guidance.

I know that one day when I have a classroom of students, it will be the ones who clearly need love, guidance, and support that will be my target to motivate in every way.

I thought that this was a really cool activity. It was interesting to see first-hand how many students are treated daily. The differences were impressive. The students who stayed in the classroom with the mean Dr. Turner, in real life, can't be expected to learn much if they are not encouraged. I was very impressed. I sort of had an idea of what might be happening though, when I was called out into the hall with the rest of group one and Dr. Turner told us we were the best, brightest, and coolest. I was thinking "you can't possibly know that when we just counted off to be in this group!" But then it dawned on me after recalling what we had read. In all, this was neat and eye-opening!

This activity was really fun. I kind of figured out what was going on when Dr. Turner pulled out out in the hall and told us we were group one....and called us "the best students". Our group had a fun time putting our fancy presentation together and being a little sarcastic on our power point presentation. It was interesting to see how everyone reacted to what we said and how Dr. Turner treated us better. Its sad to learn that these types of teachers really exist. I experienced some for myself. I had an interesting experience, however. I went to a considerably "affluent" school, and I had the meanest teachers. I was humiliated to no end if I got an answer wrong. My math teacher drew x's on our foreheads with chalk if we got our math problems wrong (this was in 5th grade!!). It was a really traumatic experience for all of us. I know that these groupings aren't always right because of this experience I had. I am sure that in some low income schools there are amazing teachers that love what they do and want to see students succeed. And i know from experience the opposite of that situation is true. I believe this had made me a better teacher in the long run though. I will never treat my students with such disrespect. Humiliation should not be a method of teaching.

I really enjoyed the in-class activity where we were assigned different social class. I was in the middle class and we weren't given any materials for our project but were allowed to leave the room and sit in the hall if we wanted, which is what we did. I remember the two "higher" groups were given a computer and a poster board with markers. Plus I remember that for their presentation, Dr. Turner allowed questions and for our group, she just made us sit down. And I felt so bad for the working class group because she didn't let them do anything. But it was all just for the activity and it kind of opened my eyes to how different people in different social classes are treated and the stereotypes that come with it. I remember in high school the people that were getting into trouble were the kids who came from working class families. It was pretty sad really. And I feel like teachers always target those kids for bad behavior when that isn't the case. But yeah, it was a great activity and I was glad to be a part of it.

When we were doing this activity, I didn't even realize that the different groups were treated differently. It completely slipped through my attention that we were not all given the same materials or the same treatment. Even though I was in the lowest social class and I didn't recognize the different treatment until my classmates were talking about how mean she was being. When I finally did realize what was going on, I thought about effective the exercise was (assuming that most people notice the different treatment). I think that this activity and demonstration had uncanny similarities to what I saw growing up and going to school. Although the different treatment happened within my classes rather than in different classes, it was still evident that people were treated differently based on their backgrounds and the teacher's pre-conceived opinions of them. Even though I was never treated unfairly, I always thought it was unfair when classmates would get harsher treatment for the same offenses of others just because their family social class wasn't as high as some others. I think it's important for us as teachers to lave social class at the door and make our classrooms class free so that every student can have an equal opportunity for a fair and good education.

I thought this was an interesting activity. I never realized how much of an impact social class has in the classroom. I thought it was interesting to watch how Dr. Turner reacted to each group. I was in the middle class group and when we were finished presenting she didn't ask if anyone had any questions for us like she did for the upper elite and professional groups. I never noticed my teachers treating others differently based on social class. I thought this activity was eye-opening and will help me be more aware of how I treat students in my classroom. I want to treat all of my students equally and not base things on social class, so this activity was interesting to me.

I believe this was a wonderful activity for future teachers to experience. It is amazing (and horrifying!) how differently students can be treated due to their social class. This was a good way for us to become aware of problems found in public schools. Hopefully, everyone in the classroom learned from this experience and can be a better teacher because of it.

At first I did not know what to think about this activity. I was in group 1 so when she took us out in the hall and just kind of told us that we could do whatever we wanted to present the information, I felt a little lost. When we came back in the room I was confused as to what the other groups were discussing. I thought it was a very interesting activity and I was glad that I experienced it. I did not realize the severity in the differences in the way that students are being taught in the classroom. I went to three different elementary schools: a private montessori school, a public school, and a magnet school so I definitely experienced different types of teaching. Looking back I do not remember significant differences in my teachers teaching styles. The public school I attended had become an alternative school (for kids who are constantly in trouble) by the time that I was in high school and whenever I mentioned that I went to that elementary school I was looked at and treated like I was a bad student when the actuallity was that the school was a regular elementary school when I went there. I believe that it is very important for teachers, especially us because we can change things, to look past the economic status of their students.

This was a fascinating class activity. At first, I wasn't sure how to interpret the assignment, but once we were back together in the classroom, things started making sense. I thought Dr. Turner did a great job with illustrating how different groups of people are treated in schools as well as in society in general. I enjoy being able to interact and reflect with one another after participating in activities such as these. It’s a great way to hear other students’ opinions as well as learn more about our own opinions. While our class enjoyed this activity, it is sad knowing that there are children who fall victim to such biases based on their financial status every day. I am certainly more aware of how heavily a school’s atmosphere is influenced by the social classes of its attendants.

it's really sad when you think about how the students in the lower classes don't learn how to act without structure. The students who are the elite are taught how to think for themselves and make their own possibilities while lower class students are only taught how to follow the rules.

I liked this activity a lot because I think Dr. Turner really got her point across. I was in group one, so I had no clue what was going on. She took us out in the hall and told us all how great we were and then gave us all of those materials and plenty of time to work. It didn't occur to me until someone else in my group said it that the other groups probably did not have as many resources as we did, or the freedom and time to do what they wanted to do. I never went to an upper class school, and I really never realized what I was missing. Now that I see exactly how much I was missing, I was shocked. And while Dr. Turner seemed harsh, I think that the way she was acting was a pretty good representation of what it can be like in a lower class classroom.

I was in the lowest group and had no idea what was going on. I feel that this was a great activity for allowing us to see the difference in teachers. As, I was saying in the classroom if you are with a very controlling teacher such as the low group experienced it is easy for kids to act up. But, it is also easy for kids like me to just get real qiet. This is not good beacause you do not want your students to be scared of you. And, you certainly don't want students to not ask any questions. I feel that there is a fine line between how strict teachers must be and how nice they can be, especially at the elementary school. You want kids to repect you but not be afraid of you.