Observation

(Permission to post late)

I did my observation in a special education classroom at Manchester elementary school. This was the elementary school I attended as a child, but I have not been to this school for many years and did not know any of the students and only knew a few of the teachers. It was an unfamiliar discourse community because I had the teachers perspective.

1. A discourse community has a broadly agrees set of common public goals. Their goal is shared on their website. ” Where students thrive in our progressive, innovative atmosphere.”  The school’s goal is to have students thrive.
2. A discourse community has mechanisms of intercommunication among its members. These teachers communicate each day through face-to-face interaction, emails, and staff meetings.
3. A discourse community uses its participatory mechanisms primarily to provide information and feedback. Teachers give students feedback on there work.
4. A discourse community utilizes and hence possesses one or more genres in the communitive furtherance of its aims. Some genres used by teachers: lesson plans, notes, assignments, assessments, calendars, IEPs and so on.
5. In addition to owning genres, a discourse community has acquired some specific lexis.  MES, IEP, RTI, minds in motion, and student names. I am familiar with some, but not others.
6. A discourse community has a threshold level of members with a suitable degree of relevant content and discoursal expertise. A school has many components principal, secretary, school nurse, teachers, teacher aides, students, parents, custodians, lunch ladies, volunteers and so on.