Lindsay Jones
Journals #2
Lindsay Jones
10th & 11th Grades
Tuesday September 10, 2013 -4 Hours.
Today was the first day of my observation at CASHS. I was with a young woman, one of the physical
education teachers at the high school. She teaches the classroom based P.E. classes at CASHS. The first
thing I did was to share bus duty with her. We just watched to make sure everything went smoothly. The
students exit the many buses and head to certain areas. Some go to the cafeteria for breakfast and to sit
with friends before the first bell rings. Some go to band or orchestra in the morning for practice.
Once the bell rang all the students disperse to their necessary locations. Many go to their lockers, and
then proceed to their first period class. Today is a regular schedule day instead of the block schedule.
The teacher and I headed to the computer classroom where she was meeting her classes during this
week. The students were working on a body systems project. They were split into groups and then each
group was given a different body system. This project gives the students an opportunity to work with
each other and to learn at the same time. They were responsible for answering in depth questions based
on each system. They had four days to do research and to create a PowerPoint presentation based on
their information. Once it was time to present, the students would take notes on the presentations and
be quizzed on the information. This helps them to pay attention during a presentation and learn the
material in a different way instead of just hearing the teacher always teach.
In each of the classes they did the same general thing. I inferred that the students enjoyed working with
one another overall and enjoyed how this project was set up. I also inferred that the students were
interested in the topics they were learning about. They all liked to look up the information and find
different pictures that helped to explain their system.
I connected that most of these students were visual learners. They were focused on how their
powerpoints were looking rather than finding the best information.
I really enjoy her classroom. She is a very organized and in control teacher. All of her students enjoy her
as well. I also like to watch how well the students interact with one another. Some were focused on
each other and making sure everything was getting done, while some were socializing. I did find it hard
to connect things because I have only taken Psych 100. It was hard to think back to what I had learned to
connect it to the behaviors of students. I will need to review some topics in my book.
Lindsay Jones
10th & 11th grades
Thursday September 12, 2013-4 hours
Today I was with two different teachers. It was a block schedule day. The first period of the day was 5th. I
was with the pervious stated teacher. This group of students was very different than Tuesday. They
were very off topic and were not focused at all. Most were trying to finish their projects because they
had goofed off all week and now were rushing around trying to get things done. These students do not
like working together. Some students were doing all the work, while their other group mates were doing
other tasks. The instructor was constantly walking around trying to help out and trying to get everyone
to work together. We also had a visit from the principal. He gave me a warm welcome. This block period
seemed like it was never going to end.
For the remainder of the time I was at the school on Thursday, I went into an English class. They were
working on vocab from the book “The Glass Castle”. She was using a technique of trying to use the
vocab in their sentences, that way the students could use their own topics to make sense of vocab. They
worked on this by themselves because group work does not work in this class very well. They are very
talkative and do not stay on task very well. I helped some students try to understand the vocab. I enjoy
walking around and getting involved with the students instead of always sitting in the back of the room
watching the whole time. It drives me crazy just watching for four hours. I enjoyed sharing my ideas of
helping to remember vocab words. Ms. Swan let me show them the idea of drawing a picture. She told
me after class that I did a really good job and that many of the students liked that idea and were
drawing pictures next to their sentences.
I could infer today that this instructor is very concerned on her classroom behavior. She told me that she
learned the first week of classes that her 10th graders were going to be a tough group. She takes English
very seriously. She said it is more than just teaching someone how to read and write. It is showing them
that reading and writing can make them smarter and that reading and writing can teach you something
different every day.
I also connected that many of these students get off focus/topic very easily. I remember discussing that
in my psych class. We did an activity where we discussed a topic in depth and then at the end of the
class we went back to the topic and most of us could not remember the main focal points.
I do believe that the instructor is going to have her hands full this year but I know that she will make it
through and the projects and other activities will have her students engaged and enjoying English by the
end of the year. I did like the English class but I do know that I would not be able to teach English every
day. There was a reason I chose History and these two days have reassured me why.
Lindsay Jones
10th & 11th Grade
Tuesday September 17, 2013-4 hours
Today I am officially in history classes. The start of the day was hectic. The students were excited to have
me in the class. Many of them were coming up to me talking and asking me questions. I enjoyed walking
around the classroom meeting the students in each of the classes I was in. The students were giving
class presentations on many of the Western Civilizations. The kids were not thrilled to be doing this first
thing in the morning but he gets them pumped up. The instructor is the high school basketball coach. He
is very energetic and all the students love him. Most of them told me that they enjoy coming to history
every day which you do not hear very often. The first group that went had Rome. The topics that they
had to include in the PowerPoint are as follows: Social, Economic, Political, Religious, Entertainment,
and Daily Life ideas. Like a previous instructor did, the students were responsible for taking notes which
would later be used for a quiz on these different civilizations. He also adds ideas that the groups might
have missed to help the other students with their note taking. The groups were very dynamic.
I could infer the many different learning differences in these groups. I like that he picks their groups,
that way they have to work together and get to know one another. Many of the students are very
different from each other and come from all kinds of ethnicities. It is important for everyone to learn
about one another and respect one another.
I could connect that many of the students come from different backgrounds. I believe that it is very
important for a teacher to know where a student is coming from. In such a cultural area, there are so
many different groups of people. The high school has even changed so much in the past two years. As a
teacher I want to be able to learn from my students and learn about where they come from.
Overall, I enjoyed my day. I think that history is definitely for me. I love being with the students and
helping them to become better learners as well as becoming a better educator to them.
Lindsay Jones
10th & 11th grade
Thursday September 19, 2013
Today I am with the history instructor again. Today we have the Advance Placement (AP) classes. It is
more specifically AP World History. His AP classes are very different than his CP and Honors classes. They
are focusing on more intellectual thinking. They are connecting things from past and present. There are
only 10 kids in the class compared to a class of 25-30 in his other classes. These students are talking
more in depth about the civilizations. They are connecting all the information to today’s society. They
are using charts and graphs in their notes to do the comparing.
I can infer that these students are much more focused on school. They are all intellectual and are
holding conversations that I would have in some of my own college classes. They were able to answer
higher level questions that normally would be confusing for his other classes. I also can see a difference
in how the instructor conducts in these classes. He expects more out of them and does not take any
excuses.
I connected that these students have a much more higher learning level. They are more enthralled in
what is going on and they are all focused on each other when they are talking and when he is teaching.
Him and I discussed that he treats these students much differently, because he knows that all of them
are taking it very seriously. He also expressed to me that most of these students are taking college
classes at Mont Alto or Ship as well. I liked seeing the two different classes. It really put things into
perspective all of the different learning abilities and strengths that a school this large has. A teacher
really has to adapt to all of the different learning styles to make sure everyone is learning the same
material.