On Thursday, September 28th, I am participating in a "Shadowed by the Principal" event. During the spring LNC Soiree, a silent auction item was available for families to bid on the opportunity to have their high school student shadowed by the Principal for an entire school day.
The winning bidder was the Cowles Family, so the receiving student is J.D. Cowles, a Senior. We coordinated our schedules and selected the date. Strategically, we are currently in our Fall Homecoming Spirit Week, and September 28th is Role-Reversal Day.
Furthermore, I am utilizing this opportunity to double as a #noofficeday, which is a popular effort by school administrators to dedicate an entire school day out of their office.
7:45 AM 1st Period - AP Human Geography - Coach DeZordo
In honor of role-reversal day, students created the bell work question, encompassing main ideas from yesterday. Ex. What is the modern day impact of the one-child policy in China? In the end, did the one-child policy have a positive or negative impact in China?
Discussion continues with Anti-Natalist Society, India, 1930's Germany with a Pro-Natalist Society.
I was able to actively participate in the discussion if the United States is a Pro-Natalist or Anti-Natalist (Coach DeZordo clearly communicated there was no right answer).
Transition to video on The #1 reason people die early, in each country. I am able to successfully complete the questions aligned with the video. The last few questions are higher-order thinking.
We complete a chart on Epidemiological Transition Model in groups (specifically, the characteristics of various Stages), which stems from last night's reading.
Last activity, as a group, is choosing one stage of ETM and writing an obituary for a person in this stage.
Tomorrow will compare how ETM and Demographic Transition Model are similar.
8:42 AM 2nd Period - Advanced Functions and Modeling Honors - Mrs. Margeson
8:45 Fire Drill
I participated in a successful Fire Drill as a student. Nice to see what it's like from that perspective. Returned to Advanced Functions.
Creating a stem-and-leaf plot with the provided data, finding the mean, median, mode.
I just realized I left my calculator in my office. Fortunately, I am permitted to use my cell phone (for calculator only).
Brain teaser was also provided, which I correctly solved. Mrs. Margeson says we get candy, as a result (first three students who correctly solve).
Practice Assessment in preparation for Tuesday's Quiz. We organize in group to complete our Statistics Practice Quiz. S/o to my group members for helping me out. I don't think they realized I am a former math teacher.
9:39 AM 3rd Period - Physics Honors - Mr. Patterson
As a group, we are viewing two direct measurement interactive videos: "Ball on a ramp" and "Rocket Launch." On our devices. We, as a group, are calculating acceleration using kinematic questions. We calculate the acceleration of the ball as it rolls from the top of the ramp to the bottom. We are required to clearly identify the measurements on our large white-board.
Next, we view the video of the rocket launch. Using the data, we calculate the acceleration of the rocket as it rises, set up as a kinematic problem.
I definitely was able to directly impact our progression of the problems through my mental math assistance.
Mr. Patterson has utilized OneNote Microsoft Classroom for document and resource sharing for this class.
We begin sharing our solutions in the whole-group setting, facilitated by Mr. Patterson. There is definitely more emphasis on the process, rather than the solution(s).
Furthermore, through my first three classes, a common component has been small-group collaboration embedded within the instructional design.
We conclude class on utilizing Quest site to access more Kinematics Problems, which has personalized practice problems within the interface. The Quest program provides immediate feedback and shows if the student response is correct. Students are allocated seven attempts for each problem. Mr. Patterson advises if a student reaches incorrect attempt four or five, they need to come in and ask for assistance on that specific problem. The overall due date is communicated and students are expected to submit for each problem before that due date.
Nice feature of Quest is the problems are unique to each student (Ex. Exact same type of acceleration problem, just unique values for each student). This is a very personalized homework/informal assessment strategy, which definitely allows Mr. Patterson to gather data and information about the progress of his students.
10:38 AM 4th Period - English IV - Mrs. Massingale
We are immediately placed in one of two groups: Discussion group or Note-taker. The activity is a Socratic Fishbowl discussion of The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri. Students have previously been provided questions to discuss. Students have prepared their Textual Evidence and Talking Points prior to today's discussion.
I am in the first discussion group. Unfortunately, I don't know how much I will be able to contribute.
Ex. Which parent is Gogol more alike? Ashima or Ashoke? Explain.
Ex. How does the narrative style enhance the reader's comprehension of the story?
Mrs. Massingale interjects, when necessary, primarily about the format of a Socratic Seminar. The discussion content is very student-centered. Mrs. Massingale has to encourage the students to begin commenting on each other's comments, rather than just sharing their own. After that, she intentionally stays out and requires the students to lead the discussion. You can clearly see the students become more comfortable providing insight as the dialogue progresses.
I am able to jump into the discussion, in regards to the cultural differences that may exist regionally, but you would never be aware if you don't leave your culture.
Students do a really good job of acknowledging each other, "To bounce off of what ... said", "I agree with ... because...".
The students on the "outside" of the Fishbowl are limited to taking-notes of the discussion. These roles flip, giving all students the opportunity to participate in a Socratic discussion.
Mrs. Massingale shares that I received credit for my contribution to the Socratic discussion.
It's exceptional to see the students take ownership of the discussion (especially with their self-created open-ended questions), while demonstrated strong critical-thinking through their reflections, referencing specific evidence from the text. They were truly prepared for today.
11:31 AM Lunch in the Multipurpose Room with approximately 12 seniors at my table.
11:58 AM 5th Period - Art I - Mrs. Hale
Since the majority of my classes have been grade-specific to seniors (at least upperclassmen), Art I provided the first opportunity to see the reaction of freshmen when I entered the classroom "as a student." It's priceless.
The Warm-Up consists of what is a wire gauge (measurements of the diameter of the wire) and the five different wire techniques to build a sculpture (bend, shape, twist, joining, and curl).
Students have three to four sketches in their sketchbooks to consider for their Wire Sculpture project. Today is the first day of the actual utilization of the wire for the project, due October 6th. Mrs. Hale is demonstrating various methods/strategies for students to cut, fold, etc. the various-gauged wire using the document camera on an iPad, displayed through the projector.
Many students continue to work on their sketches and Mrs. Hale circulates to provide feedback on their potential selections for the project.
I successfully completed my own sketch. Taking into account my limited artistic ability and knowing Mrs. Hale is a Norte Dame fan, I selected an image.
12:55 PM 6th Period - American History II Honors - Mr. Brown
We obtained two documents upon arriving, as well as scissors and a glue stick. We are organized in collaborative groups.
Warm-Up includes progressive organizations responsible for the 19th Amendment, progressives supporting income tax, and the types of taxes progressives supported.
Transitions to Political cartoons accessable on Schoology. One category deals with the Guilded Age, another with the Progressive Era. Students are matching the descriptions (from one of the documents obtained) by analyzing the various political cartoons. Students glue the descriptions to the hard copy of the cartoons, which they have in their organized notebooks.
Mr. Brown facilitates to ensure students are correctly identifying the descriptions to the appropriate cartoon, but only after ample time for the groups to identify themselves. His direct instruction supplements the student-centered environment and it is evident a lot of the material is a review of previously covered content. Students are able to actively participate.
We transition to when Teddy Roosevelt took Presidential office (unexpected turning event) and how it impacted the Progressive Movement and reform.
The development of historical-thinking skills for our students are prminent, which is the cas in all of our Social Studies classrooms.
Instruction continues, but is certainly not limited to, Progressive Economic Actions, Preservation vs. Conservation, and the early 1900's movements.
I am internally reminded Mr. Brown (and his AHI Honors counterpart) teach our Honors American History classes at an Advanced Placement level. Our student performance on the AP Exams prove it.
1:52 PM 7th Period - Study Hall - Mrs. Smith
J.D. shares he will be working on his reading guides from AP Human Geography and American History II Honors, both due tomorrow.
I am utilizing the time to finalize this blog post and catch up on my own "Principal work" (quoting a student); it is nice to enjoy some of the alternative seating I helped move in myself.
A few summarizing thoughts:
The senior I shadowed, without exaggeration, had almost ZERO "down time" throughout the entire day. Instructional time was consistently and continually maximized.
The student-centered, collaborative opportunities for our students have become embedded in our classrooms.
Today flew by. I interpret this as a compliment and testament to our teachers.
This is not a voice of criticism, but simply comparing today to a normal day: I was seated A LOT today. I'm definitely the type of student who needs opportunities to move around. The challenging part is that I don't see a need to change a single lesson plan, structure, or design of any of the classes from today.
Our teachers bust their tails for our students...and it's not unique to the Principal's #NoOfficeDay.
#LNCPride
Thank you for viewing,
CS
The opinions shared in this blog belong to Craig Smith and do not represent the school or district in which he works.
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