Visiting the High school for me was like a new world compared to the school I went to when I was a kid. I could not be more amazed by the great technology sources the students had for their knowledge and learning experience.  The classroom I had to observe earned a grant this year to obtain ipads for all the students at this high school. All of the school’s classrooms have become paperless and there were not notebooks at all and students had to do all of their assignments in their ipads and any communication with the teacher is by email.

     All of the students use their ipads and the teacher also uses her own mac computer in order to present and prepare any class. Students and the teacher seem to be very adapted to the new use of technology as I can appreciate that they all always listen to the teacher as she provides instructions and none of the students have questions on how to do research or navigate the school’s website.

     While I had to observe a few classes I was able to notice how great technology was use when they needed to do a research at the library regarding the Elizabethan era. Students were able to take pictures of pages they wanted to refer back once they were typing their essays, they were able to look up information on their ipads to compare notes and information and be ready to type their essays.

     I loved the use of an interacting boards and all the technology used by students and teacher. I believe this provide a great experience for students to be prepare for the “outside” world they eventually will have to face once they are out of school. With the inclusion of technology at schools many great things can be accomplished such as having students from different economic levels at the same level of knowledge regarding technology. This provides students the ability to be exposed to things that are hard to “reach” because of their parents’ economic status; and this will help them to be able to take over a job where technology use is necessary.

     Also In my opinion there were also some cons that can come with technology used in the classroom. One of the down points I found in the classroom was the long time kids spend in the Internet and not talking or interacting with their classmates. This eliminates social interaction and I feel this is causing a lack of social skills. I would like for classrooms to be a little noisier as I remember during the time I was in high school. Once I become a teacher I will encourage and will have in my classroom plenty of team work and group interaction using the technology because I believe that anything new is always for our good but it needs to be mixed with the great system we already have in place. 

My fourth week observing BBHS was about observing beyond my novice eyes. It was about putting the pieces of my puzzle together to understand a classroom environment and the “why” teachers prepare their lesson’s plan the way they do it. We all as students are used to a routine where teachers have the “game plan” of the day, the “during the class time”, also the time to review homework period, the check the progress of the students and the wrapping up time where the teacher closes the day and give us the “why” we needed to have that class.

As a future professional in the field of education I love to see how everything has the purpose improve education or to help our students’ learning process. I was able to observe this happening at Mrs. S’ class. I witnessed how Mrs. S. offered “extra credit” to those students who were falling behind in their grades. However, they had to show her that they care about the class and they had to behave well during the week in order to participate in her “extra credit raffle”. This extra credit raffle was with the idea of having a bucket filled with names of students from her class, and once a week she will pick a piece of paper from the bucket, and will read the name of the student of that week and will offer that opportunity to the student as long as she or he was well behaved in class the previous week. I liked this idea because it is a motivation for a student to know that they can improve their grade and also help students to behave well in class and look forward for that opportunity.

Another technique Mrs. S. likes to use when she wants to check homework is to show her emails to the entire class trough her LCD screen that mirrors her laptop’s image and she will read all of the names that gave homework and those who did not complete homework on time she reminds them that they will have to stay with her 2 hours after school until they finish any essay or research that was requested; and then she adds: “IT IS NOT NEGOTIABLE”. She treats every student equally and she does not seem to expect less or more from anyone; in front of her students they all are treated equally and there is not secret for the students who gave homework on time, or what is expected for all of them, or who will stay with her for a longer period of time.  Rules in her class a black and white and expected to be accomplished and if they are not, then students also know what will be the consequences of their actions.

I really admired the way Mrs. S. had her class prepared for everything and also how well prepared she was for all of her lesson plans. I would love to apply that to my future classes and just like Mrs. S. have a purpose for the students (just the way education should be) I want to create an impact in a student’s life and observing Mrs. S. made me feel she truly accomplish that. For example, Mrs. S. had one class where her students were exposed to watch movies and then compare the written books and online analysis. I was very lucky I observed how Mrs. S. chose and old movie and book “To kill a mockingbird”, a kids’ movie and book “Hugo” and a current movie but with actors over 60 years old “Young at Heart”. Mrs. S. told me how she knows her students will never rent or read those types of movies and books; but she wanted to show them that they could find a nice experiences over things that they will think are “boring” or less attractive to their young eyes while she was applying her lesson plans with the core curriculum requested for the age of her students. And at the end of every movie I could not agree more with her; her students watched every single movie just as if they were watching a video game in their ipad! And without knowing it students were also were having an amazing learning experience. 

     My third time visiting the school I was assigned, I was very lucky to continue in the same classroom with Mrs. S. Every week has being very pleasant and I feel students now can identify me as part of their class and I can see who belongs to which class, who is a freshman, a junior or a senior. Also, I was able to identify different opportunities according to the students need. For example Mrs. S. always reviews assignments and essay first with those who are in her class but are considered in an advanced class of English, or with those who she knows were transferred from and ESL class to her English class and need an “extra” help. I believe this is very important for them because like Mrs. S. says to me all the time: “ I will be right back, because I need to take control of these two students or I will be having them navigating in the internet on things that will not help them with their writing; they really need extra time with me and I have to correct their work now or it will get worst” She really care about her students in every single aspect of their work and life. This class is not about teaching and talking; it is about advocate and educate her students. Love it!!!

     Mrs. S. does not have any other teacher in her class to help the students that have special needs or language difficulties; however, she is aware that they go to other classes because they need help to improve in different areas and she keeps that in mind when it comes help them with assignments.  Although, her students are considered equally knowledgeable in English, I can identify those students who are bilingual and need extra help for the English class. Mrs. S. assigns the same type of work to all of her students; she also expects the same level of work from everyone in her class. I did not see her grading them differently; on the contrary, she asks them to work all together and she will have the three classes I observed make a presentation for a “mini museum” that they will have from the Elizabethan era without any exception or any special assignment to anyone. She does provide more feed back to those in more need but she will not make them feel different in this class, or at least I did not see this happening at all!! I think this is important for the students as well because this way they don’t feel treated as if they have a “problem” or as “special” kids and will try the best to be at the same level of their classmates.

     I may not be an expert in education as a teacher yet; but I went to high school a few years ago, and at that age you want to “fuse” with the rest of the class. You always want to feel like a normal kid by your friends, but you wanted that extra help from your professors. Mrs. S. is really good at doing that, she is empathetic, she cares, she asks for more to those she knows are gifted and she pushes those who are in need. More than ever, I believe than an educator is more than a person “preaching” in front of a class. As an educator you need to have a heart for people, you need to know that you are there to built the foundation of our future and you are in a classroom to make the difference for those who parents will not make the difference. You as an educator have in your hands the future of someone who will be somebody or no body! We need to choose what kind of educator we want to be and what kind of students we want to have in our future! We need to decide today because tomorrow it will be too late for those who were in your class… I made my choice, what about you?