Field Post Blog 2 & 3

Shaker High School

During my visit to Shaker, I was in two ninth grade Honors English classes. I was surprised at how different each class was oriented even though they were seen as the same course. Both were reading different books and talking about different topics. One classroom was cluttered with books all over the room. Although it is an English class, it did not seem very organized. Because of this, the classroom did not feel warm and welcoming. But, this class style was very similar to what I experienced in High School. We would read sections of a novel, and then have big group discussions with the whole class as well as small group discussions about different aspects of the text. The next classroom that I went in to felt a bit more welcoming and organized. Something in this class that was similar to my experience in high school was how they have to take a quiz on what they read the night before. Essentially, it is a check to see who read or not, and gives more incentive to read the book because it counts for points.

Something that surprised me was the security precautions taken. There were security guards walking around the building in red shirts. This was unlike anything I have ever seen. I have seen security measures taken in order for people to get into schools, but I have never experienced it in the way that Shaker has implemented it. In my previous high school, which I believe is very secure, did not have what Shaker has. Theirs was much simpler. The guards walking around the school threw me off a bit. I think that this was only because it was something new, and something I am not used to. Something that also surprised me about this school was the use of cellphones. I saw some students occasionally check their phones, while others had them laying on their desks. This as well is a completely different experience than what I have had in the past. When I was in high school, our phones could not be seen or heard unless we wanted them to be taken by the teacher and turned in to the office. Although, as much as this shocked me, the students seemed on top of their work and not distracted by their phones. This may be different for the other classrooms at Shaker, but for the two I observed the phones were present and not a distraction.

Although I enjoyed my visit, I do not believe I would like to become a high school teacher. I do not believe I would work as well with this age as I would with the younger children. You have to have different tolerance levels for different ages, and I do not believe I have it for high schoolers.

Gearaty

My experience at Gearaty was unlike any school experience I have had previously. First off, this is because I sat in on a preschool classroom. The students were very thrown off when we first walked in, and I felt bad because the teacher then had to try and redirect their attention back to herself. When we got to the classroom they were going through their morning routine and singing the days of the weeks, counting, and even telling what the weather was like outside. Learning is somewhat indirect in preschool. I do not know this, but I do not feel like there are set "lesson plans". The kids are learning more about how to be social with other people their age than anything else.

I was surprised by how unwelcome I felt in the classroom that I observed in. There were two teachers. I could tell that one was the main teacher, and the other had to have been a helper or an assistant. Unknown to us, but it was not communicated to them that they were having students come from John Carroll to observe their classroom. I would have been frustrated as the teacher if this would have happened to me, but the teacher was not. She showed us compassion and excitement to have us in the class. On the other hand, the assistant was not happy to have us there. She was callous and rude to us the moment we stepped into the door, although we were polite and well mannered the whole time. She had a constant bad attitude and seemed to not only be upset with us, but annoyed with the children the whole time. This was very disappointing to me because I could not see her passion for her work or her compassion for the students. Those are two aspects I feel must be present in order to even be working in a school.

Although I enjoyed the experience in this preschool classroom, I do not believe this age level is for me either. I love to watch and interact with young children, but I do not know if I would have the tolerance to work with them and teach them on a daily basis. The job seemed more demanding than I thought it would, and I definitely had my eyes reopened. I still believe that middle childhood would be the best option for me and my abilities.