Principal as a Student Day 1: Logistical/Procedural Observations: Hopefully, in 4ish years we will have a new building that will better accommodate our needs. A chief need is for more squarish rooms and more storage space. Also, lockers will need to be spaced so that no one is in a corner (like I am) - or maybe we will do away with lockers entirely and have in-room storage? I started out using the planner, but found it to be cumbersome. I know some students use them, but saw very few who did. I am hoping that the laptops might be a possible replacement for planners for most (if not all) students. Homework Observations: Although trying to measure a Freshmans homework load by the time it takes me to get through it is certainly not fair (I have after all previously passed the classes they are taking and have actually taught or could teach two of the seven), I hope it can give me, the faculty and parents/students an additional data point in evaluating the workload. Generically, it is expected that the average high school student should be doing 2 hrs of homework each night (and about 45 minutes more for each Honors, AP, CE, or EC course). Some classes (e.g. PE) will have very little homework and others may take significantly more than their share of time (e.g. Math). - Total time for me to do my homework = 1 hr. 40 min. - English IX: 30 minutes of homework. (To read a chapter and fully respond to a series of literary analysis questions.) - Intro to Engineering: No Homework - Geography: No Homework - Sec Math I: 1 hr 10 minutes of homework. (To do twelve, sometimes multi-question problems). I also attended tutoring after school (and got a little help with my rusty math). At just after 4PM, I took a little wander to see how many other students were taking advantage of tutoring: In tutoring classrooms: 25 Working with another teacher: 5 Socializing in commons/corridors: 19 Although socializing is one of the great parts of a high school experience, I know that the parents of some of the socializing students believe that those students are in tutoring after school. 1:1 Technology Observations: Ms. Li has students use their laptops and Socrative to respond to bell-ringer/starter questions. Mr. Hernandez has his students regularly use their laptops to take practice map quizzes on Sheppard Software. These were two great uses of the technology and are among many good starts that teachers are making in leveraging our 1:1 assets. There were many other activities in multiple classes today where I thought we may be able to leverage the technology to even better advantage. Other Great Things: Ms. Li uses multiple questioning and analysis strategies/activities (4 in class today) to have students develop critical thinking and writing skills. Mr. Ashcroft engages students in a very thorough, step-by-step understanding of engineering design principles (in this case, multi-view object sketches). Mr. Hernandez used a classroom simulation to boost students understanding of population density and wealth distribution around the world. Mr. Lewis has an amazing manner as he has students explain math reasoning that puts students at ease - which allows them to take risks and even make mistakes in front of the class - all to improve their mathematical understanding. The lunchtime basketball game with students and being able to wear more casual clothes than normal were also highlights.
Posted on: Thu, 23 Oct 2014 02:57:32 +0000
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