Shadow of the Day-Linkin Park

First Period-World Geography

Yesterday I took part in the Shadow a Student Challenge and followed a Bozeman High freshman through his day to learn what BHS is like from the student perspective.

Second Period-English I

Translating and Solving Equations with Percents

I had a really insightful day and learned a lot but here are a few quick takeaways:

1.       1. The teacher’s enthusiasm can make or break a class.

        2.  I was surprised at how few phones I saw all day.  The overwhelming majority of kids kept their phones away during class.

3.       3. Five minutes is not nearly long enough to get where you need to go and also use the restroom, get a drink, and/or stop at your locker.

4.       4. There’s a lot of sitting in a student’s day.

5.       

5. It’s a weird feeling to not control your own time.

6.     Student learning does not often feel connected to the real world.  While I was never bored and felt the teachers were using good instructional strategies, when I asked the student I was shadowing what he thought the most important thing for me to learn about his day was, he answered, “It’s boring.”

7.     Even when teachers provide opportunities for movement, the chance to breathe and stretch during a choir warm up is incredibly invigorating.

8.     I didn’t find myself watching the clock at all the entire day.

9.     We don’t give students enough opportunities to explore or talk about things they really care about.  During one period a week my student works with a mentor and his entire demeanor changed, his face literally lit up, when he had the opportunity to talk about skiing, cars, and his dogs.

10. There’s a lot of math in science.

More math in science-force, acceleration and mass