FieldPost 5

Beachwood High School (Day 3&4)

 

                             

 

My third and fourth day were relatively short days, but also very informative in my final days in making my observations. During my third day I observed Mrs. Ogilvy's classes to see what the other history teacher there and what her students were like.

 

Observations: Mrs. Ogilvy's 10th grade U.S. History class

• a big class of 23+ students
• very funny teacher, which helps her students be more relaxed knowing she can be open to them and laugh
• the day I observed this class, her students got their tests back from last week. they go over the answers and she shows her how the students should of approach the questions
• she is very interactive with her students and hardly sits down
• she also shows a great passion for teaching and for history
• Weebly, which is widely used in Beachwood, a place where teachers can websites for students can do homework, write blogs, take tests, etc.
• both Mrs. Buddenhagen and Mrs. Ogilvy utilize this tool very well.
• since it was towards the end of the year, the students got to pick each other's names out of a bucket and each would pick from a list a variety of movies that were about historical events for their final project and write a paper and make a presentation about the movie
• the students table are side by side, which means the students sit side by side next to each other and can help discuss about assignments and encourages talking and distraction to an extent.

Observations: Mrs. Ogilvy's 11th/12th grade Government class

• small class of like 11 students
• that class the students had to turn in a hand made book about different famous U.S. politicians or presidents in history.
• all the students took a test together with the teacher on where they fell on the political affiliation spectrum like if they were left or right and see how accurate it was to them
• the teacher would go through each question and tell the students what each one meant
• I remember back when I was high school I took that same political affiliation test, it was somewhat accurate when it said I fell more to the left side.
• the class seemed to be a very laid back class, but whatever was assigned for the class to do any day they would get done early because they had such a small class, and more things could get done faster.

Observations (Day 4): Mrs. Buddenhagen's 11th/12th grade Sociology class

• still finishing the video "Generation Like"
• they discuss the empowerment factor and the fact of getting noticed and notoriety people get on social media.
• the students were asked to input their opinion about their take on social media and how it had impacted their lives and how it has changed over the course of their adolescent lives.

Overall, the last was a good day and just helped me reassure that this is why I want to be a History teacher in high school. I believe I can relate to the kids at that age and be more supportive as they make the jump from high school to college and be a mentor and friend for them in the future.