Journal Entry 6 (11/15 LHS visit)

Today was a mix of things great and disheartening, inspiring and strange. I'll start with the positives. In first period, I observed a 9th-grade honors class taught by Ms. J. (My coop teacher, Mr. T., was giving a test so I took the opportunity to check out another teacher at work.) It was Character Debate day, which meant each of the participating students were charged with impersonating a character from their course reading and viewing for a student-moderated verbal joust. Characters included a few from the class's main text, Great Expectations (e.g., Pip, Estella, Miss Havisham), and several from ancillary stuff: Winnie and Kevin from The Wonder Years, the kid from John Updike's short story "A&P," etc. It was really interesting to see how to pull off a creative approach to characterization that helped students practice their speaking and debating skills. There were clear expectations in the form of a rubric and very little input from the teacher, as she was turning over control to the cast of characters and the moderators. My only question is how much those not participating derived from this. There was an attempt to incorporate the nonparticipants by having them ask questions and everyone seemed engaged, so perhaps this is a nonissue.

Also wonderful and worth remembering was student reaction to "Boys" by Rick Moody. Several senior honors students mentioned that this was perhaps one of the only short stories they read during their high school careers that really engaged them. I have it socked away for the future, even though there is some content that might be objectionable in a more conservative school.

High among the things I found bizarre was a short-essay test Mr. T. administered. The test was handed out, but what followed was not the quiet scratching of pens on paper with pensive pauses I expected. One student after another, after another, after another would raise his/her hand or wander back to Mr. T. to ask questions, have him read what they'd written, etc. I can't understand how this is fair to anyone trying to concentrate or to anyone who didn't get individualized help. Especially disturbing was that Richie (not a real name for a student with Asperger's) came back from a restroom break after the test had begun and that it took at least another ten additional minutes to get Richie the necessary materials for him to start. Later in the day, I saw that Richie did get additional time, but all I can say is the way this test was administered to him and the whole climate in general seemed non- or substandard to me.

I continued to attempt to insinuate myself into discussions and help out students where I could. I want to get more involved in the few sessions I have left!