Courtney J. Skemp Graduate Clinical Experience Dr.

Wayne Moore Fall 2011

Administration Greensburg Salem School District (GSSD) is organized into three elementary schools, one middle school, and one high school. Based on the PA County Data Book of 2011, there are 2,883 students enrolled in the district. It covers 51 square miles that include urban, suburban, and rural populations. Students in the district live in the City of Greensburg, Salem Township and the boroughs of South Greensburg and Southwest Greensburg for a total population of 26,744 residents. According to the PA Department of Educations Academic Achievement Report from 2010-2011, the school had successfully made adequate yearly progress (AYP) goals. I was unable to find out the number of professional personnel employed and the number of support personnel employed by the district. Superintendent of GSSD is Dr. Eileen Amato. The principals for the three elementary schools, Hutchinson, Metzgar, and Nicely are Mrs. Lisa Hauswirth, Mrs. Tina Federico, and Mrs. Hricenak, respectively. The principal of the middle school is Mr. Todd McMillen and the principal of the high school is Mr. David Zilli. The business department at Metzgar and Nicely elementary schools is composed of one teacher, and her name is Mrs. Michelle Sparrow. Mrs. Sparrow is in charge of teaching computer classes to the elementary school students at both schools. She goes back and forth from each school every other day and teaches all students, K-5. The students at the elementary level at Metzgar and Nicely see Mrs. Sparrow once a week. At GSHS the business department is made up as follows: Wendy Jorgensen, Accounting Curriculum & Freshmen Seminar; JoAnne Finoli, Advanced Office Applications & Programming Curriculum; Donna Maljan, Web Design; Bernadette Shutty, Personal Finance & Money Management; Kathy Casale, Advanced Office Applications, Virtual Business. All teachers take turns instructing Digital Literacy, which is the only business education course required for graduation. Because almost all of the business education courses are electives, the guidance department assists students who show an interest in learning more about business related courses in selecting the appropriate classes. There are a small amount of students who have to choose whatever business class is offered during that time because it is the only thing that works into his/her schedule. If a student shows an interest in taking business education courses, they must have good time management skills, proficient math skills, and a desire to learn more. For the Digital Literacy course which is required for graduation, it is generally taken during freshman year unless a student opts to take it later due to scheduling conflicts. For almost every business education related course, Digital Literacy is a prerequisite. I tried several times to contact GSSD records department but was met with no answer. I was unable to find out what support services were outsourced by the district. I did find out from the

districts web site, however, that the district does work with an advisory committee that meets two times a year. Instructional Activities At Metzgar and Nicely elementary schools, I observed two days of classes taught to students in grades K-5. Essentially, Mrs. Sparrow taught the same thing at both schools to the same grade level of students, so that students in grades K-2 were working on more basic computer skills, like searching for and saving images from the Internet into their own personal folders on the schools network. At Nicely, I had the pleasure of watching the Kindergarten class that Mrs. Sparrow had that day actually give a short presentation about a book they had read from the school library. The students used a template created in PowerPoint, in which, with the help of Mrs. Sparrow, students added two images and text. Mrs. Sparrow uses no textbooks, so she is responsible for creating the entire curriculum. She informed me that until recently, the topics that the students were learning were not very structured and there was no set curriculum in place. She, along with the business education teacher at Hutchinson, created the curriculum taught to the K-5 students. Students in grades 3-5 were working on using the Microsoft Office applications of Word, PowerPoint, and Publisher. The students had just started using Publisher the days that I observed. Mrs. Sparrow had the students in grades 3-5 make a certificate using the templates in Publisher after she introduced the application. Mrs. Sparrow connected previous learning from Word and PowerPoint when introducing Publisher, as all Microsoft Office applications are laid out very similarly. A few classes of students at Metzgar in these grades were actually presenting PowerPoint presentations they had made relating to topic areas chosen by their 3rd and 5th grade teachers. Mrs. Sparrow stressed to me that she and the other teachers at Nicely and Metzgar work very hard to coordinate topics and areas taught in their classes. For example, if the students are learning how to use PowerPoint, Mrs. Sparrow would have the students make a presentation related to a book they read during Library, or a topic they were learning about in Science. She also stated that students, starting in Kindergarten, are taught presentation skills and are required to present often in front of each other and other classes in the elementary schools. When teaching the elementary students, Mrs. Sparrow used methods of direct teaching in the IDARE format. She would introduce students to the days lesson be asking questions and recalling previous information that was learned. Next, Mrs. Sparrow would develop the lesson with direct instruction, going step-by-step through the process while the students watched. During the application portion, the students would then perform the activity on their own with help from Mrs. Sparrow and me. Quickly, while the students were lining up at the end of class, Mrs. Sparrow would review the days lesson and see if the students had any questions. I assume that during next weeks class, Mrs. Sparrow would then review the material learned in the previous lesson as that days introduction.

Because the students only see Mrs. Sparrow once a week, she can only do so much with the time that she is given, as the class periods are 45 minutes. She told me that half of what she does is classroom management and from my observation, she did spend a significant amount of time managing the students behavior. With elementary school aged students, this is to be expected, especially considering some of the classes of students she instructed were very large for their age group. Many of the classes Mrs. Sparrow taught had 25-30 students, and with that many students and very little time, I was amazed that she got accomplished as much as she did. During my time spent at Metzgar and Nicely, I assisted Mrs. Sparrow with each classs activity. I walked around the room offering assistance to students as they raised their hands, which was frequently! Considering some of Mrs. Sparrows classes were 25-30 students, I was constantly moving from student to student, answering questions. I am impressed with the fact that Mrs. Sparrow does this day-in and day-out without any assistance, especially with students of this age. I also assisted Mrs. Sparrow with bus duty on both mornings and one bus duty at the end of the school day. I noticed that Mrs. Sparrow knew all of the childrens names and greeted them warmly as they entered school. She also said goodbye to every student during the end-of-day bus duty. She explained that because she has these students their entire time during elementary school, she makes it a point to learn their names and a little about their interests. I presented a short demonstration using the Smart Board for one of the Kindergarten classes on how to search for pictures using Bing and save them to the students personal folder. The students followed along with me as I showed them how to search for pictures and save them. Mrs. Sparrow did it this way with students of this age because it was easier for them to understand. She also said that she can monitor the students as they are going through each step, making sure that no one falls behind. I did just as Mrs. Sparrow did when I did my short demonstration for the class. When I was demonstrating, Mrs. Sparrow walked around the room helping students and interjecting with helpful information as I taught. I was happy to have her there and willingly followed her lead during the demonstration. I really enjoyed using a Smart Board, as I had never used one before. The Smart Board is an excellent tool for teaching a lesson to students because it allows the teacher to stay in the front of the room with both eyes on the class. The students also enjoyed using the Smart Board when asked to come up and show the rest of the class how to do something. In the elementary, I only came in contact with one student that had needed assistive technologies because of the students poor vision. The computer lab, which was Mrs. Sparrows class room, was equipped with a computer with a very large computer screen. The computer also had a keyboard with larger keys. The keys were yellow with black letters, which made it easier for this student to see. There were a few students with special learning needs, but for the most part they had no trouble following along with Mrs. Sparrow with a little extra assistance from their peers. It seemed like those students had a buddy in the classroom that helped to keep them focused and on task.

During my first day at the GSHS I spent the entire day with Miss Kathy Casale, observing her one section of Virtual Business and her two sections of Digital Literacy. GSHSs schedule is block scheduling and consists of four 90 minute class period and a 30 minute lunch. There is no homeroom period and daily attendance is taken during first period electronically and submitted online. Miss Casales Virtual Business class followed a self-directed computer program and the Digital Literacy followed a curriculum predetermined by the district, but it was not based on a textbook. Miss Casale stood outside of her classroom and greeted every student as they entered. Her Virtual Business class was first, which consisted of mostly seniors and predominately male students (15 males, 3 females). The class was mostly self-directed learning using a computer program, so after Mrs. Casale assigned her warm-up activity, she circulated the class and checked-in with each student on their progress and missing assignments, if any. All of Miss Casales classes are allowed to eat and drink in the computer lab. The students were also allowed to leave and go get coffee from the library, where the librarian sells it for a dollar a cup all day. Miss Casale then had a prep period, after which was her first section of Digital Literacy, which was mostly composed of 9th grade students. This class was split by 30 minutes for lunch, so it was class for 30 minutes, lunch, then back to class for another hour. Miss Casale didnt like how her third block was spilt up because sometimes this class had a hard time calming down after lunch. During both sections of Digital Literacy, the class was learning basic web design using Front Page. As Miss Casale orally guided the lesson, using the IDARE format, the class followed along by creating their own simply web page with a three column design. They made the page about themselves and their interests. Then, Miss Casale assigned the students to design a web page using Front Page based on their favorite sports team or extra-curricular activity. I liked how she always let the students choose what they wanted to do so they stayed interested in the assignment. There were a few students in both the third and fourth block that needed to finish a previous assignment, so Miss Casale instructed them to do that before beginning the new assignment. Ample class time was given to students to complete assignments involving a computer because no teacher wanted to assume that a student did or didnt have a computer at home. During my time in Miss Casales classes, I spent the entire time observing the students. Because this was my very first secondary experience, I wanted to watch the students to see what they were doing. Some students did as they were instructed, others spent time surfing the Internet or talking with others around them, which is what I expected in high school classes where the students have computer access. I know I did the same sort of things when I was that age. At the end of the first day, Miss Casale had me leave a few minutes early so I would miss the rush of students and faculty leaving at the end of the day. During my second day at GSHS, I observed one block of an Accounting class, which actually had students from Honors Accounting I, Accounting II, and Honors Accounting II all in the same

room during the same period. The students in the Accounting II and Honors Accounting II classes all followed a self-directed learning accounting program and generally worked at their own pace. These classes were taught by Wendy Jorgensen who is in charge of all of the accounting classes in the high school. Mrs. Jorgensen took attendance electronically, submitted it online and then did a brief review of the previous lesson for the Honors Accounting I students. Then she went over some of the problems that she has previously assigned and then allowed the students to continue working on the rest of the exercises that were assigned. I noticed that Mrs. Jorgensen allowed the students to have a lot of freedom in her classroom and there were a lot of side conversations going on while the students were supposed to be working. I can imagine, as this would be hard for me, too, that a 90 minute class period can be a little dull and drag on forever. Mrs. Jorgensen, did, however, circulate the room; much like Miss Casale, she did this to check on each student individually as to their progress. She also chatted with a few of them about personal topics, like sports or college plans. The students in her class really seemed to like her and no one gave her lip when she tried to get them back on task. I really enjoyed talking with her, as she asked me a lot of questions about school and where I plan on doing my student teaching. During the second and third blocks of the second day, I went with JoAnn Finoli to observe both of her Computer Programming classes. These classes were male dominated and only had a few female students. Miss Finoli was a very fun, energetic woman who really knew her stuff when it came to the computer programming language, Java. Miss Finoli had a very friendly rapport with the students and it was obvious that they all liked her very much. She, like the other teachers at GSHS took attendance electronically and then began class. The students were working on a project during the class, so Miss Finoli and I walked around to each student to see where they were at on their progress for the project which was due the next day. Many of the students were creating a computer program, using Java, which would take a food order. A few of the students had created games, very similar to an adventure book where the player (or reader, in the case of the novel) is presented with a set of scenarios and has to answer questions. The answers that the player chooses determine which paths they take during the game. I was very impressed with these students abilities as I had never worked with any programming language myself. From what instruction and guidance Miss Finoli did provide while the students were working, I would classify it as indirect instruction. She asked the students questions and guided them towards solving their own problems, but she did not go right out and show them what they were doing wrong. Miss Finoli said that if these students continue computer programming in their professional lives, they will have to get used to solving problems on their own without her help, which is why she chose to instruct them in this manner.

Extracurricular Activities At the elementary level, there were no extracurricular activities offered that I was made aware of. In the high school, the business department had The Executive Club. This club, sponsored by Wendy Jorgenson & JoAnne Finoli, participates in various competitive events & conferences throughout the year. I was surprised to see that there were no other clubs offered by the business department, such as FBLA or DECA. Students who are involved in business education at GSHS are involved in all sort of extra-curricular activities, from Art Club to the Varsity Football Team. Many of the leaders of the HSs extra-curricular activities are active in the business education department. This is attributed by most of the teachers in the business education department to the students desire to become strong leaders, as many business education classes focus on leadership. I was unable to attend any extra-curricular activities during the time I spent at GSHS. Professional Activities During the short amount of time I spent at all three schools, I was unable to sit down and interview a first-year teacher. The tenure process within the district was not made available to me during my visits. Personal Activities During the short amount of time I spent at all three schools, I was unable to meet with any of the principals or the person(s) responsible for screening prospective teachers. On my last day at GSHS, there was a bomb threat that derailed many of my plans for meeting the administrative staff. I was unable to obtain a sample application for employment from the school district. Reflections I learned a lot during this practicum. I learned that no matter how much you plan out your lessons, the classes willingness to cooperate will determine whether or not you get anything done. I also learned that you should always plan more than you intend to get through, just in case things move faster than you expected. Always be ready with something for the class to do. I realized during this experience that I enjoyed working with younger children more than I thought I would. My favorite experience was at the elementary level and I felt the most rewarded on the days that I spent at Metzgar and Nicely. Helping these young children understand really made my day and teaching a computer class at the elementary level is a definite possibility for me in the future. At the high school level, I learned that giving the students too much freedom in your classroom can be a dangerous thing. They could walk all over you and take entirely too long to get their work done. I also learned that, at the high school level especially, anything can happen! The bomb scare really rattled by feathers and I was definitely not expecting anything like that to happen while I was there. These students are young adults and are more than capable of anything both bad and good.

My opinions about teaching have changed in that I will definitely run my classroom a little more sternly than I observed. The students at GSHS had a lot more freedom than I was used to high school students getting. Privileges should be awarded to students for completing tasks and assignments, not just because. My opinions about elementary school students have changed, in that I actually enjoyed teaching them more than I thought I would. What hasnt changed is that teaching is a lot of work and you have to be someone that cares in order to do it successfully and reach the students. Every business teacher that I came into contact with, regardless of their classroom management style, really cared about the students. Each instructor enjoyed their jobs and it showed. My expectations were met by this experience. I really liked GSSD and the entire faculty that I met at all three schools. The students there are getting a quality education from dedicated staff. Everyone was kind and welcoming to me, and included me in discussions and kept me informed as to what was going on within their classrooms. I would recommend this district to any prestudent teacher looking for an excellent and enriching experience. During my experience, I most enjoyed observing the teachers and getting to know the students. I know how important it is to form relationships with your co-workers and the students that you teach. I also enjoyed spending time at the elementary level and Im glad that this experience gave me that opportunity. Honestly, I least enjoyed having to get up so early when I was at GSHS! I know it is something that I will have to get used it, but I am not an early morning person. I feel like I do my best work during the early afternoon to the mid-day, so this is an adjustment that I will have to make. I also didnt enjoy the bomb scare at the high school on my last day of clinical experience. It made me realize just how dangerous being a teacher can actually be and that anything can happen. Daily Log Day 1 Nicely Elementary Grade 4, Period 1 The group was generally quiet and not as intrigued by my presence as I thought they would have been. The class was large, comprised of 26 students. Mrs. Sparrow introduced me to the class and explained why I was there. The class was just starting a new unit on Microsoft Publisher; they had just completed a unit on PowerPoint. The lesson began with an introduction, asking students questions about previous learning experiences with Microsoft Word and PowerPoint. Mrs. Sparrow helped the students remember which Office icons were which by associating them with their color.

During the development portion of the lesson, Mrs. Sparrow used the Smart Board to show the students how to open Microsoft Publisher. She showed the students the various templates within Publisher and the publications that can be made with them. The students within this class are mixed by ability level, which varied from below grade level to gifted. After the demonstration the students then applied what they had just learned by creating a certificate. Mrs. Sparrow and I walked around the room offering the students assistance and answering questions. Many of them needed little help. Some needed a lot of help and moved very slowly through the creation of their certificates, as it seemed they had a difficult time making the connections between what they had previously learned in Word and PowerPoint. If the students were finished by the end of class, then they could print out their certificates using the color printer and then give it to whomever they created it for. Those who were not finished saved their certificates to their school folder, as Mrs. Sparrow intended on giving them time to finish during their next class.

Grade 3 This class had 26 students from ranging ability levels. Because grades 3-5 follow the same schedule, this class was also beginning Microsoft Publisher. They were introduced to the lesson in the same fashion as the previous fourth grade class. The class was introduced to the new unit by recalling previously learned information from Word and Publisher. The class watched at Mrs. Sparrow demonstrated some simple elements of Publisher. Mrs. Sparrow allowed these students to choose between creating a calendar or a certificate. This class was very intrigued by my presence and asked me a lot of questions and was anxious to let me help them during the application portion of the lesson. This group of third grade students worked at a quicker pace than the previous third grade class and had the time to make more than one calendar or certificate. Because this group was livelier, it was slightly difficult to keep their attention during the development portion of Mrs. Sparrows lesson. She did spend more time managing the classroom than during the previous class. Mrs. Sparrow used a technique of ringing a bell when the class got too loud or out of turn, which helped tremendously.

Grade 2 This was a much smaller group of students than the previous two classes. The group was very sweet and enthusiastic. This class also had a wide range of learners, from below grade level to gifted.

These students, unlike the 3 -5 grade classes, were working on more basic computer skills. During this class they were working on searching for pictures on the Internet using Bing. Mrs. Sparrow introduced the lesson by recalling past skills learned using the Microsoft Office products that they had been introduced to. She connected todays lesson with that they were learning in their Language Arts class and how they will use this skill at later dates. She demonstrated how to search Bing for pictures using the Smart Board. She searched for Greensburg Salems mascot, the lion. The students then logged onto their computers and mimicked Mrs. Sparrows search. The students searched for a lion during their first search, and then chose an image to save to their school folder. After they successfully completed this task, then they were allowed to search for anything that they wanted and save at least one of those images to their school folder. Towards the end of class Mrs. Sparrow when through some of the images that the students had searched for and saved showed them to the rest of the class. This was the first time that the students had ever searched for and saved images from the Internet.

Kindergarten This was a very large group of students and many of them had not gone to pre-school. Mrs. Sparrow explained to me that many of the students in this years Kindergarten group were from a low-income housing development near-by. She said that the year had started out with some difficulty but the students were adjusting well. This Kindergarten group was practicing reading the PowerPoint slides that Mrs. Sparrow helped them create about the book that they read during their library time. They were giving their little presentations to one of the fifth grade classes. Mrs. Sparrow put them in order alphabetically by first name and then they were through the slide show. Each student said his or her name and then read their sentences using the Smart Board. Mrs. Sparrow spent most of the time managing the classroom as the students practiced. Many of them were loud and talked a lot. There was a range of reading levels in the class, from below grade level to advanced. This was the first time the students ever presented in front of another class so many of them were nervous! The fifth grade class came and the Kindergarten class did an excellent job presenting for them. The fifth grade students were very respectful of the Kindergarten class. The students really enjoyed me being in the classroom and watching them and a few of these students even hugged me as they left. It was a very rewarding experience!

Grade 1 The students in this first grade class were one of the most advanced first grade classes that I had ever seen. Mrs. Sparrow explained that their first grade teacher was amazing and had been at the school for years. She had brought the students in practiced and ready to give their presentations. These students, much like the Kindergarten class, made a one slide presentation about a book they had read during library time. The class just presented for one another and did a terrific job! I was so impressed! They all read very well and had excellent speaking abilities. Because they had finished early presenting, as they did not need to in class to practice, she then allowed the class to get on the computers and play education games. The students were very excited by this and all rushed right over to start playing. The students worked very quietly for the next 15 minutes that were left in class and hardly needed any management by Mrs. Sparrow. This was a very large first grade group and I was amazed at how well behaved they all were.

Grade 5 This was the same group of students who observed the Kindergarten class give their presentations. They, too, started learning Publisher today and were introduced to the lesson in much the same fashion as the third and fourth grade classes. Because these students were older and more advanced using the computers, she allowed them to make a flyer for a fundraiser that they could make up. She used examples of fundraisers that the school had held. She showcased an example that she had made to show students what one could look like. The class was given a checklist for them to use as they added the required components to the flyer. None of the students finished, but Mrs. Sparrow said she expected that. She said that the students would finish during their next class. This group was very imaginative and came up with some really interesting ideas as I walked around the room offering help and asking questions about what the students were making. The girls in this group were very talkative and Mrs. Sparrow had to remind them several times to be quiet. The students in this group were generally well behaved.

Day 2 Metzgar Elementary Grade 4 This class was composed of 20 students ranging in ability levels.

Much like the previous day, this fourth grade class was getting introduced to Publisher. The introduction and development were the same as the previous day but Mrs. Sparrow did not have a Smart Board so she had to use an overhead projector. A student volunteer was chosen to use the computer that the projector was hooked up to. Every student was anxious to do this. Mrs. Sparrow chose a different student every week so everyone could have a turn. This class listened very well and every student finished at least one certificate during the class period. This school was much less diverse than Nicely Elementary, as it was much more rural. During the application of the lesson, I walked around with Mrs. Sparrow and offered help, but most students didnt need much.

Grade 5 Students in this class were presenting topics related to their literacy circles and reading from their Language Arts class. Seven topics were split up amongst the students and each created a PowerPoint presentation from information they found on their topics. Not every student got to present. One student in particular got picked on by the rest of the class. Mrs. Sparrow said that his behaviors often made him a target by the other students. This class was very eager to present as a whole. I noticed that many students just copied and pasted the information from the web sites where they found it. It made me wonder whether or not they were being taught proper research techniques or if their teacher felt that they were too young for that sort of thing.

Kindergarten There were 25 students in this class and this was the group that I presented to on searching for pictures using Bing. I followed the same presentation structure as Mrs. Sparrow did when teaching the previous days class. The class had students of varying abilities. I only had a limited amount of time, as this class was going to watch the first grade class present about a book they had read during library time at 1:05 pm. My mini lesson included a quick ten-minute refresher for the students and then they were allowed to search on their own. This group was very rowdy and had trouble focusing. There was a gumball reward system in place for this class. The start out with five at the beginning of every class and lose one for every time they act-up. They had two left by the time they were to watch the first grade present. They were very quiet and attentive during the first grade presentations.

Grade 1 The class was composed of 17 students and was the same class that presented the period before. In this group, they were practicing typing using Word by answering the question: What treat do you like for your birthday? One student did not celebrate birthdays based on religious reasons, so he was given a similar task to complete. The students had to write at least three sentences. Some students finished very quickly, others took nearly the entire period to complete the task. I notice that most students who didnt finish were far too focused on changing the color, size, and style of the font they were using. If I would have taught this lesson, I would have instructed the students that they could not change any of those things till their sentences were finished. Im sure most students would have wanted to finish so they could personalize their paragraph. They were instructed not to correct spelling errors and I could not help them spell anything. When they were finished they were allowed to print in color. Those who finished early played educational games. A significant amount of time was spent managing the class my Mrs. Sparrow.

Grade 2 There were 28 students in this class. They spent the period searching for pictures on the Internet using Bing. A few third grade female students were allowed to come down by their homeroom teacher and help so I just spent this class period observing and didnt offer any assistance to the class. A student helper was chosen to use the computer that was connected to the projector. This was a very large grouping with varying ability levels. The gifted students in this group had a hard time working at the slower pace that many of the students in this group worked at. Mrs. Sparrow insisted everyone staying with her during the demonstration. Most students had little trouble once the demonstration was over. Mrs. Sparrow asked them to find as many pictures as possible. The noise level was an issue in the room and time outs were threatened as punishment. Mrs. Sparrow ran late accidentally because her clock stopped during class.

Grade 3 There were 30 students in this class because it was composed of 1 third grade classes. This group was given assigned seats because of their behavior.

Mrs. Sparrow introduced the lesson right away and got right to work because there were so many students. She connected the templates used in PowerPoint to the templates used in Publisher so the students would have an easier time understanding. She has then follow her on their computers during the development, not just watch and do like many of the other classes. They made certificates in this class as well. To relate the lesson to the class, she asked if any of them had received certificates and why they had received a certificate. She showed the students and example from a student from Metzgar. Many students got out of their seats to ask for help, with Mrs. Sparrow does not like them to do to avoid chaos in the room. She stresses that the students should raise their hands. Students got out of their seats over and over again. It was a definite problem for her to manage this class. Many students finished quickly and were anxious to make more certificates. 30 students of this age are far too many for one teacher! Especially at the end of the day. Mrs. Sparrow said she would have a much easier time if these students met with her during first period.

Day 3 GSHS Beginning of the day/General info Block scheduling is used. Four 90 minute periods a day. There was no homeroom period and attendance was taken during block 1. Attendance is done online. Miss Casale stands out in the hallway and greats students as they enter her room and go through the hallways. Students are allowed to bring drinks and food in the computer lab for Miss Casales class.

Block 1 Virtual Business The LMS Blackboard is used by the district and most if not all things are done electronically. Retail theft was the topic for todays lesson where the students had to create a flyer about ways to prevent retail theft. Each class the students do a warm-up activity. Students are allowed to listen to music while they work. Miss Casale walks around and checks with each student individually about what they are doing in the business simulation. Miss Casale gives the students ten minutes to get seated and calm down during the beginning of class, which is why she has a warm-up activity each day.

The simulation that the students use for this class is self-guided and consists of 18 lessons. When I was there, Miss Casale said the class should be around lesson nine. Towards the end of the simulation there is a multi-player portion where the class competes against each other in teams and the students have a lot of fun with that. Miss Casale explained to me that students take more responsibility for their learning in this class as it is all self-directed, which the district feels is important for those students who are college-bound. During the development portion of the lesson, Miss Casale just went over the notes for lesson 9 and then the class was allowed to continue working on whatever lesson they were on. Grades in the HS are available online and are updated constantly by the teachers, in lieu of a report card. Parents can go online anytime and see how their children are doing. Miss Casale this is the first year they are doing this and it is working out well. Miss Casale said that because some students take this class as a schedule filler and not because they want to, she tries to keep the class motivated by doing fun things.

Block 3/Block 4 Digital Literacy Miss Casale teaches two sections of Digital Literacy. Block 3 in split up by lunch. This class is a freshman required course and all students must take it to graduate. Students logged into Blackboard to complete a journal activity related to a current even in technology as a start-up activity. This class much more so than the Virtual Business class is interested in my presence. I relocate to the back of the room for these two classes and I notice that some students are doing other things besides working on the journal activity. Today, Miss Casale introduced Front Page web design to the class and went over many of the basic elements of the software. Some students were not finished with cyber security, the pervious lesson, so they will finish with work from that after the Front Page demonstration. The class will be creating a few simple one-page web sites between now and Friday. Since the projector computer did not have Front Page, she had to guide the lesson orally. The class created a one page web site with a three column table to organize the pictures and page title. Under the table, the students typed a short paragraph about themselves. Following the development activity, the students are given handed packets with all of their Front Page activities. For the first activity students are to choose any sports team and make a web site for them. Miss Casale noted that the group during Block 3 is filled with a lot of conflicting personalities and she cannot pair them up into groups for any projects. Everything must be done independently.

The class during the Block 4 is a much more cooperative group and they get to do more fun activities than the group in Block 3. The class during Block 4 took much less time to get started on their journal activity and progressed further on the Front Page assignments than the other group. Miss Casale tries not to lecture for any longer than 20 minutes, as she noted the students quickly lose interest in the activity and dont pay attention to her. Miss Casale was such a nice teacher! I wonder if the students ever take advantage of her for being so nice.

Day 4 GSHS Block 1 Honors Accounting I, Accounting II, Honors Accounting II This class is filled with a mixed group accounting students in the three above classes. Mrs. Jorgensen walks around the room in the beginning of class, chatting with the students and asking personal questions. She said it helps to break down the barriers between her and the students. During the Introduction, Mrs. Jorgensen reviews the Matching Concept and PEPURR. The students in both sections of Accounting II are working on their own in a self-paced online accounting simulation. Mrs. Jorgensen almost all of Accounting II is done online because they no longer make the workbooks for the Accounting text. For the Accounting I students, they finish working on review exercise assigned yesterday from the textbook. She spends time with each student as they complete their work, checking on their status and amount of progress. The class was a very chatty group and was allowed to talk while they worked. I noticed that the students had a lot more freedom in the classroom than I did when I was in high school. Wrap-up at the end of class included a quick review of the answers from the assigned exercises.

Block 2/Block 3 Computer Programming These classes, taught by Miss JoAnn Finoli are composed of mostly male students and juniors and seniors. During Block 2, the students were finishing up work on a project, so I circulated the room with Miss Finoli to see where each student was on the project. Miss Finoli takes more indirect approach to instructing and helping the students, guiding them to the places where they can solve the problems and not just telling them the answers. I appreciate this approach more than just typical direct instruction as the students eventually benefit more from it. These groups of students were very talented and the class was only filled with those who wanted to be there. This is not a class that is used as a schedule filler and students must

show a real interest in programming as well as mathematic abilities to even be scheduled. It was refreshing to see students who were very passionate about something in the BCIT realm of instruction. The students were very excited about what they were doing and they were anxious to show me as we circulated the room. It was easy for me to see why teaching can be so rewarding, especially when you bring out the best in your students. Block 3 was cut short because there was a bomb scare in the HS! The school went on lockdown for approximately 10 minutes before all of the students and teachers were dismissed. Those who were waiting for school busses were evacuated to Nicely Elementary until they arrived. All of the activities for the afternoon were canceled and rescheduled for a later date. Apparently, there was something written on the bathroom wall of the mens room on the second floor about a bomb in the school and a student saw it and immediately reported it to his teacher. The police were called and then a bomb sniffing dog was brought in and the students were evacuated. It was a very scary experience for me, even though it was a valuable one as threats like this are not uncommon things in todays society.