Today I was sent to West High school in order to get another perspective on classroom management and behavioral issues. I was sent to a teacher who knows Mike very well, Lou Gallo. I had heard a lot of things about how good of a teacher he was, and most of the time those commenting on his status were making fun of him. I tried to go into the observation with an open mind, but all the talk made that a little bit tough.
The class I observed was during second period, and it was a Euro History class. It was mostly lecture based, and the students were 11th and 12th grade so it was pretty high level stuff. There was nothing spectacular about the teaching style, but the lecture worked so well because Gallo seemed to be more of a master of his content than many of the other teachers that I observed. I can see why he teaches mostly AP classes, because his lecture style and series of anecdotes reminded me of my college lectures from Sacco and Glover, teachers who used minimal powerpoints and mostly just told us a story.
I can see why many of the other teachers talked the way they did about Gallo's status, because its true that he wasn't doing anything overly spectacular. On the other hand, I don't feel comfortable even with US History, my major area of certification, the way that he seemed to with all of his subjects which is a little bit scary for me.
I also observed Mrs. Stanish in her US History class. This class was largely made up of students who were from the lower SES rung, which is about half of the school. The students seemed very lively and asked many questions which was very refreshing to see. I liked to see the way that she interacted with the kids was slightly less formal than the other lecture that I was watching. I look forward to when the students I'm currently working with get out of their shells enough in order for me to have similar types of conversations with them.
- I was able to use both of these classes as a way of marking off the Low SES and Urban School Setting in my documentation handbook which was nice. It was also the original reason that Mike sent me to West.
- I know I was being exposed to a culture that was different from HVA, but honestly I expected more. The hallways at my own high school, Richwoods, were far more rowdy than what I saw today.
-What I realized while observing there was that I was far more comfortable in that environment than I expected to be. I have said for a while that I want to teach at HVA or somewhere very similar, but I loved the atmosphere at West.
- I really underestimated how much my own experience in a lower SES high school (RHS) would have on my preferences and comfort level. As challenging as I'm sure it is to plan several AP classes and meet the high standards out here, I think my heart might actually lie in working with kids that generally do not have a lot of advantages. Coaching at Richwoods after I graduated was probably the most rewarding experience that I've had thus far, because most of the girls that my mom and I worked with had little else to be proud of at the time. Though I love being challenged here, I would be perfectly content if I got a job somewhere closer to my own roots.
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