Field Blog post 3

While at Orange High School, it was a very different experience compared to when I was in high school.  While observing a Honor Pre-calc class made mostly of Sophomore students, it was interesting in how the technology had developed from my school.  When i had walked in the students were very interactive with one another and the teacher was walking around the room helping students individually when they needed help.  She had given me a paper of their lessons for the day and new formulas that the students would be learning that day.  She had also shown me shown me the calculators that the students used for the class and they blew me away.  They were Ti-Nspire calculators and were basically hand held computers for the students to use and it was just a small token showing the direction that the school was going in and that they were technologically advanced in the resources that they had.    The class had started with two bell work problems that the students would do by themselves and then answer them as a class and if anyone had any questions they would ask Mrs. Rudolph.  In the classroom it was different compared to what I was used to in high school in that all the walls could be moved through a sliding system and they each wall except for the wall that was connected with the windows were actually chalk boards.  This to me was something that may have been creative five years ago but now smart boards and white boards have almost outdated chalk boards all together.  She used the space well though and had many posters of formulas and signs all over the classroom which is smart because it is something that the students would be learning in the class through out the year so with them seeing it everyday, it helps engrave it into their heads and helps them learn it and retain what they learned.  Mrs. Rudolph was very involved with the class always interacting with them even if she was just talking to them about something other than math.  She knew when to get the students attention and be serious and when she could joke with them.  Her balance of lecturing and conversing was spot on and I think this is a reason why the students enjoyed her so much and could be taught easily by her.  She had explained how she had all these students the previous year and how it was amazing and somewhat confusing as to why the could understand what they were learning now and to where the struggled with being introduced to these things the year before.  Like, what was it that had clicked in the students brains and made it easy for them to understand what was being taught and apply to their work and tests. That is the main question that I asked myself while sitting in that class room, how come one year students can go from now having a clue about one thing to completely understanding it the next?  What is it that clicks in their brain to make them get it, is it the constant pressure from their parents, teachers, or just self satisfaction of doing good?
  A small point that was brought to my attention was that students were allowed to carry their book bags around into the classroom which at my school was something that was something that was not tolerated at all and disciplinary actions would be assessed if the students had refused to return their bookbag back to their locker within a given time period.  The only exception that was given is if the student locker was broken and they could not access it.