1.1 High School Observation

 In my Education Technology class, I had the opportunity to observe a high school teacher at Southside Charter High School. This was such a cool experience because I got to observe Mr. Barber, and he is a teacher that I had in the past. I have never considered teaching High School, mainly because teaching older kids has never been something I have wanted to do. But during this observation I realized that no matter what grade you teach it is important to have a relationship with your students. 

Mr. Barber gave his students multiple sources to learn from, he gave a lecture at the beginning that went along with a slideshow, and then he gave out a worksheet for his students to work on. He also uses online sources to help the students with the worksheet. I thought by using multiple sources, you are giving every student an equal chance to comprehend the material. In my Education Technology class, I have learned that it is important to give students multiple sources to learn from, this makes it easier for students to make connections that could've not made with only one source. 

My greatest takeaway, was that Mr. Barber did an amazing job at being connected with his students. He always made sure that his students were heard, cared for, and to know that they had a place in his classroom. One thing that he told me during this observation was that "...some students do not have a good home life, so if I can provide a home for them to come to everyday, then I have done my job." I thought that this was a really great piece of advice for me, because my goal is to have a safe place for students to come to everyday. Teaching is not all about books, grading, and testing, but is it about giving a second home to my students. 

In conclusion, I had an amazing time observing this class. While, I don't want to teach High School, I have learned many valuable lessons while observing that I can take them into my own classroom someday.  Mr. Barber showed me that teaching isn't about grades, but about how the students feel leaving your classroom.