Last week, I shadowed a student for a whole day. Well, almost a whole day - I have to admit that I did skip athletics!
I chose a 7th grade girl that I have spoken with previously and has had few struggles but overall, is a pretty average representation of a learner at our school. She is in some honors and some on-level classes.
My first big "take-away" was that by 4th period I was falling asleep and continued to struggle with sleepiness during 5th period. It wasn't the fault of the 4th period teacher or content, but other than a 5 minute video filming activity at the beginning of second period and the passing periods, I was sitting still For. way. too. long.
There is only so much a brain can take in. I remember hearing once that it was something like 9 things - and then you are done. it wasn't overload, it was minimal overload combined with stillness. I happen to know that the 4th and 5th period classes that I was in frequently involve activities where the learners are up and moving. So this isn't the fault of poor lesson design, but coincidence. It just happens that there were lots of non-ambulatory activities on one day. I don't know how this could be avoided. It is impossible to have all educators schedule around each other in this way. But it was pretty miserable for me.
So the question is... if the lessons were more engaging, would I have stayed awake more easily? It definitely gives some perspective of what a typical day might be like for a learner!
One of my favorite things about the day was it happened to be club day. I went with my learner to her club which was a drawing/sketching club. She and her friends in the club had a great time. They sketched anime characters on their iPads using some pretty cool apps. They were social, engaged, and on task the entire time. This made me think we need a class everyday where learners get to pursue their own interests!
Overall, it was a good day. the things that plagued me did not seem to bother "R" as much. She seemed to enjoy the day - especially art class and club time.
And, though isn't specifically a topic for this post, i still wonder why we have to teach Texas History to all 6th graders. Seriously, I love Texas - but in this global society, aren't there more important things to consider in our social studies classes?
