Journal for Wednesday, March 8th, 2017

All the classes are in portable learning centers, the classroom I am in has the
students facing away from the door towards a smart board. Along the wall to the left of
the door is a row of computers. To the front left of the classroom there is a teachers
desk and to the right of the door is the main teachers desk and a camera behind both
that feeds into the principals office. There are two teachers Mrs. P and Mrs. M, Mrs. M
is the main teacher and Mrs. P is her aid as she is the special education coordinator for
the school. I got there around 7:20 as the students were coming in, they start in the
room next to Mrs. Ms for the security check where they wand each student and check
their pockets and anything they brought with them. All the students must wear a solid
color shirt, blue jeans or kakis, a belt, shoes with a standard knot and a name tag with
their first name, last initial, and their level on it; the girls are not allowed to have makeup
or fingernail polish, no jewelry, anyone with long hair must put it into a pony tail. During
breakfast, there are ten students, all eighth grade, in the room. They eat in silence while
Mrs. M takes down the lunch count and writes out point sheets. The points sheets are
papers that student behavior is recorded on, they start off the day with 200 points and
then points are taken away throughout the day for a range of things from being late and
missing assignments to disrespect. If a student loses more than forty points, they lose
their day, meaning they dont get a day put on their time spent there. The students get to
go back based on how many earned days they have accumulated, depending on the
severity of their offense and how many times they have been sent there is how many
days they need to earn before being allowed to return.
Once breakfast/homeroom is over, they went to their intervention of enrichment
classes. Mrs. M has the English intervention in her classroom. A new student was
introduced to the class, since it was his first day he had to be tested. Mrs. P, JG, and I
went to the library to perform a math and reading test. We went in with the intentions of
just getting the math test started because, according to Mrs. P, it takes two or three
days to complete since she can only do the test during intervention. Mrs. P started the
test showing me how she scored it and how to give the test properly then she let me
take over and give the test while she observed. From the beginning, it was evident that
he was on a very low level and we ended up finishing the test before intervention was
over. Then during his English class, which Mrs. M also taught, we were able to give him
his English test. He scored a little higher on it, but he was still severely below grade
level as he was in 9th grade. Mrs. M said he would have to rotate between both Math
and English RTI.
When I first came to the school to meet the teachers I would be working with and
introduce myself to the students, they let me observe another student, BR, who was
also way below grade level. His class came in right after JGs class left, he and I worked
one on one during this class period, we would read his assignment together then I
would ask him the questions given to see if he comprehended the material. He was
given readings from a website for 1st graders and he could read the words, his main
problem was putting them together to understand them. When he is reading by himself
he struggles but when someone reads to him he can understand exactly what it is
saying.
The next class that I got to work with was the 6 th and 7th grade class, there are 13
students in that class and only one is a girl. One of the students, SS, is a 5 th grader, they
try not to let elementary school students into the school but he has severe behavioral
issues. Before I even met him, Mrs. M warned me that he is a kleptomaniac and will
pocket any phones or keys left unattended. There is another child in that class who is
ADHD as well as bipolar, CS, he came in acting as if he was in charge of the classroom
and Mrs. M quickly put an end to that. She had complete control over that class, it takes
two or three minutes for them to get settled but they quickly calm down and get to work.
I asked her how she controls them so well, she told me that since she works at an
alternative school she isnt there to be their friend, she is there to teach them the
material and how to behave properly so they dont end up in jail.
After that class, the 11th and 12th graders came in. One of the students, KJ, is
legally blind but that is the only thing holding him back, outside of being in alternative
school. Since he was in AP for every class at the high school, he is technically finished
with all of his credits due to being in those classes for a full semester and taking EOCs
upon entering the academy. They have to keep him there until he graduates but they
dont have any classes for him, so they use him as a peer counselor. He would make
presentations and plan activities for another class during this time while the others did
their course work. He sat with his nose almost against the screen and had major typos
that he would have the other senior in the room fix.
After the last class, the students were called one by one out to their parents cars.
On their way out, they would pick up their point sheets that would be tallied once their
name was called because they can lose points all the way until they get into their car.
Once all the students are gone, about 2:30, Mrs. M gets all of her things together for
tomorrow morning and leaves the moment 2:45 rolls around since she has to get her
children from school.