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| Kasey Madsen, Junior |
As I pull out of my driveway at 6:05am I feel remarkably awake and rested. Aside from the terrible drivers who are on the road at this hour and the line at Starbucks, today is shaping up to be a good day!
ZERO PERIOD: SPIRITUAL LIFE COUNCIL
There are about twenty students on campus just before 7am. I walk through the darkened courtyard from the back 40’s to get to the main building for my first class: Spiritual Life Council. There is a relaxed vibe amongst the students and as they eat breakfast and settle in, it’s fun to hear them chat with each other about their upcoming day. Class begins with a recap of yesterday’s agenda, then quickly breaks students into group/activity time. Two groups will work on follow up from our most recent liturgy, and one will begin planning our next liturgy. As a department chair, I’m used to being in the classroom to observe teachers and am struggling to change from the mode of “teacher observation” to my role of “student” for the day. As class progresses, students interject talk about how overwhelmed they are with the month of September- they feel there’s “so much going on.” They fit this conversation in as they work to look for saints stories for our upcoming liturgy. The teacher floats around and checks in with groups, answers questions, provides redirection (where necessary). In general she is there to support the work the students are clearly owning. In this class, students sit on couches, chairs, or the floor. They are up and using the whiteboard, or their iPads, and they move from room to room. As they work I overhear a student saying “it’s bad that I’ve gotten used to 4.5 hours of sleep.” The students near her just nod- they know all too well what she’s talking about. The bell rings, and we’re off to period 1!
PERIOD 1: HONORS BIOLOGY
As students file in to Honor’s Bio class, they take out their notes and iPads before settling into their desk. I take these few moments to ask Kasey what her schedule was like last night. She gives me the rundown: “I went to water polo training from 3:15-4:00pm, then did some homework from 4:15-6:15pm and stopped to go to the team meeting at 6:30pm. Practice was 7:00-9:00pm and then I got home and ate dinner at 9:30pm. I usually continue homework until about 12:30am and then go to bed. I wake up around 6:15am.” The class itself is a fascinating teacher led lecture on color and pigments in photosynthesis and nature. I immediately think that this would be a cool cross collaboration with art. When the lecture is over, the teacher begins a review of the material and then describes tomorrow’s chromatography lab. Kasey pops out for a minute to use the restroom, and the bell rings.
PERIOD 2: AP US HISTORY @DLS
As we walk over to De La Salle, Kasey walks with a friend and chats about homecoming
and where a friend’s sister is going to college. I feel very short in this crowd of boys and- despite the years I spent working with “Company” I am keeping Kasey in sight so that I don’t get lost! Just before we arrive at her class, Kasey shares with me that she is the only girl in this class. When I ask her how she feels about that she says, “It’s not too bad because we don’t have that much group work. Besides, I really like my teacher.” The teacher’s booming voice welcomes the class with hearty “hello, nerds!” and the students take their seats, to await the discussion that will take place that day. The first thing I notice is how much bigger the desks are and how much natural light is in the room. In fact, the natural light is so bright that we don’t even use the overhead fluorescents! The teacher reminds the students that “The more you can involve yourself in group discussion the better off you are going to be.” Today’s discussion is about nationalism. I immediately flip to the teacher side of me and think about all the cool tie ins there could be for music (especially when he mentions the name Hamilton!) The class is a mix of lecture and discussion and the boys are actively involved. Kasey raises her hand towards the end of class, and she is called on. I secretly admire her for being so brave- there’s no way a seventeen year old me would have done that! The few minutes of extra time at the end is used by students to get started on the next chapter of their reading. I hear a tone (the DLS bell) and we’re off to break!
BREAK:
I’m exhausted, yet energized. I return to the Cougar Den to get my water and take a moment to stretch and breathe. I’m excited by all that I’ve learned in the first two periods of the day.
PERIOD 3: AP FRENCH
Uh oh…I learned French diction when I was in college, but I don’t speak French. This will not help me in my AP and French 4 class. (That’s right: two classes in one!) As the lesson gets moving I realize that the students are talking about culture in various French speaking countries. I listen to students speak and admire the beauty of the French language. I do my best to pull out a few key words here and there, but mostly I’m lost. I lean across the aisle and ask one of my choir singers what they are doing and she explains that they are studying the culture of Belgium. As the students listen to the music of Jacques Brel I take the moment to look at my notes. Bad idea! It’s at this moment that the teacher asks me a question in French. I sit up tall at the sound of my name and shake my head, and I’m relieved when she moves on to other students. I feel like a seventeen year old again. When we leave, Kasey opens up a bit more and shares with me that French is her most stressful class. She feels behind and is constantly spending free time to get “caught up.” She’s under the impression that the expectations for her are beyond what she feels she has the time and space to do, given her commitments. But, there’s no time to discuss this further because we’re heading downstairs to math class.
PERIOD 4: ALGEBRA 2 WITH TRIGONOMETRY
As we enter the room, the teacher and her students are moving the desks into rows for the quiz. My heart starts to race…a math quiz? I haven’t been in a math class for 22 years! But, carpe diem, let’s try the quiz anyway. Slope-intercept form is something I recognize but can’t quite wrap my head around. I take the quiz and fail, as I only attempt 6 of the 12 questions. I look around and notice that the students who have finished early are working on other homework. And, no surprise, Kasey is working on French. My mind starts to wander…I’m seriously hungry and my head is spinning. I’m ready for a break.
LUNCH: I catch up on my emails and inhale a slice of spinach frittata before meeting Kasey at our next class, AP English.
PERIOD 5: AP ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND COMPOSITION
Class starts with a few brief announcements and then moves us into a timed write. A what?! I have never done this before and my palms start to sweat. I ask the person sitting next to me if I could borrow a piece of paper and a pen. As I read the prompt I start to panic and feel foolish that I have agreed to this assignment, as I have never done a rhetorical strategy analysis with a timed written response. I take out my iPad and try to inconspicuously take a crash course in this style of analysis, using the one piece of paper I have to scribble notes. The teacher takes pity on me and offers me some examples from the college board to peruse. Time flies and when he announces that there’s only 20 minutes left I freak out and start writing. I purposefully write with poor penmanship hoping that he won’t be able to read my terrible writing. I reluctantly turn it in at the end of class and walk down to religion.
PERIOD 6: SYMBOLS & ETHICS
Despite her welcoming smile I can’t even focus on what the teacher is saying to the class…there’s a pit in my stomach as I realize I have given one of my colleagues a poor piece of my writing. I exhale and realize I’m not alone. Several other girls- Kasey included- are nervously chatting about the timed write. As we begin group work of a Venn diagram on RCIA baptism and infant baptism, I try to focus but it’s almost 1:40pm and my mind is still consumed with the timed write! I’m seriously contemplating going up to his classroom to ask for the paper back before he reads it. I try my best to shake it off and turn to Kasey and say, “how are you feeling, right now?” She smiles and says, “stressed.” The bell rings and Kasey’s school day is done. My body aches from sitting in desks all day and my brain is overloaded with information. I’m starving for some time in the music classroom, to move and think and be musically creative. As Kasey walks me to my seventh period class (I’m teaching Chorale) I ask her a few questions:
AW: Why did you volunteer to have a teacher shadow you for a day?
KM: Because I knew that my schedule is stressful and intense and I hoped that a teacher would see that and learn from it. I also hope that teachers will learn about the truth of my day and other students like me would benefit as a result.
AW: Checkmate. Why did you choose to take so many APs?
KM: I took AP English to improve my writing…I wanted the challenge. I took AP US History because I’m passionate about history. I took AP French to finish my language. In general I think APS look better on my transcript for college applications and I’m hoping that I can get out of some college work by doing well on the APs. I also hope to go more into depth with the material, like a college class would.
AW: What do you hope your college experience will be like?
KM: My reach schools are Harvard and Stanford, but more realistically I think USC. I’d like to major in law or medicine.
AW: If you could change the schedule, how would you change it?
KM: I wouldn’t. Well, I don’t really like block days. Who wants to do that many math problems?
AW: What would your most fascinating cross collaborative course be?
KM: I’d love to have AP US History and Biology do something together. But I don’t know how that would work or what that would look like.
AW: What’s your least favorite part of your day?
KM: Lunch.
AW: Really?!
KM: Yeah, I’m already at school…I’m like, let’s just get this over with.
Wow. I wasn’t expecting that! As teachers, it is clear that we have much to do.