Teacher Day In The Life of A Student

Sra. Boley (Spanish teacher) and Mr. Lichty (Math Teacher), started the experiment by visiting Mr. Vollmecke’s speech class. Boley reflected, “I was comfortable, which I think is a great way to feel when you are in school. The environment was supportive and [I was] engaged.” In class, the students were sharing their speeches through video, Sra Boley explained, “I was excited to give feedback and support the students.” When discussing the experience and the possibility of doing it again, Lichty stated, “It would be interesting to go to some other classes, maybe what students deem as a high-stress class vs a low-stress class, it’d be interesting to get a different perspective based on how students feel about certain classes.”

Mrs. Murray, a choir teacher, also participated in the experiment by going to culinary class with Mrs. Means. Mrs. Murray made a personal connection from when she was in high school, she stated, “It reminded me of when I was in culinary when I was in school. I loved that class so much it actually made me think of all the fiasco[s] in that class, like [when] I messed up biscuits.” Mrs. Murray also felt like she got to see a wider variety of students, not just her normal choir students. She felt like culinary was a very energized and energetic class, a fast paced class that even made her a little bit hungry. She also said, “I was reminded of how to make benedict sauce, and now I think I’m going to make eggs benedict tonight for dinner, but it was really cool to see the team work in that class.” Overall, Murray was very excited to see students in a different capacity.

Mrs. Savage, a history teacher, traveled across the school to participate in Cantalla Choir. Savage said, “I was able to observe the whole process [of moving risers] and I still feel like I was getting good insight into all the things that they do.” Savage felt she made a couple different realizations but ultimately realized, “Just how busy choir kids are, there is a lot that goes on but a lot of really fun things they are super proud of.” She even reflected on the experience within her own family, specifically her children. Savage stated, “It helped me feel better about going home to my current seventh grader -you should stick out all of these things because everything they are saying is a hallmark of a true extrovert loving every moment of all these activities all day long- and that is my daughter.” When discussing the experience Savage beamed, “It is jarring and good to see a totally different subject that has nothing to do with what you do and what a kid experiences when they go into a social studies classroom from a choir classroom, or a science classroom or industrial tech.”

Mr. Vollmecke, a speech and english teacher, traveled across the school to participate in intro to strength training. Vollmecke described, “I almost died on the trip around the track and then I did good on the stretches and I do weight lifting all the time so I was fine.” He later realized he needed to run more. Vollmecke also said, “As a teacher, I wanted to discipline some of the kids, with their level of shenanigans in a physical education class, [it] is obviously different than a regular classroom but kids ask me ‘are you a senior’ you know like being funny.” He also felt like intro to strength training was enlightening, informative, and sweaty. Within his speech class, Vollmecke wants to keep the level of engagement high, so there are fewer opportunities for shenanigans.