Observation:

Feb 2nd 2015

8:00-3:15
-When I entered the class at 8am there was only one student in the class and there
was 4 teachers in the class. There was quiet up beat music playing throughout the
class.
The class has two different spots in the classroom.
The one area is smaller that has:
-Five tables with chairs around them.
-Three desktop computers
-Two comfortable chairs.
-Three couches.
-One large TV
In the bigger area there is:
-14 tables with chairs surrounding them.
-One large TV.
-Five computers.
-Two desks for the teachers.
There is a Quiet room that has:
-Three chairs
-Two tables
-Three desktop computers
This rooms purpose is for kids who cant concentrate with others kids around. So
this room is helpful for people who also get easily distracted by other kids in the
class.
The classroom is open concept and does not have a roof. This makes it very loud
when the other kids are transferring between there classes well many Bosco
students continue to work during break. This is very loud but would be very hard
to change. Every once in awhile there is kids who come in to Bosco who dont
actually belong and they disturb other kids. This is very hard to manage because
there is so many student in the school and there is no formal classes it is hard to
remember who belongs to the Bosco school or who belongs to St.Joes.
Throughout the edges of the class there is cabinets and shelves holding modules,
work booklets, textbooks and hand in boxes for students. There are also small
motivational posters around the classroom. There are plants throughout the class.
Students also have access to not only to iMacs but also have MacBook Pros if
needed.

Germann seats with numours students one on one to help them figure out what is
the best choice. They discuss what classes they needed to graduate and if they are
planning on going into post secondary schooling. They discuss their personal life
and how they will balance their life, school and work.
At 8:40 there is three more students that come into the class. They all go talk to
Germann first to discuss their plan for the semester ahead of them. Each student
has there own cubby that they use because some students dont have personal
lockers.
There is a sign in book for the students because the teachers do not do formal
attendance in class. Although not all students sign in because they often forget and
its not well enforced.
One issue is there are two separate classrooms. They are connected but many of
the students are in the smaller room that has couches and a few tables. The
problem with this is that most students have to get up to get help or they simply
dont want to get up and just stop working. The teacher is aware of this and wants
to change the layout as they have just changes the set up of the classroom. I
believe there should be a teachers desk set up in the small area so that they can
supervise to make sure students arent just visiting and so there will always be a
teacher able to help out the students with questions.
By Nine Oclock there are 20ish students that are in the class. As the students
come into the class they check in with Germann to make sure they are in the right
class. There is also many students that are deciding to take classes from St.John
Bosco opposed to taking classes in St. Joes.
Many kids are looking to join St. John Bosco because they have a hard time
seating in a classroom setting or simple cant fit in all the classes they want in there
timetable.
Many students who seat by themselves appear to be more focused and are able to
get their work done. Although there is many groups of kids that are able to seat ingroup and are able to work together Some kids are benefited by seating together as
they help one another out.
Throughout the next three hours kids constantly came in and go information about
their classes. They would either get forms they need to feel out to join a class or
they would get there first few modules printed off. Two hours into the day the
printers broke in the school so they were unable to print many of the modules. So

student had to read off the computer and had to wait for the next few days to
receive their modules.
The main Issue with one-on-one help is that many students are forced to wait for
help. This could also in many ways be seen as beneficial because the student will
look at there work again and may get help from someone who is seating near them
or they may.
Because it is the first day I have been told numerous times it is busier today
because there is lots of kids registering in Bosco for the first time. Teachers are
access if its the best choice to go through with this form of schooling for
particular students in there situations. There is a lot of worry that some student
want to join Bosco because they think it will be easier and they wont have to show
up. For some students this is not the best learning strategies. During break many
kids leave to go visit with friends at break and also many kids leave during break
to attend their St. Joes class.

Feb 11th
12:30-3:30
I came in at lunch. The kids were still having lunch and there were not many kids
in the classroom. There were only 5 kids in the class. There were two kids that
were snacking on food well eating lunch. 2 other kids were just talking and eating
there lunch. 1 boy was seating by himself listening to music and writing an essay.
There were two teachers available during this time that was both eating there
lunch.
At around 1 there are many kids returning from lunch. It takes awhile for
kids to settle in to the classroom setting again. There are many kids who are able
to come in a grab their work and instantly start working. It is very easy to tell what
kids truly belong in Bosco and are really benefiting from the new learning
structure. Many kids truly benefit from Bosco. There is one boy who is upgrading
one class for university but is still able to go to GPRC, which I find to be really
cool. This boy is really benefits because of Bosco as he attended St. Joes the
teachers are able to teach him well working and going to GPRC.
For many students they are left accountable for their own learning and
success. They must attend on there own account because there is no attendance so
they must be accountable for their own work and attendance. The structure John
Bosco offers is beneficial because student in grade 10-12 are taught to take
responsibility for there own success in their own schooling. This could be very
beneficial or students who have responsibility. Kids are also able to learn
responsibility so they wont be so overwhelmed when they go college or university.
Four an hour or so one teacher sat with a group of four students. Two students
were working on similar assignment well the two other kids were working on
separate work. The teacher was there to help and answer any questions that the
students may have. The two students often would see if they could figure it out on
there own and if they couldnt they would then ask the teacher.

Why is there always music playing?

I feel like in many ways it is annoying to some students. Although the music only
played day one. I wonder if there was a complaint or something to make it atop.

Feb 23
9:00-2:00
When I walk in the classroom in the morning there is small talk between a
few teachers and groups of students. There are 7 kids that are seating on there own
doing their own work. Almost all the groups of kids working appear to be on task.
I still find the kids mostly rely. Germann had to meet privately with a kid who was
registering for classes. I think its nice how kids feel comfortable to talk to
Germann one on one in a non-classroom setting.
There are three teachers and around twenty-five kids in the classroom
today. Many of the students are listening to there own music and work by
themselves. Some teachers give students simple warnings to make the kids who
are constantly distracted focus.
One issue that arises often is that students are sometimes unable to get their
modules the same day because there are two St. John Bosco schools. Teachers
then have to tell these students to wait and often leave the students with little to
nothing to do during that day. It wouldnt be a bad idea I think if there was maybe
a teacher going between the schools that could bring some of the booklets over.
Although this school is relatively new the teachers and administration are still
trying to fix many issues. When kids look confused teachers will often just seat
with the students and attempt to get them focused or answer any question they
have. Its really nice that they have a large spectrum of teachers who majored and
minored in different subjects.
I think in many ways if kids use the system properly it will help them if
they plan on attending post secondary education as they are left with much more
responsibility. The kids decide the speed at which they get their own work done
opposed to the traditional school setting.
Kids are moved when they distract a group that they are seating with. Most
of the time this kids argue with the teacher about moving because they want to
stay with there group. The teacher allowed the student a second chance and he
instantly stopped talking to his friends and began working.
One thing I would change about this school is to make cubicles like the
college has in the library. Although this would take a long time for them to build
because of the cost it would allow kids to be in there own area and work by
themselves. These would also take away a lot of distractions. I believe this take
away from the sometimes loud times were kids are chatting more then they should
be. Kids often get distracted by other kids coming in and moving around which
slows the learning process down. If they were able to seat in a more enclosed area
it would be less likely for unnecessary chatting.

Kids often also come into the class and ask for Germann, which often
makes her busier. She may not be teaching the most material but she often is
forced to deal with the most issues. When the bell rings for St. Joes many of the
kids go to there classes through St. Joes or to simple visit but some kids stay
seating and doing work.
After transfer it takes kids around 5-10 minutes to start to focus again as
most kids are catching up from the weekend and what all happened. The push for
kids to sign in is becoming more important for safety matters when there could be
a fire drill.
The students often enjoy seating with teachers who can simply be marking
assignments and then they are able to ask a quick question opposed to waiting or
just giving up. Teachers often are able to help students with their personal
problems because they are so comfortable around them. This is really good
because some kids cant or dont talk to their parents and its good for them to have
a responsible adult to talk to.
Kids are able to hand in there assignments at any time in a hand in bin
which the teachers mark through tout the day sometimes during slow times or after
school hours.
During lunch many kids leave to eat their lunch with their friends or drive
somewhere to get food. Some kids stay at their table and eat lunch well they
continue to work on there school work. For almost all lunch there is only about 4
kids in the classroom so it is very quiet for the kids that are working.
Kids are able to bring their snacks and leave them in their own cubby so
they always have access to snacks. I think this is really good because in high
school and still in college students forget their lunches. There is also a freezer full
of egos and a toaster to cook this.
After lunch ends kids slowly make their way back to the class. It seems like
most kids are less focused after lunch then in the morning. This could be cause by
many reasons like kids socializing at lunch so much or the fact they have already
been in class doing stuff before hand.
There is two parts in the classroom and in many ways it seems like the kids
in the bigger area get more work done and are more focused on there work. There
is some kids that are able to focus for almost the whole day. Well numerous kids
cannot focus more then 20 minutes.

There some kids who dont actually attend school often because they do the
modules at home and when you they have issues they then come and ask about
their issues. This is in many ways is a good preparation tool for future education
like college and university.
Overall I think that St.John Bosco is a very good choice for kids who have a lot of
other things in their lives going on. Some kids whom play sports like on a ski team
benefit from this, as they are able to concentrate and succeed on both their sport
and school at the same time. Teachers are able to give the students a chance to
participate in activities that they enjoy. The Bosco structure teachers students
about how to balance.
For many kids in Bosco I feel like they should not have as much responsibility
on there self. Many kids take advantage of not having attendance and fall behind
so much they are unable to catch up. In a lot of way Germann is left to call the
parents if the kids are not showing up or simply calling the students in attempt to
get them to show up.