South High Community School Events:
First home Football Game of the year:
What an intense game that was! The first half, both teams were locked in a stalemate as little to no movement had been made. Once the buzzer rang to signify the second half, the audience was left on the edge of their seats. A game of tug of war on the field and scoreboard till the end in which we were prepared to resign in defeat. Yet, the game isn’t over till the final buzzer is rung, with only 30 seconds left, South high game rushed to the end of the field to score the necessary points needed to claim victory for the night!
Girl’s basketball game:
During the path to reaching championships, South High dedicated one of their home days to the seniors. Hosting a senior night where their families came together to give flowers and more as a form of celebration for them. After a long game, they did come out victorious and allowing them to move one step closer to their goals!
Solar Eclipse Party:
The partial Eclipse of 2024, a once in the lifetime as the next full eclipse in Massachusetts won’t be until 2079! Taking full advantage of this opportunity, South High hosted a solar eclipse party where they provided 400 solar eclipse glasses for the students. There was an emphasis on safety to protect student’s eyes. It was also a chance to see students in a completely different context.
Bringing Carnivorous Plants to the Classroom:
Early in the year, I learned there was a grant to bring Carnivorous plants to the classroom, part of it involved creating a lesson plan for other teachers to be able to use. It also ended up being the first lesson I taught my students during a day that my mentor was out. Students got to see them in action and would constantly ask questions about them or just observe them from a distance.
Teaching it was also a really good experience because of how low stakes it was, I also got a chance to build those initial connections before I started taking over the classes
Link to the website with the lesson plans
IEP meetings and forms:
With so many of my students being on IEPs, I was granted the opportunity to attend some IEP meetings for my students. I was able to observe the process as it happens, and seeing the decisions in which the students are able to make. One of the questions and decisions being made relate to the student’s autonomy, having the chance to either “allow parents to have full decision-making, partial, or be absolved of the decision-making process.” While I wished that I had been able to see more IEP meetings, all the students decided to do partial decision making, marking another step in them becoming full autonomous beings.
Get to know your school night:
I was able to attend the get your school night and meet some of my student’s parents there. While there were few who came, it allowed for more personal type of conversations, such as with a student and her grandmother, where we chatted about how her granddaughter was in a variety of schools, but she felt like South High has been having positive effects on her. While I wished there had been more parents and being able to know students under a different context, it was a memorable and enjoyable experience.
Parent-teacher conference:
Some point during the end of the first quarter of school, a student was added to my period 6 college level class. He is a student on an IEP, and did not get a formal introduction to the Modern classroom structure which we had been using at the moment of him transferring in. There were other factors that did not help, such as him sitting in the back, with his girlfriend and another student who was on medicine which made him drowsy. The student quickly fell behind in class and when there were at least ten other students on a wide range of IEPs in the classroom, the amount of support we could provide ended up being spread thin.
A parent-teacher meeting ended up being held with his father and a plan was made. As teachers, the priority is to ensure the student learns and engages with the content, in other words, a student who is willing to learn should always get a second chance. We provided that second chance, created a plan, and saw the improvements. Throughout the year, we kept in some communication with his father about how he was doing. Now in the fourth quarter, him and his girlfriend found out how to better work together and we have been able to see those large improvements.