Shadow A Student Challenge

     Fairfield High School recently joined the “Shadow a Student” challenge that educators across the nation took part in.  Three teachers and our College and Career Center Director became high school students again for a short while. All participating staff members chose a student that they wanted to shadow and the entire staff was notified of the new “students” whom might be visiting their class.  

Ms. Goli Tavassoli, a Physical Education teacher, chose one of her basketball players that she coaches to see her in a different setting.  Ms. Tavassoli was actually a student for an hour in her own class while Mr. Eddie Wilson generously volunteered to substitute for her during that period of the day.  Ms. Lisa Yee, our College & Career Center pro, reported that her student’s Advanced Placement English class was very, very advanced.  She saw one of her favorite students in a new light after seeing the workload in her classes.

English teacher Mr. Steven Sheehy had some interesting insights after his day as a Falcon student:  

 Mr. Steven Sheehy’s Shadowing a Student Report

    “During the first half of the day, before lunch, I sat through Hunter’s pre-calculus class - which was, I confess, too challenging for me and I took it in high school too; wind ensemble - the band performed a Star Wars medley for me; in Government class, Mr. Macariola asked me questions about MLA and as a typical student, I said IDK … kidding, I answered his questions more like a teacher than a student.  After lunch, I am pretty sure I failed the honors anatomy exam and then used Google translate to create a sentence for the exit ticket in German, to which many students told me I cheated. I must say I had a blast being a student again and learned something too. 

    I sat through wonderful lessons taught by phenomenal teachers. But as much as I enjoyed assuming the role of a student, there was something I did not enjoy: I SAT ALL DAY. This was terribly difficult for me. Do not get me wrong, I love learning and I was a pretty decent student back in high school and college, but I forgot how much high school students sit. At least in college I would sit in class for at max an hour and a half, then I would walk ten to fifteen minutes to my next class, that is, if they were back-to-back. If I had a couple hours to burn between classes, I would usually take a stroll around the quad or walk to downtown Davis to grab coffee, but back in high school, I sat for hours. At least as a teacher, I can stand for most of the school day, and I do. 

     

    Taking a moment out of teaching to shadow one of my students for a day was an incredible experience. It was also super educational. I often forget what it is like to be a student, even though it was not that long ago I was one. I forget how much information students need to absorb and how long they are required to sit in order to do so. I need to build time in my lessons for them to move and apply their inner kinesthetic learner. While it is not realistic to have students move around the classroom all the time, I can still find appropriate way for them move some of the time. I would love to hear some suggestions from my peers and my students on how I can apply kinesthetic strategies to my activities. I hope my experience and thoughts inspire my fellow teachers to also think about ways to bring more movement into their teaching.”   

 Science Teacher Emily Jones joined the shadow a student team and made the most of the day.  She and her student, Mateo, took the time to reflect on what both of them learned from the day in this video:

    This Shadow a Student challenge was possible because of the awesome teachers who volunteered their time to substitute in the classes for their fellow teachers who were shadowing a student for the day. THANKS to:

 

Eddie Wilson

Chelseah Alva

Henry Siler

Regina Williams

Val Quijas

Jennifer French

Justin Salazar Stewart

Adam Levine

Von Wolf Alfredo Sandoval