Eye+Spy

=** 7D2 AT WORK ... Semester 2 **= = At various times I will secretly ask a student to observe the class, take notes and to write a report on how the class is working, behaving and to comment on how much learning is occuring. The chosen student will then write a diary entry on this page summarising their major observations. If your name appears, hopefully it will be for something you will be proud to read. I expect all contributors to "tell the truth" but to still remain considerate of others. =

Student Comments

I have privately asked a few members of the class to contribute their comments to this page but no one is prepared to be the first contributor. Therefore, I have decided to make my own entry to "get the ball rolling"! (I will write this entry as though I am a member of the class)
 * Tue 4th August**

Mr Reichelt settled the class down as a number of students were too chatty. He always expects us to listen whilst he goes through the learning goals for the session and gives instructions. He tends to wait until he has everyone's attention so that he only needs to explain the task once and to make sure that everyone knows what they have to do. Unfortunately some students distract him and he reminds them of the class rules. Some students do not have their books open and he again reminds us all of his expectations and of the need to be organised and prepared to learn.

Nearly half the class have been told that they will be required to attend an afterschool Student Support Session on Thursday if they do not hand in work beforehand. I hope that does not include me! He tells us that he will send an Excel spreadsheet to our G: drives at lunchtime today which will itemise all outstanding work. I am not sure what I have not completed, as Mr Reichelt expressed disappointment that he could not enter ANYONE into the Hall of Fame, because EVERYONE owed him some work. If I finish and hand-in everything I owe, I might be in the first 10 and get my name recorded in the Hall of Fame.

During the main part of the class we discussed what we had learned from our research session about Bruce Kingsbury. Our comments were written on the whiteboard and most students willingly contributed new information. I was surprised that Wikipedia had some wrong information and cannot always be trusted. Only myself and a couple of other students took notes. As we were going to be required to do a project on Bruce Kingsbury I thought this was a good idea as I can't remember everything said in class. The notes should make it easier and save me time in future. Some of the boys just sat there and didn't do much or contribute to the class. I don't know what Mr Reichelt thought but he asked some of them questions even when they didn't raise their hands.

Finally we were required to give our number one and two selections on the four project topics on offer: group mural, group timeline, poem and a written eulogy. This was a hard choice but I settled on the mural and my second choice was the poem.

The session went very quickly. It was good that we did not have much written work and he forgot to give us homework. Yeah!!!

(OK, this is the starting entry. You don't have to write as much. You just need to observe and do a written report on what occured during that class and perhaps record your thoughts and feelings.)


 * Friday 21st August**

Still no one has come to the party! I was confident that the last person I asked would add an entry. Sadly this has not happened, but I haven't given up yet. However, I will add another entry to demonstrate that you do not have to write as much as my first entry.

It was fabulous to see what peer group pressure can do to improve student work. A competitive spirit can drive students to do better work. I was delighted to see that the creative mural being done by Kelly, Rebecca, Lisa and JJ has had this impact on many members of the class. Class time was used more effectively today, and importantly, this time was put into producing interesting and informative presentations (poems, eulogies, timelines). I had actually been feeling quite disappointed in some of the slap-dash work that was being done, which would not reflect favourably on the class, when it was presented to family and army representatives at the Bruce Kingsbury VC memorial ceremony next Friday 28th August. Tonight I am feeling much more confident! Well done to all of you who have accepted the challenge.


 * Wednesday 26th August**

The following quote expresses what I would like to say about today's class.

My mother drew a distinction between achievement and success. She said that 'achievement is the knowledge that you have studied and worked hard and done the best that is in you. Success is being praised by others, and that's nice, too, but not as important or satisfying. Always aim for achievement and forget about success.'
 * [|Helen Hayes] (1900 - 1993) **

I hope you celebrate your **achievement** when you look back on the Bruce Kingsbury VC projects which you have completed. (A small number of the class still have some way to go before they claim to be achievers!)