Edgar Canela

Professor Shkorupa

Education 202

17 October 2016

Field Observation Assignment #1

1a. Some of the voluntary responsibilities that teachers can take is to work at the tardy table

during one of their prep periods. Being optional, there are usually different teachers at the tardy

table. If it is announced on the speaker that a bus is late, the teachers are instructed to let them in

and to not mark them as late.

1b. When students are in the lunchroom, they are expected to either stay there or go to the

library. They are not allowed to roam the hallways during any period of the day, especially

during the two lunches. In the library, students are expected to sign in before entering. If they are

coming in during any period but lunch, before school or after school, they are expected to show

an open period pass. Students are not permitted to enter the computer labs unless there is an adult

supervising their activities. If a student does have an open period, they are told to either go home

or to go to the library as they do not wish to have students roaming the hallways. An interesting

aspect that I noticed was the fact that bathroom passes are color coded. This was done

intentionally as to prevent students from using the passes to roam the hallways. Each area of the

school and their respective bathrooms have a color assigned to them and students are expected to

go only to the bathrooms in the area of their designated pass color.

1c. The first specialist is Matthew Jackson. He is in charge of the math department. His office is

located inside of the main office. The second specialist is Traci Kannon. She is in charge of the
counselors as well as the English department. Her office is next to the banker of the school. The

next specialist is Elena Fabunan. She oversees the Social Studies department and the ELL

program. It is not specified in the handbook where room is. Gary Williams is the specialist in the

Fine and Performing Arts department. His room is also not identified. The last specialist is Scott

Kelly who is the testing director. He is in charge of testing such as AP and IB. His room is

number 7.

2a. When an adult comes in that wants to take a student home, first the secretary or one of her

aides ask them for proper identification. After verifying their i.d, they ask the person’s relation

with the child. Next, the school secretary checks the student’s schedule before calling them up

and if they happen to be at lunch, the adult that is picking up the student is asked kindly to wait

until lunch is over as they cannot send an aide out to the lunchroom to find the student. The

reason for this being there are too many students and it would be impossible to find the specific

student being picked up. If the student is in a class, the secretary sends one or more of her aides

to bring the note to the student in class and explain that they are going home.

2b. The fire drill procedure is for the students to get the students out of the classroom

immediately. The teacher instructs the student to not take anything with them and to leave their

belongings in the class. The teacher takes a pass with a ruler attached to the bottom that has the

teacher’s name written on it as well the classroom.Students are lead to the parking lots of the

school by the teacher who also takes role once everyone is lined up in a single line. If a student is

missing, the teacher has to immediately phone a supervisor about missing a student who may

have strayed or could be in the bathroom.

2c. In a shelter in place, the teacher is to immediately lock their classroom with the students

inside. The teacher then proceeds to tape the door from the inside of the room. The teacher takes

roll of the students and any students that are not present in the classroom (aside from those

absent) are immediately reported to an administrator's. The teacher is to keep the students quiet

and calm until the emergency situation passes or is taken care of.

2d. Every classroom is given a first aid kit. According to the teacher handbook, this is to cut

down traffic at the health office. Teachers are to notify the health office when their supplies is

low. The universal precautions of a medical emergency are as follows. The first listed is for the

teacher to remain calm so the other students follow the example set by the teacher. Secondly it is

to immediately call for the school nurse. The final precaution is to never send a student to the

nurse's office alone if it is a medical condition such as low insulin but rather to call the nurse in.

2e. The most interesting thing that I noted about the student handbook was how much of it had to

deal with academic procedures, as suppose to classroom or school procedures. It seemed that the

teachers have to be more verse in knowing what paperwork must be done or how the grading

works more than anything else.

3a. There are many extracurricular activities in the school. The most prominent ones are Key

Club, Deca, Debate Club and AP Society. These are all clubs that have to do with academics.

Some other clubs include Chess club, coding club and feminist club which are more leaned

towards activities people would do outside of school.

3b. Valley High School has a partnership with Herff Jones. He is the one that sells the school the

school rings as well as renting the gowns. His company also apparently appears on the diploma
that the students receive. The partnership entails to bring the students the best graduation gifts

and accessories available.

3c. Parents are encouraged to come to school on days of open house or family fitness night. The

school has a policy against visitors coming to classrooms during time of instruction without the

permission of the principal.