Field Notes Week 4

My fourth week of field work took place on Friday the 26^th of September between the times of 12:00 pm and 1:30 pm.  After the previous weeks observation I decided to return to the time of the first two weeks of observations to try to further confirm the patterns I saw develop during the first two weeks of field work. In addition to this I began my observations earlier than previous sessions to hopefully see how the groups I had previously observed form.

 As I started my observations it was still the lunch period and the majority of the tables under the outdoor awnings where all completely filled with students conversing or eating their lunches. Inside of the cafeteria was no different with groups of students of varying size gathered around tables while engaging in the same activities as those outside. At this same time there where two small groups and several individual students eating in the oxygen buildings’ common area.  In the grassy area in the courtyard between the buildings there was a relatively large group of approximately twenty students throwing a Frisbee possibly playing an organized game or simply a session of catch. There seemed to be a relatively light monitoring form the staff of the school with only about 3 teachers monitoring the entirety of the student body preset at the time.

Lunch period ended at 12:20 pm but students began to head to their classrooms in large numbers about five minutes before the period ended around 12:15. This is similar to the pattern I had previously observed where it appeared that students who were not already in a class on campus began to arrive between ten to five minutes early for their classes. This trend was only noticed before the second, third, and fourth class periods and another observation period is needed to determine if this is true for the first class period as well.

During the third class period of the day the patterns that I had observed during my first two sessions of field work seemed to repeat themselves. The Drawers group was gathered at the same table that they had been during my first session of observations, which was also the table they had been sitting at during lunch. The Doors group however had dispersed soon before the lunch period ended and members began to arrive and took a place at a different table about twenty minutes after lunch ended with cup from Macready’s. Both groups continued in the pattern of conversation that they had performed in the previous weeks of observation.

After this week’s observations it began to appear that the groups I had already established chose the seats that they occupy well before the times when my observations take place. It also appears that the Drawers group appears to be much more sedentary that the Doors group who are more willing to move and change tables.