Lunch Time

Today, going to observe at the school I was a little concerned about what I would see because I wouldn't be in the classroom observing what the kids do but I would be at lunch where I would more or less see how the students personalities would really be rather than how they would act in class. I was really curious to see how the kids were outside of the class and how they were around their friends. I would assume that I would more or less see how they acted in their personal life rather than their school life. As I went to the school, walking to the office around noon time I saw way more security guards walking around campus as well as local sheriffs that go and assist with monitoring how the kids behave during lunch and to make sure things run smoothly during lunch time which seems to be the highlight of the kids day.

It was about eleven thirty when the lunch bell rang and the kids swarmed the court yard. Some running straight to the cafeteria with hopes to be the first person's in line, others running straight to the field to go play football or run around with their friends. It surprised me how many students didn't even eat lunch and would rather spend their time playing and catching up with their friends. I would say that about half of the student body didn't even bother to go and wait for a lunch.

I walked into the cafeteria, and I immediately stood out because I was someone who was new to this environment and the students easily noticed me as I tried to blend in with the students. My colleague and I sat down towards the back of the cafeteria and noticed that it was a much smaller cafeteria than we both were used to seeing. I began to think back to when I was at their age and what I would do during lunch time. As usual the cafeteria was loud and really energetic which was something totally different than what I am used to seeing during my usual observations.

The vice principle came up to both my colleague and I and began to talk to us saying things like "I'm glad you are all here!" "Do you remember being this age and what you did during your lunch?" All kinds of thoughts began to run through my head, and I tried to see how times have changed how the kids act and do things now-a-days. The one thing that seemed really odd to me was how students actually had to pay for their lunch. The reason being was because I grew up where we received free meals during my elementary and secondary education years. I found it extremely weird how they had to bring out some sort of card and they would put money for lunch daily. Another things I found that was really different from our days was how students are really technology savvy. I was noticing how they would all take "selfies" with each other and even with the principles which was pretty odd but somewhat cool. Music was even played during lunch and it seemed like a really stress free environment which was pretty cool because it made it seem like the kids were not at school for those thirty minutes of lunch.

The school monitors were really friendly and would interact with the students as if they were students and would laugh and talk different things with them. As I began to walk outside and see what the student body was like outside things were more like how I remember being when I was at their age. I saw students with their certain cliques and they seemed to have a designated area where they would all go daily. You saw the athlete group, cheerleader group, volleyball group, skater group, band group, and other groups as well. The students were really friendly with me and would see me and come and talk to me asking who I was and what I was doing there at the school.

I walked towards the basketball courts because there was a large group of kids there playing basketball and just hanging out to pass time before they had to go to their next class. Girls and boys were all interacting with one another around here and would play with each other. When I was in the cafeteria I noticed that the students were separated by the sex of what they were. Girls were sitting with girls, and boys were sitting with boys. Now that I was at the basketball courts they were all mixed and play with one another. I even noticed that the girls were really good at basketball. The guys were just playing to play, but the girls were dominating and I found that pretty awesome. They were playing the game of Knock Out and each time I saw them play it there was always two girls playing to see who would be the champion.

The last thing I would notice was how the kids school spirit was and they were all mostly wearing the school colors which I found pretty awesome. Kids had their faces painted and hair colored, I found that extremely awesome. The whole vibe I got out of it was that they were proud of their school and wanted to show off where they went to school.

Observing a luch was a pretty cool and different thing that I was used to and it made me realize what kind of personalities that they had. I don't really understand why the kids act different outside the classroom and would like to further study that. I feel that a classroom would run more smoothly if kids acted like themselves and they would be able to learn more and teachers could adapt to how they are and what they could do better to develop students learning.