Before even getting to BJHS, I knew a little bit about the student population and the way the school itself functioned. I was aware that there was a lot of diversity among the students, which sometimes created conflict in the hallways and the lunchroom.

Upon arriving at the school, I was pleased to see the sign-in procedure. It was nice to be welcomed to the school by a real person, and it shows how important safety is in the building. This must provide students with a sense of security as well. I did not realize how big the school would be, or how many students there were total. I went to a middle school with only 300 students, so BJHS will take some getting used to. My middle school had one long hallway with classrooms on each side. Instead of teams, each of my classes had a different group of students; however with only 100 students in my graduating class, I saw a lot of the same faces in each room. The team system is most likely a good thing for the students at BJHS because it makes such a large school feel a little bit smaller, and more manageable.

During passing periods, the kids at BJHS were monitored by what appeared to be designated adult hall monitors. At my middle school, teachers would occasionally stand outside their doors, but other than that, the hallways were not monitored at all. In addition, the population of my graduating class was over 95% white, so all the diversity at BJHS will be a new experience. Even in high school, the majority of the population was white, so I will hopefully be gaining important skills by working with children from diverse backgrounds.

I'm really looking forward to getting into the classroom and meeting the teacher and students I'm going to work with, both for observation and for the coaches program. I'm excited to compare this observation with the observation from 255 last year. I hope I can use what I learned from that class to help me in the classroom.