Friday, May 25th: Observed San Diego MET High School

 

So on Friday, May 25th, I went to observe my sister's school at San Diego MET High School. I became deeply interested in how the school ran, especially the advisor position, after reading the book by Dennis Littky (the founder of MET schools), The Big Picture.

 

School website: http://www.sandi.net/met

 

I mainly observed two wonderful advisors who invited me into their classrooms (gave them Thank You notes and a gift). :)

 

During that day, the students were also holding election campaigns where the candidates made their speech. I went to see how it went and all the candidates were amazing.

 

In the end, I emailed the principal regarding what I thought of my observation and the email went like this:

 

"Dear Ms. Phillips,
I hope you had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend!

Thank you once again for the opportunity to observe your school. The experience was absolutely amazing!

 

Ms. Kallsen's class concentrated on writing -- journal writing as well as the college application essay. I thought it was a great activity having the students color-code what makes a good college essay. Ms. Kallsen even had sample essays from previous students to use. It was very enjoyable participating in the color-coding activity with the students, too.

 

Ms. Baker's senior class surprised me the most. They were well-behaved, independent, self-starters. While walking around, I initiated conversations with each student, and they were very well-mannered, on-task, and passionate about what they were working on. Her senior class only reminded me of what Dennis Littky repeatedly mentions in his book, The Big Picture, the main goal of MET schools is to instill the love of learning, and that's what Ms. Baker's class portrayed.

 

In addition, I never knew how diverse the student population was; there were so many students from different cultures and backgrounds. Also, even though it was a small student population, I was amazed at how organized and passionate they were about student body elections. I went to listen to their speeches and all the candidates were great public speakers.  My sister told me they are all great public speakers because they have a lot of practice starting their freshmen year with exhibitions.

 

What I saw during my observation would be even more amazing if I were to see it everyday. It would be wonderful for me to have an opportunity to become an advisor if any advisory positions are open for the next school year.

 

Thank you,
Diana Nguyen"

 

Sadly, I never got a response from her. :(

Book: The BIG Picture

So I just finished the book, The BIG Picture: Education is Everyone's Business by Dennis Littky, and this independent school under the label of the public school system has an amazing education motto.

• I loved the concept of the Advisor. The Advisor is in charge of getting to know each student as individuals and develop a curriculum that fits them best.  
• The integration of internships into the curriculum and having the students practice real life skills in the real world.
• The practice of having exhibitions, portfolios, and narratives over exams that enforce memorization and regurgitation.

My sister currently works at a BIG Picture school in San Diego. I've requested to observe some Advisors in the school sometime this month. I'm really hoping to get a teaching position there for the upcoming 2012-2013 school year. I have a lot of projects and curriculum I'm passionate about creating and initiating.