Observation

The day I visited Mrs. W's class was working on creating their own short stories. The students were to write a short story and then illustrate it in the Technology Lab. I remember doing this project. There have been many changes to the technology Lab since I was at Nativity. They have new flat screen computers and several printers. When I went to Nativity we had good computers, but we only had one printer, so it made it difficult for everyone to print and complete assignments. I think that has definitely been a positive change.

Some of the other changes to the school include a new media center upstairs next to the Technology Lab. The old Media Center is now the Music room. The Music room now contains a piano, a drum set, and several other musical instruments for the students to use. There have been several changes to the teaching staff. I did not know half of the current staff, but that is to be expected. You can't teach forever.

All of the changes that I observed were positive. I did not see any negative changes. I don't know if the changes of expectations of the students would be considered positive or negative. The biggest change I observed here was the increased expectation of the student's ability to use technology to accomplish homework and projects. The students are supposed to use the textbook CD-ROM and website as a study reference, some of their assignments must be typed, and they must research topics for daily class discussions using the internet. I suppose these types of expectations have been incorporated into the curriculum because of the importance of technology and the need to be able to use it in today's society.

You can tell by the student's attitude, behavior, and dress that they take pride in being students of Nativity Catholic School. It is also apparent that there is a high level of parent involvement in the school. Every day parents go into the school to help out in