It’s the fourth class of the day—chemistry. The lesson for today is the periodic table. The teacher plays an interesting song about Mendeleev, but boy, I cannot concentrate. I find myself drifting. I am tired. No, these are not the thoughts of a student, but rather, the thoughts of a teacher.

During the month of September, 13 staff members each shadowed one student for a day as a part of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) evaluation process. Having staff members shadow students was another way for the school to assess its strengths and areas of growth, according to WASC coordinator Dawna Linsdell. WASC recommends strategies for the school to assess itself, including focus groups that staff, students and parents attend, student surveys, interviews and shadowing students.

Staff members volunteered to shadow students and wrote reflections about their experience. Principal Noreen Likins, along with the guidance counselors, chose the students who were shadowed. According to Linsdell, they wanted to choose a variety of student schedules. The shadowing was supposed to be anonymous, but the students who were being shadowed gradually became aware of what was happening as the same teachers kept on showing up in their classes.

On Oct. 29, the 13 staff members and the students they shadowed met to discuss their experience. The teachers had a general consensus after shadowing their student: they were tired. “I learned that you really need to be 16 to do high school,” social studies teacher Deborah Sanderson said. “I gained a lot of empathy for students. It served as a good reminder for what they go through each day, and I was very tired by the end of the day.”

Social studies teacher Katya Villalobos shared the same sentiments. “I was tired, and I didn’t even run the mile,” she said. The teachers followed their students’ schedules for the day and attended all their classes. Spanish teacher Sonia Stroessner found it hard to sit for such a long time in each class and experienced the inconveniences that can occur during passing periods first hand. “When you have to go across campus in between classes, you have to fight the crowd,” Stroessner said. “Going from P.E. to the L buildings is very difficult, especially if you get lost.”

Besides making their way through the halls, teachers also found obstacles in the classroom. Math and computer science teacher Josh Paley said that it was hard to maintain a high level of intensity for six periods. “By the fourth class I was tired,” he said. “I spaced out, and after 10 minutes I found that I had been daydreaming. It’s a really hypocritical thing. When I’m really tired I get cranky when students don’t pay attention. Yet, how do I hold that against a student when I can’t do it myself?” Furthermore, English teacher Tarn Wilson said that she realized how missing school or just having an off day can make it hard for students to keep up.

 Despite learning about the difficulties that a student can encounter during a school day, the teachers also observed the interactions between students and teachers. “To be a student or teacher at Gunn, you have to be on all the time,” art teacher Mark Gleason said. Physical education teacher Steve Ames said he thought the variety of activities students did and were exposed to in each class was amazing. “I got to see a very different feel in a class with a substitute showing a video, silent debates in English and a very busy Special Ed class,” he said. “I took an Advil after the [Special Ed] class.”

Paley said after going to four classes, he found that the teachers have very different approaches to teaching, and the classroom environments are different as well. “In [Advanced Placement (AP)] Calculus [AB], the students were in clusters of four, doing work and helping each other,” Paley said. “It was a bit noisy, but in a good way. In AP Economics, the students were working on a practice test and it was really quiet until it was time to check answers. The environment was different and the expectations of the students were different.” After going to these classes, Paley said that he thought all of the teachers were effective and would be happy to have them teach his own kids. The staff members who participated in the shadowing process said they were impressed by the students’ ability to stay focused and also by the teachers’ different approaches to teaching. Although the teachers gained insight on the regular school day of a student, a student’s life does not just include school. “If you really want to know about the students, you need to follow them around for the whole day,” freshman Vladimir Andersen said. “There’s a lot more than just school.”

So what does the school get out of having staff members shadow students? The write-ups that the teachers wrote about their day will be placed in the WASC binder, which includes evidence that shows Gunn’s strengths and areas of growth. In January, the Action Plan will be finished. It includes the goals for Gunn for the next six years, as well as how the school is going to try and achieve these goals. Then, in March, a visiting committee from WASC will come on campus and evaluate whether or not the assessments made gauged our strengths and areas of growth correctly. And if all goes well, Gunn will obtain a six-year clear, and will not have to go through this process again for another six years.

Nonetheless, the teachers found the experience intriguing. “I would recommend this exercise to all teachers—to walk a day in a student’s shoes,” Sanderson said.