FieldBlog Post 2: Heights High

At Heights High, I felt very different than when I was at Beachwood Middle School.  This could have been because this was a high school with bigger students or because the atmosphere in general felt very different.  Immediately after entering the school, I noticed the many security guards lining the hallway and I was very curious as to why.  After walking down the hallway to my assigned location, I witnessed a teacher calling security on a student walking into her classroom and I felt that this was very odd.  I was placed in Dr. Eaton's science classroom.  The group we were observing only had 2 boys and 5 girls.  These students were sophomores and were learning about compounds and elements in this particular class.  When I first walked in, I felt the room was rather dull compared to other schools I've observed.  There were hardly any posters on the wall or decorations, there were only a few desks and tables.  Around me, there was a mass amount of lab equipment and on the wall there was a smart board displaying slides for the class.  The students seemed very attentive and involved in what the teacher was saying.  I really liked that Dr. Eaton put a slide up and explained it and then encouraged her students to take out their whiteboards and answer a question to show that they understand what each slide was teaching them.  This allowed for individual comprehension among each student because they had to write their own answer out and hold it up for Dr. Eaton to see.  I felt that Dr. Eaton was very good and making sure each student understood what she was explaining and was very patient with the students that weren't getting the right answers.  She had a very controlled classroom because she was not very stern at all however, no one was acting out.
My question for this observation was how does the discipline differ from a middle school to a high school?  I noticed that the discipline was different because the teachers at Heights High were treating their students as adults rather than sensitive children.  The discipline has to be more intense for these students because at that age, you never know what might happen.  As for middle school students, they are just starting to grow up and understand how things work so they don't need as intense discipline.  Also, these students obey their elders where high school students may not.  After observing here, I confirmed that I could never be a high school teacher.  Younger children may be harder to take care of at times, but I would not be able to control high school students.