Plainfield High School - Silhouettes Yearbook (Plainfield, IN)

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Occasional!) high school students are still asked to write on the board (it was a favorite in elementary school, right?). Bet Clark is poised as she begins a diagram. Evers math class has its stud) time to get you started on tomorrow’s assignment. Curt Brodie rolls up his sleeves, clears his desk, and—with cal- culator help—digs in. Dozing off in class, Kim Kell) typifies the seniors’ attitude toward calculus and (by Spring Break I school in general. 13

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CLASS32 . . we’re working A teaching technique used by Frau Reck is the classtime use of games and skits, ranging from Mo- nopoly to original skits; Dick Newport and Tracy Jones use I no cards in this German game. “Is that for us?! students ask delightedly when they see a VTR machine roll into the classroom, Many teachers use cassettes to supplement te ing and break routines. 8 to 3:30 On a day to day basis classroom time takes up most of a school day. Depending on the individual teacher's preference, students are offered a variety of ways in which the material may be covered and tested. Time- consuming worksheets, questions, video tapes, lectures, and reading are a few meth- ods teachers use to encourage the student to actually learn the material. Quizzes and tests ranging from multiple guess to the dreaded essay are given to see how much of the material the student actually knows. Many teachers offer students class time to do their homework. A variety of other things are done in this much anticipated time. Many popular activities include sleep- ing, talking, throwing paper airplanes, or hugging a classmate. If you enter a class- room while a teacher is lecturing, you are most likely to find at least one head on a desk. Not to say that lectures are boring, just that many students have a very different idea of what's interesting. Occasionally, you'll hear a snore erupt from some inept student who hasn't quite latched on to the fine art of snoozing with his eyes open. If you look hard enough, you might even find one person taking notes. Another all-time favorite that you will almost always hear in a classroom is talking. Oh, the juicy gossip that goes on during class; it's wonderful! For some odd reason you never hear anyone talking about verbs or Congress or the excit- ing art of using the Trig tables. Conversa- tions about who’s going with whom always seem to top the list. As you can see. this opportunity to do homework is well spent . ... but most stu- dents seem to end up with homework any- way. Why?

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Labs may be interesting or dull, uproar- ious or sedate, but usuall) labs are a chal- lenging learning experience. They are de- signed to give a first-hand learning experience in a particular subject area. The Lnglish department at PHS offers two labs to students, the Reading Lab and the Writers Gallery. Both classes are indivi- dualized so that the student is assigned his own special work based on his own needs. All freshmen are required to take their grammar quarter in the Writers Gallery, but the class usuall) includes just as many up- perclassmen who are trying to improve their writing skills. The Math Lab focuses on renewing math skills and acquiring new ones. It is especially valuable for those students who have a difficult time with math and need some extra practice. The newest lab at PHS is the Computer Lab. It offers a chance for any student to become familiar with the language and op- eration of simple programs. Some of the ge- nius types learn to write their own pro- grams, and some of the Pac-man addicts use it as a school day substitute for the 25c variety. Nearly every science class from Biology to Advanced Chemistry offers labs to stu- dents. Most of the time labs go unnoticed by anyone not in the class, except for chemis- try. Everyone in the whole front hall shares the odoriferous sulfur concoctions which Mr. Effinger's crew put together. Business labs give students knowledge of running a real business office, besides the usual typing shorthand skills. Intensive Of- fice Lab even covers the more practical skills of how to dress and how to make cof- fee for the boss. “Ready, begin.” And the sounds of keys hitting paper break the silence of concentration for these beginning ty ping students. Checking the results of her chemistry experiment. Kathy Yeryar carefully inspects the crystals which, if the experiment has been done properly, should appear on the filter paper. 14