Blog Post 7

"What does it mean to become a teacher?"  I believe that it was best summed up through the writings of William Ayers specifically chapter four in To Teach.  His belief and use of the building bridges technique is what I believe it is all about.  Teaching is all about building bridges and making connections to the students and their lives.  He shows in the book a literal use of bridge building by helping the students find a way to build a bridge for the class pet (a turtle).  The figurative meaning of bridge building however is the real point he was trying to get across.  He explains the bridges between: conception, growth, childhood, adulthood, and death.  It is a teachers job to help build the bridge for a student between childhood and adulthood and even further give them the materials they need for the rest of their lives.  A teacher is not just a person who relays information from a textbook to a student, a teacher is a person who can make connections to the students lives and help them become the people they will be for the rest of their lives.