Field Blog Cleveland Heights High School

My question that I formulated was "Is the approach to teaching small children the same as high school children?"  In my experience I was surprised with the results.  I was surprised because i did not expect there to be so many similarities,  Between Green Elementary and Cleveland Heights High School i was surprised at the way the teachers conducted their classrooms.  For instance some classes at Green had different desk arrangements such as tables, rows and columns and spread out completely.  When i walked into the high school classroom i expected the desks to be arranged in the rows and columns but was surprised to find them all in a circle.  This was so the teacher would be in the center talking to all of the students to make sure they could all see him and each other.  This took me by surprise because i never saw a classroom with this set up in high school but did in the elementary school.  It was interesting to me and appeared to work perfectly.  None of the students spoke out of turn and the class did not have notes on the board but was all discussion based.  The teacher would send a question around the class and hear everyone's opinion on it.  It was great because everyone got involved in it.  The teacher made class fun by talking with the students, not at them, just like the elementary school teachers i saw.

Ayers when talking about building bridges did not just mean literally but also metaphorically.  The bridge from childhood to adulthood is one that needs to be built for every person and teachers can help especially with this bridge.  Teachers are the ones students can look up to for the education they need for the rest of their lives.  Another example is the spiritual journey that Ayers son went on.  He saw a boy go through changes during a Bar mitzvah and saw him cross the bridge from childhood to adulthood.  When he takes his spiritual journey he finds in himself the steps to take to bring himself into adulthood.

If I were to plan a teaching experience I would include all of the things that i have learned through my observations as well as the readings.  At Cleveland Heights High School the teacher showed me a successful way to get the attention of a class is to set the desks up in a giant circle for discussion.  I would use tactics from the book such as "finding allies" and making "authentic friendships."  I would just want the students to respect me and be able to talk to me like one of their friends while still acknowledging that I am their teacher.  I would find allies by asking teachers what they find the best way to teach a class is and take what i think will work for me and incorporate it myself.  The best way i found in the reading is "learning from your own experience."  Through trial and error i would find what works for me and for teaching the students.  Most importantly i would incorporate films into my lecture whenever possible because like the late, great, James Skerl once said "A class without movies, is like a day without sunshine."