Field Blog Shaker Heights High School

Before attending our class trip to Shaker Heights High School, I was not very confident that I wanted to teach high school. There were some concerns and questions that I had, mainly regarding how to run a class in a way to keep 18 year olds engaged. I was pleasantly surprised with what I observed. The kids generally seemed respectful and intrigued by what the teacher had to say. The first class I went to was a senior sociology class, and the second was a freshman english.

When I first entered the sociology class, I received weird looks from the students because they didn't understand why I was there.  But after the teacher introduced me, the students were welcoming and understood why I was there.  They were playing a Jeopardy game preparing for a test the next day.  I was generally surprised by the amount of participation coming from the class.  I like the way the teacher formatted the class because they were all having fun and learning at the same time.  

The second class I went to was freshmen English.  I was dreading it at first because I never liked English.  The teacher had the student engaged because they were reading a play, Hamlet.  I learned a lot from this teacher because she made every single student read in order to receive credit.  There were no students talking or fooling around in class because they all knew they had to participate at some point.

Blog Post 8

In the future, it is a goal of mine to be a high school history teacher. When I think about what I want my classroom to look like on a daily basis, I picture an environment where learning is being supported by events happening outside of the classroom. This is supported by Ayers idea of "Building Bridges". There are different ways to interpret this theory. In my opinion "Building Bridges" means connecting things that are being talked about in the classroom, with things that are happening outside the classroom. More times than we think, the things that are happening in our society today are relevant to what we read in our history books. (And no, I am not just talking about how the present will one day be the past.) In the subject of history, many lessons throughout time repeat themselves. You can tie these lessons back to things going on right now in America, or even thing happening around the world.


In order to be a successful teacher, you must be enthusiastic so that the students are willing to engage in your lessons. This holds true in everything from the way you teach, how you answer questions, and the assignments you give. I plan to be creative in the way that I plan my lessons and format my class. A boring environment makes teenagers want to sleep, rather than learn something new. An exciting and lively environment, will keep the typical teenager's attention, giving them the ability to learn in new ways. It is important for my students to know that I am fully dedicated to help them succeed. I want them to see me as a positive role model in their life, not fear me. If students have any kind of fear for me, they will never feel comfortable enough to talk to me about things happening in their personal life. I want the kids to be willing to talk to me, so that I can help them in any way with life outside of the classroom. I want my teaching environment to be one where everyone feels comfortable to ask questions, help others, and be themselves. All of the points I mentioned are from the readings of Freire, Ohanian, DiGiulio, and Ayers.

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This book has brought many new and different thoughts. I enjoy reading it because it gives many different perspectives on all kinds of concepts. It questions our ways in education today, it makes us really think about what we try to do to our youth. The book states that we teach in a way that forces kids to memorize things, rather than learning and understanding why these things are happening. I do not agree with everything that this book has to offer, but I do however agree with this concept. It will be very much beneficial to the kids if we change some of our teaching styles and techniques. When you memorize something, the knowledge comes and goes, but when you truly learn something rather, the knowledge stays with you.
On page 104, there is a few lines that really stood out to me. Pretending the students are containers for an example, the book states, "The more completely she (the teacher) fills the receptacles, the better a teacher she is. The more meekly the receptacles permit themselves (the students) to be filled, the better students they are." After initially reading this, one might say this really is irrelevant. But if you give it some thought, it really is true. We consider our teachers good or bad based on how much information they can give their students, rather than how well they can get the students to understand the information. On the other hand, we consider the best students the ones who can memorize the most, when really, memorization is no comparison to how intelligent one is. This whole concept is considered the banking concept of education. I agree with the book, as it is more bias against the ideas of the banking concept of education. I believe there are many better ways to educate our students in ways that don't require memorization, but rather true, honest learning.

Field Blog Post: Mayfield Middle School

During our time at Mayfield Middle School, there were many observations that I made in and out of the classroom. While I spent a good amount of my time observing a seventh grade history class, I also was fortunate enough to go outside to view a physical education class. In some ways the students actions were similar in both environments, and in other ways their actions were extremely different.
When some of my classmates and I entered a classroom on the second floor, the teacher immediately came over to welcome us. She was an extremely outgoing and friendly person. Within the first few minutes of observing her class, I noticed that she is continuously moving. I believe this is her way of keeping the kids focused in a sense, by being lively and interactive. As I'm sure most could believe, twelve year olds don't have the best time staying focused. Another reason for her constant movement is to prevent the students from distracting each other. When a few students would be chatting in the back of the room at an inappropriate time, the teacher would simply wonder back that way, without missing a sentence in her lesson. She walked to the back of the room to grab the students attention, but did not stop teaching while she did so. This makes it beneficial for everyone from a concentration stand point.
Another thing I noticed in the history classroom was the teachers continuous references to technology. Almost every student had a cell phone or ipod with them, and as you can imagine, the students are always intrigued and distracted by these pieces of technology. Rather than tying to eliminate this element of the students life, the teacher incorporated them in the lesson. For example, the class was learning about colonization, and trading between the early colonies and Europe. The teacher stated, "Pretend you are the colonies, and your parents are Great Britain. Your parents tell you that you can only use your iPhones on certain days of the week, and every time that you do use it, you will have to pay them a certain amount of money." I thought this was a great way of explaining something to kids that age. Using examples like this will not only better kids understanding, but also keep them engaged in the lesson.