Chapter 10: Going Beyond the Classroom

Fires in the Bathroom: Going Beyond the Classroom

Learning does not have to take place just in the classroom. It is important that teachers find out the students interests which will help to inspire them. Making connections with the outside world will help to teach students about the “real” world and maybe even appreciate school more. Some ways of doing this include doing regular class work outside of the school; bring in experts to teach about topics that go along with your unit, arrange internships/job shadowing for students and encourage students to learn on their own from their families, coaches and peers.

I could relate to what this chapter was saying because as much as I did learn while I was in school I learned the most from certain life experiences. For example when I was a freshman in high school I thought that I wanted to be a pediatrician. In a causeway class that I had my teacher set up a job shadow for me to spend the day with a pediatrician in town. It was a great day and I learned a lot but it made me realize that I maybe being a doctor was not what I wanted to do. This is a lesson that I could not have possibly learned in the class and I was very thankful to have that opportunity. I also loved it when teachers brought up outdoors for a class. For example my high school is about a 2 minute walk to the beach so for many of my science classes we would go to the beach to do labs or English teachers would bring us their to inspire them.

Chapter 9: When things go wrong

Fires in the Bathroom: When things go wrong

This chapter talked about how to keep students motivated and not allow them to give up. It is easy for students to get discouraged because of bad grades. This is why it is important that teachers make sure to check in with students before the grade period ends to see how they felt the semester/term went. By asking students how they felt this term went for them, if they felt they deserve the grades they have gotten and how they can improve next term. If a student feels discouraged its not uncommon for students to skip school or slack off even more. It’s also common for teachers to feel discouraged as well. Sometimes classes don’t go well or teachers have a hard time reaching out to students. When this happens teaching can become frustrated and blunder or behave in insensitive matters towards their students. It is important that teachers know how to apologize, learn not to take a bad day to hard, try not to act like a superhero and most importantly not to give up on students.

I really liked this chapter because as a student it makes teachers seem more “real.” As a student in elementary/middle school teachers did seem like super heroes, like they could never do anything wrong or have a bad day. Now that I am older I realize that teachers do have bad days and even bad semesters. My mentor teacher was telling me that she had the worst group of freshman last semester and had it been her first year of teaching she would have quit. It just showed me that some years are going to be more enjoyable than others and it is important that no matter what I do, I never give up on my students. I know how discouraging it would be if a teacher had given up on me and I always want to make students feel that they have someone who believes in them.