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.