FieldBlog-2 Shaker Heights High School

While visiting Shaker Heights High School, I had the opportunity to observe a Spanish class and a Physics class.  In the Spanish class, the desks were set up in a square with the teacher’s desk in the front.  This set-up allowed the students to work with each other while keeping their main focus on the teacher.  Throughout the classroom there were posters with Spanish, words making the classroom feel more welcoming.  While I was observing, the students were working together in groups.  The teacher was walking around the room helping as needed.  The teacher only spoke Spanish and made all of the students speak Spanish, even when asking a question.  In the classroom, the teacher also had what they were going to be learning for the day written on the board.  This allowed the students to know in advance the schedule for the day.  The Physics class had desks as well as lab tables.  The desks were in rows facing the front of the classroom with the teacher’s desk in the front of the room.  The lab tables in the back of the room allowed the students to work in groups more easily together.  The teacher started the class by asking the students for their homework.  He didn’t care if the students had the correct answers as long as they had tried every problem.  Rather than yelling at the students for talking or having their phones out, he asked them to stop or put them away because paying attention would benefit them.  While teaching the class, he gave the students opportunities to ask questions.  This teacher also had props to help the students visualize what they were learning.  

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When teaching, teachers should try to build bridges between their students and what is being learned.  Building bridges is a method of expanding learning and knowledge.  Teachers should take into account what their students enjoy doing and if possible, bring that into a lesson.  For example, when learning different math concepts, rather than just focusing on problem after problem, the teacher could relate the concepts to something in the real world.  The class could also take a field trip to see how these concepts are used in real life situations.  Rather than just focusing on learning the material straight from the book, the students would be able to broaden their ways of thinking.    

When teaching, teachers should focus on what their students need in order to be successful in the classroom.  Teachers need to be enthusiastic and show students that learning can be fun.  They need to make students understand that school is not just about memorizing information for tests.  Teachers should get students involved by doing hands on projects. Knowing that everyone of their students has the ability to succeed, they need to adjust their teaching methods to accommodate and improve how their students learn.  If a student needs extra help, they should be willing to do whatever it takes so that they can be successful.  Another important aspect of teaching is the relationship between students and teachers.  Teachers should always be themselves and try to form a solid relationship with all of their students.  While they may form friendships with their students, they should maintain a teacher student relationship.  Teachers should focus on their students and put the students’ needs first.        

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The relationship between teachers and students is very important.  When teaching, teachers’ goals should not just be to fill the students with information.  Teachers should allow students to use their creativity and form their own opinions.  Freire’s banking method does not allow for this freedom of students.  The banking method does not give children any freedom in the classroom.  Students are considered receptacles.  In other words, the teacher fills the students with information, and the more information she is able to have them memorize the better a teacher she is considered.  This method does not allow a relationship to form between the teacher and the student.  Teachers show that they are the dominant figure in the classroom, and the students must listen to them and respect them.  Children’s voices are not heard through the banking method.  Unlike the banking method, Freire’s problem posing method is a better approach to teaching students.  This method allows a relationship to form between the students and the teachers.  While students learn from teachers, teachers also have the ability to learn from their students.  Teachers who are more open to hearing what their students have to say will be able to connect to their students and teach them better.  Students and teachers are on a journey together.  Students look up to their teachers and want their opinions to be heard in the classroom.  Students respect their teachers, and teachers should be willing to give that same respect back.