I wish I had had Will Brown as my chemistry teacher in high school. I could have used someone who was willing to break down the text in class like he did. The labs were a piece of cake, but deciphering the text not so easy. Brown’s classroom design where students are assigned a team with names like Kinetic Kids, Periodic Pros, and Carbon Cavaliers to name a few, creates a sense of camaraderie in an unknown environment. He challenges the students to become “science learners . . . he builds routines that support their risk taking, sets thoughtful expectations for classroom discourse, and models and supports collaboration in a learning community” (102).
Gayle Cribbs in her Honors U. S. History class paired her students up to decipher the Constitution of the U. S. in regards to the internment of the Japanese during WWII. Here again a teacher supports risk taking by giving students the opportunity to deconstruct a difficult text together and participate in a class discussion about their confusion over terminology and questions concerning the legalities of the internment. It is interesting that as educators we assume students are going to be able to deconstruct difficult texts by themselves, when in fact we as grad students discuss difficult texts together to find meaning, not to mention that many scholars collaborate on their research before publishing their work.
These particular methods of teaching reminded me of Aylen’s comments on what he is doing this semester in his class. His students designed their assignments and rubrics, with his guidance. They are in charge of their learning process. It would make an interesting research study if he continued to keep this method of teaching over the next few years. I actually would like to hear how he feels it is going and if there are any changes he would make for next time.
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