Generally speaking, Ayers discusses building bridges in the classroom in a metaphorical sense. Ayers’
building bridges metaphor represents a way for problem solving. The students
start constructing their bridges from the problem and conclude the construction
of their bridges at the solution. Students could always work together to “build
these bridges,” which we saw in the comic book as the students literally
constructed a bridge for the classroom turtle. Along the way, students may
encounter some construction on the road, which hopefully does not slow them
down too much, but with the knowledge and assistance of the teacher and their fellow
students, that particular student should pass the construction with ease. Two
pertinent examples come to mind, while contemplating Ayers’ metaphor of
building bridges. There needs to be a bridge built between the teacher and the
students; more specifically, as the teacher imparts his/her knowledge on the
students, the students also impart their knowledge on the teacher. Clearly, learning is a two way road, a give and take process. Another
bridge that needs to be built is the bridge between the teacher and the parents
of the students. This bridge not only allows the teacher to see what is going
on with the students outside of the classroom, which could influence the behavior of the students inside of the classroom, but this bridge also crumbles
the notion that teachers live in an entirely separate world from everyone else. I do not know how this notion was created, but it baffles me how students react when they their teachers outside of the classroom.
In order
to compose a lesson on the Holocaust, there are many factors I would need to
take into consideration as I formed the lesson. First, I would start by asking
the students what they already know about the Holocaust, a concept introduced
to us by Freire. From there, I would fill in the gaps for them and encourage
them to ask me questions along the way. By no means would I stand up there and
lecture the whole time, considering my students’ minds are not empty vaults
that I am trying to fill with material. Class cannot feel any longer when the teacher stands up front for the full duration of class and does not involve or interact with the students at all. Perhaps we could take a field trip to a
local museum to learn more knowledge; I remember looking forward to the day of a field trip when I was in grade school. If we were to stay put in the classroom,
I would come up with an interactive activity or have them do a discussion in
small groups. I find that discussion in small groups makes the class not only
go by quickly, but the other students could also explain a controversial topic
in terms that the other students understand more clearly. Hopefully by the end
of the lesson, students will have a solid grasp on the Holocaust.
No comments:
Post a Comment