I visited another history teacher’s classroom this morning. His teaching style and classroom atmosphere were very different from Mr. Stark’s. Mr. Bolt’s classroom is very structured and organized in order to push them to the next level of thinking and writing. Mr. Bolt uses random cards to cold call in the classroom. So no one raises hands and most of them stayed focused. The class started with “Bing Ringer,” which is a quick write, while he was collecting homework. He is big on vigorous academic writing. When I asked him how does he react to students who don’t hand in homework, he told me that he usually gives them one extra day. They lose the point if they don’t do it. But he also gives students extra credit work, so students can earn some points back. After the quick write and discussion, they spent around 20 minutes reading their textbooks and answering questions. There is not much excitement in this classroom, but good, open-ended questions are constantly pushing children to think and write deeply. Something I notice in the classroom was a desk next to the teacher. It’s called “Safe Seat.” It’s for the student who has behavior issues in class. Mr. Bolt told me that it is not for the sake of punishment. He handed me the “Think Sheet” on the safe seat, which is a form for students to fill in and reflect on what they did, how can they improve. I thought it was very interesting.
At lunch time, I talked to a few teachers about making changes in public schools at the teacher’s lounge. One teacher mentioned instructional leadership, explaining schools in Alton district have too many requirements for teachers. Administration puts too much pressure on the teachers without understanding their challenges. He thinks administration needs to have more teaching experience. When I asked the same question to my teacher, he simply said two points, first, pay less to the administration, pay more to the teachers. Second, put more focus on the academic, less on sports. I thought it was interesting to hear those comments.
The rest of the day of class started with an activity where students pretended to be in Congress and set up new rules for the school. Everyone loved it. It was Mr. Stark’s way of introducing Constitution. It was very fun and engaging.
At lunch time, I talked to a few teachers about making changes in public schools at the teacher’s lounge. One teacher mentioned instructional leadership, explaining schools in Alton district have too many requirements for teachers. Administration puts too much pressure on the teachers without understanding their challenges. He thinks administration needs to have more teaching experience. When I asked the same question to my teacher, he simply said two points, first, pay less to the administration, pay more to the teachers. Second, put more focus on the academic, less on sports. I thought it was interesting to hear those comments.
The rest of the day of class started with an activity where students pretended to be in Congress and set up new rules for the school. Everyone loved it. It was Mr. Stark’s way of introducing Constitution. It was very fun and engaging.