Something occurred to me a couple of pages into the second half of Ayers...everyone in the book is white. I know for sure that Martin Luther King and Malcolm X (both left white by the artist) were black, and I'm pretty sure there are more than a few others in the book who are "supposed to be" black...the slaves on page 70 seem to be black and I remember seeing a black arm and fist somewhere in there...but the rest is conspicuously "colorless". Anybody else notice this? I thought of a few reasons this might be the case...
a. maybe ayers is saying that we shouldn't see/recognize color in the classroom (or anywhere really, as this applies to more than just the children). But this doesn't seem like it would be the case because Ayers seems like the type of guy who would embrace diversity and it would be impossible to teach each individual without that recognition.
b. maybe they are all white because he is saying that teachers should teach all their students how to succeed in the culture of power, and provide them with the cultural capital they will need in their adult lives. So in a way it's the teachers job to "make them white" so they have a better future. could be?
c. maybe the point is that the classroom he writes about is in Anywhereville, and drawing all the people the same color is supposed to emphasize this? but why white?
d. or maybe it's just easier to see the various facial expressions of the characters in the book (basically, I'm way over-thinking this).
Any input here?
Anyway, regarding Chapter 5...I feel like Bill on the bottom of page 73 pretty much all the time.
He's trying so hard to redefine the curriculum, and get away from the misconception that temporarily memorizing and vomiting back tid bits of information is learning. I totally feel this way and agree that the curriculum should be more about what is most worthwhile for each student to learn. Big picture, conceptual knowledge and skills seem to me to be most important, but teachers are constantly bombarding students with discreet packets of information that they need to know to pass standardized tests. Consumption of knowledge in this way leads to "intellectual claustrophobia" as Ayers puts it. It's like going food shopping and either picking things at random off of the shelves, or choosing items with a meal in mind. There must be some connection, some coherence, some over-arching theme that the students take away from all their hard work.
I like that Ayers put in the parts about "discovery and surprise" on page 70. As we read Zoom the first day of class, we were thrown off a bit as each page was turned. Reconciling the disequilibrium we felt took a little thought, and it's during this struggle to regain our balance that connections could be formed in our brains. If the students can observe something in a classroom that surprises them, or is weird or unusual, then the door opens wide for intrinsic motivation to enter into the learning process.
On page 71, Ayers also condemns busy work in the classroom. Not much to add except that it's important to always have an answer to the question, "why are we doing this?". And it better be a good answer. I never want a student to say that my class is just busy work...I've heard them say it about other teachers and it makes me sad.
In Chapter 6 Ayers writes that teachers need to get away from using standard assessments to "sort" students and move towards focusing on what each student has to offer. We all know that different students have different ways of expressing what they know, my only criticism of Ayers here is that he seems to advocate open-ended projects which I inevitably find really hard to grade... I try to make rubrics or give the students guidelines, but this can be stifling. I wish he gave a more clear explanation (unless he did and i'm forgetting something) of how to give grades while letting students find their "own voices" and make their "own choices".
There are two panels that really like in the last part of the book:
1. On page 95, after Bill has just successfully helped one student with her subtraction, he asks if anyone else needs some help. Another student raises his hand and Bill confidently struts over snapping his fingers like a big shot. His attempt at helping this student fails miserably. It goes to show that what works for one student might not work for another, and re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-emphasizes Ayers' overall point that teachers must know each individual student and how she learns best.
2. On the bottom of page 99, Bill thinks regarding lesson planning, "the struggle is not to stockpile ideas, but to find the core values that define classroom life." in the first two panels under "Balance and Clarity" Bill is seemingly overwhelmed by ideas (represented by all those symbols) and in the third they fade away into the background as he sees an eager student standing before him. Just kind of like that.
Good to see that Quinn became a teacher in the end. I don't remember my kindergarten teacher at all, but she/he probably had something to do with me becoming a teacher. Or did she/he?
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