Day 2: "I am from..."

Wednesday, September 8th



We began Wednesday's class with a discussion of our favorite teachers from the past...and what about them made them our favorites.

Common themes of what made a good teacher included:

-a person who explains things well enough so that when you go home, you know what you're supposed to be doing

-someone who is real with you

-a good sense of humor

-being strict and making sure you learn what you need to

-someone who explains things well

We tied this conversation to a free-write about our past experiences in school, both positive and negative. 

Transitioning from our conversation about school, teaching and learning, we returned to our work with the "Where I'm from" poems.

Each student and the college facilitators chose one line from their poem to write on a colored square to share with the class. After everyone wrote their lines we did a "read-around" where we went around the circle and each student read their line without others responding (except for some snaps and "deeeeeep"s). 

Fueled by the energy from the 'read around' the students decided they wanted to arrange their lines from the poem on the wall during class.

We posted each tile on the wall surrounding a quote from Wendell Berry which read:

"If you don't know where you're from, you'll have a hard time saying where you're going."

We spent the rest of class collaging our journals in a way that represented who we are...the fake flowers we found in rm. 318 were a big hit!

 

Below are more photos from the mosaic of lines from students' poems: