Blog Post 3

One question that I thought of when reflecting on Chapters 1-3 in William Ayers’ To Teach, was “how exactly should teachers use their students’ interests to stimulate classroom learning?” Bill Ayers shows throughout the graphic novel that it is easy to slap a label on a child as “hyperactive” or “at risk”. It was brought up in our class that it is possible that some teachers and administrators may do this simply because they do not want to put the extra effort in as a teacher to help that particular student, even though they deserve it. Ayers gives alternatives to simply labeling students. In the first chapter, he describes how he helped one student become more involved and better behaved by allowing the student to teach the other students about one of his passions, which was skateboarding. However, Ayers also says that “skateboards and rapping solve all your classroom problems only in the movies,” meaning that this is not exactly realistic and is easier said than done. It may seem challenging to be able to understand your students in order to better teach them, but Ayers says that teaching is just as much a journey for the teacher as it is for the students. Like the students, the teacher is also constantly learning in the classroom both about himself, and the students. He stresses that in order to get through to your students to influence them in a positive way, you have to understand yourself first.