Field Post 2: Shaker Heights Middle School

By “building bridges” Bill Ayers means a few different things. One way is very literally building a bridge for Bingo, the turtle. One group from our class extended this bridge to mean that there is a bridge within the individual students as they become more knowledgeable and thoughtful in the classroom. Another bridge that Ayers gives is a bridge from childhood to adulthood which is being told through the story of Zayd. The third bridge Ayers describes is the bridge between students and the differences they share (specifically, racial differences). The last example of bridge building Ayers gives is the bridge between the illiterate adults with their own walks of life, and the world around them. In all the examples given, Ayers describes how in each situation, the bridge building isn’t forced upon the people building them. Instead, there is a sort of moderator in each scenario that introduces, fosters, and supports ideas that lead to bridge building. For example, Bill moderates his students in the construction of the bridge, and he supports his son Zayd when he goes on his transformation to adulthood. Similarly, Avi tries to foster bridge building between students in his classroom with discussion. However, he feels like the larger bridge outside of the classroom was never finished, which is unique to this example. Sal Adams supports the adults and encourages them when they find something they’re passionate about to become a part of their community that they used to feel separated from.

One bridge I specifically saw in the classroom of Shaker Middle School was the bridge between student and teacher. The teacher I observed taught the math lesson and spoke to the students in a way that put him on the same level as them. He did not talk down to them or discourage them when they got the wrong answer. He gave them all the information they needed, but not too much as to give away the answer. He allowed the students a chance to think things through by themselves, but in a way also made it feel like he was working through it with them.

Sitting in the 7^th grade math class made me completely flash back to my middle school days learning math. It was really interesting to see how they were learning the same lessons I learned when I was younger, but now they’re using different techniques and solutions to similar problems, which I think is super metaphorical.