Initial Impression: A3

http://www.athree.org/
The new term/year began with everyone meeting up in a gym in the community center across the street, being the only room the school has access to that is large enough to fit the entire school. The lead teacher welcomed everyone and gave instruction. For the few minutes prior to the announcements however I was able to observe the general interaction at that school, and the student body. High energy. Many of the kids were very excited to be there, however their greetings and excitement weren't limited to just the other students, teachers were also greeted with hugs and enthusiastic welcomes, and a ton of questions of a fairly personal nature. Anecdotes of vacation were traded in all directions, with a level of detail and honesty on the part of the teachers that surprised me. It is unsurprising that at A3 everyone is on a first name basis, no Mr. or Mrs., so I am Ruth, not Ms.Ames. Another thing I've noticed is the prevalence of minor swear word by both the faculty and the students. Now, no one is dropping f bombs or anything, but it is commonplace for hell, damn, shit, crap or bastard to be used not only in conversation between classes, but even in the vocabulary of the teacher during discussions. I have mixed feelings on this issue, and it took me a bit to get used to, especially since at Briggs were were asked not to say crap or sucks in front of students, or where students might overhear. I personally have no problem with so-called strong language. Word have the power we choose to give them, and if you say fudge instead of f**k, people still know what you mean, and what your intention is, so how is it different? On the other hand, I know that a lot of parents don't want their children to be exposed to that sort of language, and many students may be uncomfortable with it themselves. By using strong language a teacher might set up a barrier between themselves and a student and loose someone's respect. I've been told that you can gain student's respect either by being their friend, or being their authority figure, or mentor. Some people can walk the line and be both. So far, from what I've seen these teachers are doing a great job of treading that thin line.

A3 has a J term for the month of January, their students get to pick from one or two classes to take, which they are in all day, from 8 to 4:15. The options for the J term classes are quite varied. I'm currently working in the Science/Science Fiction class, which is taught by my cooperating teacher Danny Ramirez, and another teacher named Scott, who teaches humanities normally (Language Arts and Social Studies). So Scott handles most of the lit stuff, and Danny takes more of the science side of things. The class is run much like a college film study class, with reading as well. It reminds me a lot of the freshman seminar I took called Tokyo:Cyberpunk where we watched, discussed and wrote about a variety of cyberpunk films, a sub-genre of Sci-Fi. Another surprising thing to me is that several rated R movies are on the list. This decision I support wholeheartedly. So many of the quality Sci-Fi films out there are R, the ones that are pivotal, and set trends. One notable subtlety in the language and culture of the class is the use of the word 'geek' as a title of honor, and something strive for.

The format of the class, as I said, resembles that of a college film seminar with one huge difference. Unlike any other class or classroom I have ever been in, their is no sense of "NOT ENOUGH TIME!" The class moves along at a leisurely pace, class starts about 5 minutes late each day, allowing for students who missed the bus to the U of O (where our class is held, we use a room in the Science Library). Scott and Danny recently decided to shift to beginning class with an episode of either The Twilight Zone or Firefly, hopefully to motivate students to arrive on time. There is some discussion of the different elements and then we move onto the reading for the day. This was the most strange, foreign thing to me the first day. We spent an entire hour silent reading, and they only had to cover 15 pages in that hour, though they were free to read farther if they needed to. And everyone was so relaxed about it. No sense of rush, no worry that we weren't going to get through the material. It was a much nicer way to run class. Now that might be unique to the J term, but getting to feel how it is to be relaxed and take time during a class session will help me to strive for that sort of ambiance in my own classroom, even if I can't achieve it in whole.