6&7

I'm constantly surprised and happy about the many different techniques suggested by D&Z in terms of how to use a textbook.  Especially as an aspiring history teacher, I don't want my students to feel like they have to regurgitate the information in the text book, I want them to feel like they can argue with their texts. That being said, I don't want to throw the text book out the window, but rather teach students how to use it to their advantage.  I liked the different suggestions the book offered to cover a large expanse of textbooks while still being able to achieve some level of depth in the subject.  The one that stood out to me the most was the idea of jigsawing.  I feel like this way, everyone will get a general overview of all or most of the content, and everyone will also walk away with a deeper more solidified grasp on an aspect of the text.  I like the idea of making students accountable for a small section of the text book because, if anything else, at least they are walking away having learned something. It also makes the textbooks less intimidating.
I was one of those kids that just never could get the hang of reading the textbooks - especially history textbooks.  My AP history teacher that would assign reading from the text book every night, and the next day in class he would assign a 10 question quiz on the chapter.  Everyday I was lucky to get 2 or 3 of the quiz questions right, even if I did read the textbook readings.  Something was just not clicking and in retrospect, I was never taught how to go about reading the textbook.  I was convinced I couldn't get a hang of history until I took the AP exam and was the only kid in the class who got a 5.  My teacher was shocked - it turns out, I understood the history content and historical thinking skills despite having a D+ for a grade - that D+ was my grade for how well I understood the textbook, not the content of the subject. That is what I thought about when the teacher from D&Z mentioned that many people think the textbook is synonymous with the subject.  Textbooks are great resources, but students need to be taught how to use these resources.  Its like a computer - a computer is a great resource, but first you need to learn how to use one.

In terms of making the classroom into a community where students are able to take risks and feel comfortable, I feel like this is a no-brainer.  It hearkens back to Maslow's hierarchy of needs in a way - students can't learn unless they feel safe and comfortable.  I was a gay youth and I definitely remember dreading some classes because I knew the teachers weren't comfortable with me and my identity, and I remember being able to learn so much more in classrooms where I felt like teachers cared about me as a person. Even more than that, I feel like it is important for the classroom to be a community because it is teaching students how to behave in the world.  Students who are taught that compassion and respect are valued will let these qualities follow them into the world. Schooling is a political thing in many ways in the sense that it is creating new citizens.  Having the classroom as a model of community can have a fantastic ripple effect to the future.