.
November 10, 2009
Christine Harms and Alex Tyler
History teacher Eric Shawn and English teacher Jeffrey Speckels have offered a new class, American Studies, to juniors. This two-period course is a combination of American Literature and United States History curriculums. The teachers coordinate their material so activities and topics overlap between subjects.
This unconventional method of teaching is able to effectively impact its students in ways that a normal class could not. The emphasis of the course is establishing the link between history and literature as well as understanding the relevancy of the subjects taught. Students are able to be more impacted by the books covered when they understand the historical context of the story. For example, the study of the effects of racism in the United States draws heavily on themes found in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
Along with a connected curriculum, the class also focuses heavily around projects. These include both cross-subject assignments as well as service learning projects. Shawn thinks the students are more engaged by the concepts in class when they are presented in this hybrid manner. Recently, the class has participated in a mock trial on constitutional issues. This helped students apply laws to issues such as freedom.
“Students working together is key [in this class],” Speckels said.
These projects get students more engaged with the concepts, as well as the community. When the students work together, they seem to grasp information more easily.
“I think it is way more effective the regular English and history. It is a project-based class and that is awesome. I would totally take a combination class again,” junior Rachel Das said.
Shawn and Speckels decided to collaborate on this class because of the impact that similar classes in their high school experiences had on them. The teachers are able to play off each other’s educational strengths. Since both teachers are interacting with all the students, they can better observe and understand the students’ abilities. As a result, they can focus on helping the students in the best way possible.
Photo Credit: Simrundeep Kaur
.
October 14, 2009
Bach Phan
Before history teacher Alphonso Thompson came to Washington, he worked at numerous other schools, including Logan High School, Patterson Elementary, Grimmer Elementary and Durham Elementary.
He went to Logan High School as a teenager and rivaled with Washington when he played football as a young man. At first, he was disgusted to be teaching at his rival school, but he also felt optimistic because he already knew that Washington was a good school.
Thompson believes that the student body to be nice and responsible, the parents supportive, and the social studies department also very supportive.
“It’s laid back,” Thompson said.
In the classroom, he tries to impact his students’ lives. Thompson believes that he, too, learns new things each day.
“It made me a better person, and it has made me more responsible and an example for the youth,” Thompson said.
Thompson wants to do more than just teach.
“The measure of a good teacher isn’t measured in a classroom, it is measured by the impact [they have] in the students’ lives,” Thompson said.
Thompson began to realize his desire to teach during high school. His visual and performing arts teacher, Tommy Lindsay, inspired him. Thompson used to be a class clown, and Lindsay focused all of that negative energy into something positive in speech.
Thompson joined the Forensics Speech Team and was a two-time state champion in California, and a one-time national champion in duo interpretation, which is summarizing and acting out a play with two people. He also got second place in state his sophomore and junior year and was ranked number one as a freshman.
In school, Thompson did not have a favorite subject. He tried to find something good in every subject, whether it was math, science or history. He thought of himself as optimistic and easily pleased. However, he went on to study history in college, such as California history, African-American history, and political science. He eventually chose to pursue history because he thought history was the subject that could invoke the most change and have the most impact in the lives of his students.
When Thompson is not in the classroom, he still tries to be involved in the field that helped to change his life around. He helps to produce and develop young talent, mainly high school students. He hopes that some day one of these pupils that he has can get a record deal and he can be their manager.
In the future, he wishes to improve himself as a teacher and continue to learn in his subject of history. One day, he wants to be able to know almost everything there is to know about history.
Photo Credit: Raphael Ghieuw Sien
.
October 14, 2009
Judy Wu
The best Halloween moment U.S. history teacher Eric Shawn had was seeing the band Polyphonic Spree two to three years ago. He was dressed up as a pink robot based on The Flaming Lips’ album Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots. His friend, on the other hand, dressed as Yoshimi, the Korean girl. Shawn believed that it was one of the funniest costumes he had. Another funny costume was when he was a blueberry; he placed purple balloons around his body.
“When I walked, the balloons would shake and my friends and I would yell ‘Boo!’ whenever someone randomly popped a balloon. We had a good laugh about it,” Shawn said.
During high school, Shawn and his friends would hang out at each other’s houses and scare young kids.
Although it has been years since he trick-or-treated, Shawn can still recall trick-or-treating as a kid.
“I lived on top of a hill so my friends would all meet up at my house. We would walk from the top to the bottom of the hill and come back on the opposite side of the hill. We had so many candies, it was a blast,” Shawn said.
Halloween is still the same to Shawn; to him it is still a fun holiday that allows kids to have fun getting candy, and teenagers can have fun just hang out .
