Barton Open School 7&8th grade - Allison Rubin-Forrester - 5 hours
I got there and I was a bit early which was nice. Got to speak with Allison a bit before class and she let me know what their schedule is usually like. Normally they have their morning meeting, homeroom, dance, algebra, algebra, geometry, and then lunch. But this morning was going to be a little different because there was a teacher missing so Allison needed to watch another classes for a bit so she took the classes into the commons and played kick ball for their homeroom.
Dance was next, as I am not a good dancer nor do I know any of their routines, I sat on the sidelines and observed how Allison was teaching the kids through dance. This was more then just a dance class it was about connections, teamwork, and social interaction.
During both Algebra classes which are mirrors to each other, they were presenting their posters that they made on spiral denotations and spiral growth. I really enjoyed seeing these because this was already a use of art in teaching kids math and yet they were having fun designing their spirals at the same time.
Geometry is the last class of the day. Allison let me know that this class isn’t quite like the other ones and that some of the kids tend to be chatty and that’s why they were in the front. I thought that this was a great way to deal with the kids that are chatting during math because in reality it is those kids who probably don’t understand the math as well, which is why they are chatting in the first place.