II.+Bio

=Biography=

Why I teach - Teaching is a [|calling]...
My interest in teaching began with an experience that I had during my undergraduate work at Fort Lewis College in Durango Coloado. I grew up in Arvada, Colorado with a teaching influence from my mom and dad. They taught me to always pursue questions, to follow your dreams and to have a positive outlook - to have a good [|attitude]. My first dream was to play baseball in the big leagues. A tryout with the Colorado Rockies was as far as I got. We all have dreams and my second was to teach science. Onward ... The first teaching I did was a practicum experience for a college class titled "Exceptional Learners", which involved working with students with varying backgrounds and abilities. For this class, inservice teachers were to conduct practicum experience in classrooms and I chose to work at a school called "EXPEL". As you might have guessed, Expel was a charter school designed for students who had been expelled from middle school and/or high school. I worked with approximately 12 students. These students had been expelled for numerous reasons, and you can imagine the range of their troubles. To put it bluntly, the majority of these students were not too receptive to school, and viewed it as “serving time” much like they were doing outside of their Expel experience - many had been in and out of juvenille detention, or were currenlty serving sentences for a variety of charges. Many of these students had been abused at one point in time. Problems and challenges as I had known them in my life were nothing compared to the problems these children faced.

The Challenge
My task at Expel was to assist these students in their reading and writing skills. Yet, I had a feeling that me standing up in front of these students and insisting that they take reading and writing seriously would be futile. What I did notice about the majority of my students was that they were interested in bicycles. Most notably low-rider bikes.

As you may know, low-rider bikes are very expensive (relatively speaking). These students could not afford low-rider bikes, but they could afford the low rider bike magazines. These students refused to read and write (outside of their bike magazines), and had grown accustomed to failing in school. They viewed themselves as being less than their potential, but they did like bikes, and they knew a lot about bikes and the culture surrounding bikes. They liked to read bike mags. So I was convinced that there was a link between reading, writing, bikes and learning. Even if they did not express this explicitly, I believed they wanted to learn.

The Bike Project
The weekend following my first week with my Expel students, I went and purchased 12 bikes from a fellow who lived in a rural area of southern Colorado. Red Fox was his name. He gave me a deal. Fifty bucks for all twelve! The bikes were rusted, broken, and needed much work and repair. But they were bikes. I arrived at school and told the students to come out to my truck as I had something for them. They each chose a bike. I had to moderate the selection process, but in the end each student had a bike that was their own. I explained to the students that these bikes were their’s to keep, so long as they followed a couple simple rules:


 * 1) Fix the bikes so that they were ride-able.
 * 2) Customize the bikes to their own liking. They could use the spare parts I provided.
 * 3) Sand, clean, disassemble completely, reassemble, lube and paint the bikes to their liking.
 * 4) Prepare a repair manual for their bike which included drawings pictures and writing about the process of repairing their bikes. (This was the writing piece).
 * 5) Present to their parents and peers on parent night the bikes they had repaired along with the repair manuals they created for their bike.

The students spent approximately two weeks on the bike project. They spent much time and took this project very seriously. Students would be writing each day, pages for their bike manuals, and I used their bike magazines to create reading and vocabulary activities that were relevant to these students. I was impressed to see the time they spent in writing and illustrating entries in their manuals. They took reading and writing seriously throughout this process. Most of all, these students were successful. This was a challenging project and they were all successful. Also of note during this process was that students showed much respect for each other, and for me. They showed up early for class and stayed after class. This was not apparent before the bike project, but they bought in and made huge gains and felt worthy during the time we had together. Our classroom was a sacred place.

One Final Piece
Once students had completed their bike manuals and had fully restored their bikes, they dressed up for the big night - the night they presented their work to parents, faculty and peers. Before the students presented, we met as a group and I posed one last task. I asked the students to think hard about someone they knew who was less fortunate than they were. I asked them to think of someone who did not have a bike, or someone who had a “junker” bike. I gave them a bit of time to contemplate, and then I asked them to give their bike away to someone less fortunate. Initially there was much resistance to the idea, but in a short time they were on board with the idea. As you might have guessed, many of these students gave their bikes away to a sibling or a friend. Some even made the transaction the night of their presentations. This was a big deal, and I was touched by the wonderful spirit of these children.

Last Writing
The following day in class (the last day I had with these students), I asked them to write about their bike project. To write about what their bikes meant to them and what it meant to give their bikes away. I still have their writings to this very day and am continuously enlightened by the insight these 12 students have given me in life and in teaching.

Lessons Learned - The Least Restrictive Medium
The lessons that I learned from my Expel students was something Dr. Gene Taylor described as the least restrictive medium. The least restrictive medium is a principle that guides the way we learn. The least restrictive medium for the Expel students was bikes. Yes bikes! They related to bikes. Bikes motivated them, and served as the vehicle for improving writing and reading - simple, yet powerful. These students took writing seriously, reading seriously and demonstrated a level of success which had been unfamiliar. They had worth and purpose. They learned. All learners have a least restrictive medium. The challenge is finding the least restrictive medium in our students. We must listen to them, they have much to teach us.