PORTFOLIO
Poetry
Mrs Tilscher was actually a teacher of Carol Ann Duffy's. I have included this poem because I think we can learn a lot from how Mrs Tilscher created a "sweetshop classroom". For example, the narrator outlines three important factors of creating a "sweetshop classroom". First, learning is expressed as a sort of adventure as “you could travel up the Blue Nile” (1). Second, the narrator establishes the extreme safety felt in the classroom stating that the serial killers “Bradley and Hindley/ [were] Faded, like the faint, uneasy smudge of a mistake” (11-12). Third, the teacher is represented as a caring person as the narrator recounts, “Mrs Tilscher loved you” (13). These three observations factor into the narrators’ classroom-as-sweetshop metaphor. Overall, there is something to be learned from Mrs Tilscher and how she has created a classroom environment characterized by adventure, safety and interaction.
As an English major, I find it helpful to use this metaphor to describe certain classroom atmospheres and student experiences, including my own.
Related to my own experience, my Grade 12 Biology teacher utilized many different ways of teaching such as class discussion, note taking, diagrams and videos. This variety of methods is like the variation of candy in the candy shop.
I have included the poem "The Schoolboy" by William Blake because it contrasts the experience of the narrator from "In Mrs Tilscher's Class."
The first stanza in the poem utilizes pastoral language to establish the joy and peace of a sweet summer morning. In stark contrast the second stanza begins, "But to go to school on a summer morn/O it drives all joy away." Here the narrator establishes the school as a joyless place full of “sighing and dismay” (10) and the teacher as “a cruel eye outworn” (8). The narrator goes on to make the classroom-as-birdcage metaphor saying, “How can the bird that is born for joy/Sit in a cage and sing” (16-17). The narrator cannot learn in this atmosphere as he states, "Nor in my book take delight/ Nor sit in learners bower."
Taken together, these factors lend themselves to the narrator's classroom-as-birdcage metaphor.
In relation to my experience, my Grade 7 Science class was characterized by reading the textbook and answering questions. I had no motivation to learn and I often felt as though I was trapped in a birdcage.
 A Close Reading of "In Mrs Tilscher's Class by Carol Ann Duffy |  A Close Reading of The Schoolboy by William Blake |
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Zero Void. Retrieved from http://zero-void.tumblr.com/ask
This semester I learned the most about how to create a classroom atmosphere ideal for learning from my Education 450 Diversity class. My professor, Dr. Callaghan, used meta-teaching techniques to give us insight into effective classroom management techniques. Further, she used peer motivation, through the shared leadership activities, to encourage students to attend class, do the readings, and participate. She also acknowledged every student comment by thanking them for their input and insight as well as celebrated individual members of the class by initiating rounds of applause. I felt a strong sense of community, I was invested in the class, and I learned a lot about how to create a classroom atmosphere that is ideal for learning and growing.