Well let me start off my blog this week by saying that I had THE hardest time reading and actually being able to UNDERSTAND The Pedagogy of the Oppressed. It wasn’t until we were in the classroom doing activities with this book that I really started to grasp the concept of what Freire was really trying to get across. I think this is one reason how this book has influenced my teaching. I have realized that an individual is not going to understand something unless they work with it for a while, participate in class activities/discussions, and have time to be able to ask questions. The one part of the book that stood out to me was the banking concept that Freire was talking about. A lot of teacher’s today feel like that is the only way to teach, which is wrong, wrong and wrong! I know from personal experiences that I can’t learn and understand that way. I can’t have a teacher stand in front of me for an hour lecturing at me and then give me a test on something I still may not understand. I feel that students, especially the younger grades you go, will not be able to learn anything that way. They have a short time that they can sit there and listen to someone lecture about something. What if that student has no idea what is the topic of class and they aren’t introduced to activities or class discussions that can make them understand the topic better. Students feel that all the teacher wants to do is say that he/she has done their own part, “taught”( if you really can call that teaching) the material, and now its up to the students to pass that test. No. That’s the exact opposite of what I want to be like as a teacher in my classroom. Freire really made me realize what good teaching is all about, how many things you can include in your classroom, and how you can let your students act as “teachers” some times too!