-Eric Shaver '09

        Our third day of teaching began just a bit later in the day. An extra forty-five minutes of sleep due to a shorter day of classes gave Dan, JT, and I an added boost of energy, something which would be essential later in the day. After slipping off of the Brown Line and into the rain, the three of us slipped into Von Steuben and met up with Josiah, who went in a bit earlier. After meeting up with my host teacher and helping the history department word a pair of questions on their world history final exam, I took my seat at the back of Mr. Culberson’s classroom and (as I have down for the previous two days) watched a master go to work in his classroom. Using a deluge of real world examples, he quickly had me scribbling down notes on proportional taxes, the “Free-Rider Theory”, poll taxes, flat taxes, and numerous other nuances of American economics. I can honestly say that I have understood more principles of econ these past two days than in an entire year of high school economics!

            Before watching his next few classes, a pair of them being his world history students, I had sat at length and discussed my lesson plan I had prepped the previous night on the Treaty of Versailles, critiquing, improving, and changing the language and relevance of my lesson and accompanying activity. Truly excited, Mr. Culberson said that I would take control of the classroom tomorrow, teaching my lesson to his two freshman classes. Yet, I would not be able to finish watching my host teacher at work for the rest of the day. Instead, the entire class departed from their schools early to meet up with each other at Ravenswood Elementary school for our service learning activity.

            In front of us spread a vastly overgrown garden flanking three corners of the school’s playground. Armed with trowels, shovels, and gloves, we set about removing weeds, repairing flower beds, and planting flowers for two hours, filling up two dumpsters full of unearthed greenery in the process. Once we finished, Dr. T-V, Pittard, and Iazetto presented rewards of M&Ms and bottled water as we sat and discussed the events of the day. A quick trip on the Brown Line back to our hostel resulted in a hot shower for the entire crew before a change of clothes prepped us for the night’s last activity.

            While I must preface this final paragraph with a disclaimer, it is of serious importance. While I am a devout follower of the Cincinnati Reds, I am, at heart, a fan of the game of baseball. With these final few, hurried keystrokes, we are about to board a train to ride South to US Cellular Field to take in a White Sox game. I can only hope that the members of my fantasy teams do well! In closing, I must say that I am extremely excited for tomorrow. I cannot wait to teach for the first time this week!