On Tuesday December 2nd, I way fortunate enough to sit and observe two of Mr. Carl Hoffman's US History class at Hathaway Brown.  It was certainly a different feeling when I realized I was one of two male's in  room of 20. It also gave me a view of how the other side lived as I myself had attended and all boys high school, and always wondered if our sister schools were run the same way. It was apparently so-with quite a bit of knowledge being thrown at the students they attempted to contribute to the class while maintaining adequate notes on their laptops for next weeks test.  Although the atmosphere was the same as my own experience in high school, I did notice some differences in the way classrooms were structured.  As appose to the "traditional" desks set up in rows, the students, as well as Mr. Hoffman, all sat around a large oval-shaped table.  This to me, was something new, something fresh, a way in which the class is more able to become discussion based, where ideas can be thrown every which way and learning can be exciting and fun.  That being said, from a students' perspective it could also be seen as a burden-there is nowhere for students to hide at an oval-shaped table.

On this particular day the class talked, listened, and learned about the civil war.  Being a history buff, I myself was riveted to relearn about the events leading up to the civil war, the secessions from the Union, and then finally the battle at Fort Sumpter.  But the first class, I cannot say with absolution, felt the same way.  Many of the students appeared disinterested based on their posture, and only contributed after many moments of awkward silence after a question had been posed.  The second class on the other hand was a talkative bunch with much enthusiasm and much to say...just not very much on topic.  The beginning of class, which eventually ended up being about 20 minutes, was spent talking about the Ferguson shooting and riots-which is far from the topic of the civil war.  Nevertheless, some discussion is better than no discussion.  It was interesting to see both sides of the coin.  By that I mean, I was able to see what it is like to be in a classroom with engaged students, and another classroom where the majority would rather sit back and let a handful answer all the questions.