Историк из Палм-Бич использует метод «зеркала и окна», чтобы вдохновлять старшеклассников

Teacher Feature: PBC history teacher uses "mirror or window" lessons to help AP students BOCA RATON, Fla. (CBS12) — Teacher Feature is sponsored by Baker & Disalvo Personal Injury Law. We're now a few weeks into the new school year and we're highlighting the amazing things teachers are doing in the lives of your students. CBS12 News’ next “Teacher Feature” within the School District of Palm Beach County is Wendy Zietz. She’s been a teacher for 30 years, six of those as the AP World and European History teacher at Olympic Heights High School in Boca Raton. "I like that they are young enough to get excited. I like that they are becoming fully formed people, and they have experiences that they share with me,” said Zietz. "I learn as much from them as they learned from me." Zeitz says there’s so many lessons to learn from history, no matter the level. "History is either a mirror, and they see something in themselves that they didn't know- their family, their experience, their family's story-or it is a window, and they learn something about another place, another time, another group, and that makes them culturally literate and curious and world citizens,” said Zeitz. "Being curious, you learn something new every day." See also: Tiger Woods enters no-contest plea in DUI crash, license suspended 5 years Being an AP teacher, Zeitz holds her high schoolers to a higher standard. "Oh, that's also a good question. I do not budge on a standard. I tell the kids that the standard is the standard. College Board does not care about your feelings, so we have to master this content and learn these skills. That I don't budge on, but what I can do is I meet them where they are. I don't care where they start. I care that they grow and that they're coachable. And so I meet them,” said Zeitz. “They're coachable. They get better. We celebrate it. I give them Buddha box, but it's like I noticed you did that, and then I can adjust the scales. I don't weaponize the grades. I'm like, let's do this thing so we can get your grade higher. But we have to have honest conversations about your writing, your critical thinking, your skills, and the mastery of content. So yes, and I think they go into junior year much more confident and prepared." Zeitz says honest conversations between teacher and students is so important, especially for the 10th grade level. "Relationships, trust in somebody that has authority over you, and at the end of the day, we remember relationships. I don't remember a score they got on a test. I don't remember their score on the AP exam. Did they grow? Did we have a good relationship? Do we have fond memories? Do they have confidence going forth? One day, will they be in a museum and be like, "I remember that painting" Relationships,” said Zeitz. Zeitz says in her more than 30 years as an educator, it’s not just about her teaching students, but what they teach her as well. "To be curious, to change as things change, to be I can make mistakes just like they can make mistakes and recover from them, and we grow and we learn and we know better, we do better,” said Zeitz. Zeitz recently started a new learning initiative where she passes out fake blue money as a reward to students in class. Zeitz says she saw another teacher do it. She says her class is very pencil and paper, but that changed when everything went digital during covid and students started using Chromebooks for everything. But when students participate, actively engaged, talking, and writing about what they're learning -- they get rewarded for it!