Dear Carrie, When you first told us about this project, I honestly had no idea what I would be interesting

in conducting a lot of research on in the topic of education. After completing the Murray Cards Activity, it really helped me out in determining the area I would like to concentrate on for this project. My focus for my inquiry project is going to be on teaching methods and why a teacher might or might not choose one method over the other. I think that this topic is one that I can relate a lot to personal experience that I have had on my own. I think that we all have had to experience both sides of the teaching methods that were explained in our readings. We all have had to experience a teacher who believed it was best for them to stand up in front of the classroom the entire time and expect us to learn something from them in the process. This method is known as the banking system method, which was described by Freire in his article titled The Pedagogy of the Oppressed. On the flip side, I am sure that most people have been fortunate enough to experience a teacher who believed in engaging themselves with the classroom whether it be in class discussions, actually participating in the activities with the class as a whole, or even to something as simple as allowing the students to ask questions about the material they are learning. Another argument that I feel as if most people dont see is, the way the teacher goes about teaching her classes and the way she presents herself before her class really does effect the students motivation to do well, or do nothing at all in that particular class. In Mike Roses article, I Just Wanna Be Average, he explains the difference in having a teacher who is concerned with their classroom setting as a whole and their students, versus a teacher who doesnt, and how that effects the classroom all together. I think that I would be able to tie together these two articles with my research proposal very well, and hopefully be able to see some connections between the three subjects after doing more research into my topic. For my research within this project, I feel as if it would be best for my primary research to be doing interviews with not only students, but teachers as well. As far as interviewing the students goes, I will be able to ask their opinions on the two teaching method styles and which they would prefer. I know that in some cases, students might have one teaching style preference over another depending on the type of classroom that they are in and the subject that is being taught, so having some explanation from them on that viewpoint will be crucial. When interviewing teachers, I know that some of the same perspectives will still be in play. Depending on the type of classroom that they teach in, whether it be a lecture hall or a regular classroom, and the type of class that they are teaching, their method might change as well. For my secondary research, I will be focusing more on finding facts on the internet about why or why not a student might like one teaching method over another, and even why a teacher might or might not choose to teach one method over another. I know I would also be able to find quotations and other articles that can relate to the two that I have chosen from class that will also relate back to this topic in school. Coming to my concference with you on Wednesday, I hope that we can further discuss my proposal and be able to come up with more ideas together on where else I may be able to take this proposal and what other connections out there might be able to tie in with this. Sincerely, Haley Hemric