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It is impossible to talk about Avalon without talking about the projects the students work on. At Avalon, assessments are completed as often as possible through the completion of large projects. One of the most impressive examples I have seen of a senior project was a student, we will call Ted, who planned a food cart business. Ted completed this food cart plan and got credit for several necessary state requirements. On top of this he created a brand, and began merchandizing to fund the purchase of the food cart. Most impressively, after graduation he plans to operate the food cart and open up business in Portland. I believe it is important that teaching inspire students to work hard and find things they care about, and these projects clearly inspire students.

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In class we frequently addressed the question of "why teach?". Teachers that came in and talked on the panels frequently talked about this topic as well, stressing that its obviously not for the money. Ayers talks about the importance of putting your students first. I believe that teaching is about having a desire to help others learn and to use your own experience to improve the world for your students. After my experiences at Avalon I feel confident that the teachers at Avalon are teaching for the right reasons. Many of the students can be very difficult or prone to episodes of one variety or another. In every situation I saw, the teachers were amazingly patient and kind with the student and did their best to get them back on track. I was very impressed and I hope to bring this same passion into my classroom when I teach.

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The learning environment at Avalon is a very unique experience. You realize this as you walk to the door...especially because there are two chickens looking at you cock-eyed from their coop. William Ayers stressed the importance of engaging classrooms throughout his book. I believe that he would be quite happy with what he sees at avalon. Avalon stresses a student centered learning environment. During work time students are allowed to roam the halls. They have a fully functional workshop with a lot of tools and saws and students do really cool work there. Many of the science classes are very lab-centric and allow the students to learn while getting there hands dirty. As a result of my observations here, I hope to someday apply these lessons in my own classrooms. I hope to do a lot of labs and let kids take charge of their own learning.

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Going into my field experience at Avalon, I expected an opportunity to: grow as a teacher, help students with biology, be in a biology classroom, and maybe even lead a lesson or lab. These expectations were not quite met. Unfortunately, I never became very close to the biology teacher. It seemed she never really had much work for me to do. I feel that I could have done a better job explaining that I really would like to be more involved in her classroom. I expected this interaction to be easier. Next semester I will do a better job of making sure that I gain experience teaching science and working with biology students. Instead I ended up doing a lot of math tutoring 1 on 1 with students. It was still a good experience, and I really liked the kids. I hope to do a better job of getting involved in a science classroom next semester.

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During my time at avalon I was made more aware and became more understanding in talking to and addressing people who do not identify with the gender binary. On my first day at Avalon, I turned to a student I was working with and asked, "what'd she say?" and he turned back and said, "they said...". At this moment I realized that without intending it, I had been assuming the genders of the students I was working with. When I was in high school, my high school was demographically very different from avalon. We were mostly white students, that came from middle to upper class backgrounds and were very reserved when discussing gender and sexual orientation. I knew of one openly gay student during high school. Through my work at Avalon I have become much more comfortable asking for students pronouns of choice and have improved dramatically when it comes to not assuming the gender of those around me.

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Avalon: From the moment I walked in, I realized Avalon was different from anything I had previously experienced. At Avalon I worked with mostly high school juniors and seniors that were in need of help with math and science homework and test prep. As I walked into to cafeteria, a large sign describing the steps of project based learning hung on one wall. Directly under it, a sign for the gay straight alliance hung. And on the other wall was a giant Jimmy John's sign. I immediately realized the school was very different. With a large LGBT community, project based learning assessment and massive love of sandwiches, Avalon would change how I viewed schools.

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Avalon: From the moment I walked in, I realized Avalon was different from anything I had previously experienced. At Avalon I worked with mostly high school juniors and seniors that were in need of help with math and science homework and test prep. As I walked into to cafeteria, a large sign describing the steps of project based learning hung on one wall. Directly under it, a sign for the gay straight alliance hung. And on the other wall was a giant Jimmy John's sign. I immediately realized the school was very different. With a large LGBT community, project based learning assessment and massive love of sandwiches, Avalon would change how I viewed schools.