Teacher Appreciation: Dr. Ayers

In 5th and 6th grade I was convinced I was going to be a writer. During school I spent hours of class tucked away in the corner behind a desktop computer, crafting short stories. Independent reading was always my favorite time of day, and young me was constantly eager for a new book. Yet as I grew older this passion for English faded. Into high school, language arts classes captivated me less, and my childhood dreams of authorism started to seem ridiculous. Fortunately, this year Dr. Ayers managed to stop my spiral away from English as a class I love. 

Dr. Ayers is an English teacher with deep roots here at City High. He teaches in the same classroom he used to be a student in, and despite this, his class still manages to be the most refreshing I’ve taken in a long while. Although some of what we read reflects the usual literary stereotypes expected in a high school English class, through his discussion Dr. Ayers continues to make English class staples interesting. While also incorporating new and provocative reading. 

It would not be out of place to find Dr. Ayers sitting in the front of a silent class of students after posing a question. Often his students shuffle their feet or twiddle a pencil in their hands, hoping for someone to respond. While other teachers may cave to calling on students, Dr. Ayers doesn’t. He will continue to look out into the class with questioning eyes, perfectly content waiting for a student to work up the courage to speak. This promotes meaningful discourse in his classroom, which leaves students engaged with each discussion of a new piece of the diverse range of material covered in the class. 

It is actions like the one described above that make discussions in Dr. Ayer’s class so great. During conversations in class, the significance of what we are reading is never lost on me, and I leave class inspired and with an excitement for reading and writing. For me, this reacquired love for English carries on throughout my days, long after I leave his classroom. More and more often I find myself turning to books or opening up my notebook at night. That same fire for reading and writing from years ago has been rekindled thanks to Dr. Ayers and his US Lit class.

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