The classroom atmosphere can vary drastically based on the teaching methods and the student’s learning styles. Teachers use a variety of different teaching strategies to try to reach a balance between the individual learning styles of their students, while still maintaining a high level of direct instruction.

Some of the teachers around BSM, have crafted up new styles of presenting material; English teacher Mr. Ryan Hogan retains a strict discipline for writing, making it a priority for students to leave the class with a new way of critical thinking. “I want my students to be better readers and writers by the time they leave my class. I also want them to understand what it’s like to be a good writer and reader. I value presenting material that’s going to challenge them. There is a level of stress that is created, which gives students ownership on what they learn. I create activities that forces them to think and overall grow as a thinker. I like my students to face discomfort and struggle with what we do. I like to create structure with facing these challenges. I have established the linking verb expectation to challenge my writers to build sentence structure. It helps them to think more critically and understand more critically,” Hogan said.

Social Studies teacher Mr. Keith Jones teaches his classroom with a more traditional route. “Mixing it up with different things such as projects, note taking, student presentation, lecturing, learning varies skills in different ways, knowing background information, taking notes in the best way, and taking the information from class and applying it to what they are going to learn,” Jones said.

Mr. Sam Vetch, theology teacher who is in his first year at BSM, tries to balance note-taking with projects. Many teachers, like Vetch, try to find a balance between direct instruction and note taking, and group or individual projects. Keeping students engaged was a priority and a goal, especially with all of the distractions that often pull a students attention away from what’s going on in the classroom. “Being new, not everything goes right at first and I really appreciate my students for being patient with me and overcoming those challenges,” Vetch said.   

Overcoming challenges and figuring out where a student needs support is tricky. Some BSM teachers have moved their class online. For example, math teacher Ms. Monica Weir has a specific course online. Typically kids who are in that class need extra support or a different way of learning. “My goal is above the mathematics. You learn not just the patterns in math, but patterns you think in your life––learning how we can be successful by organizing ourselves. I also like to have collaborative work; each time you work, you are with someone new. [And] instead of having daily homework, you have an assignment with more time to work on it. I find value in class [doing non-math related things] such as breathing, exercises, or stretching,” Weir said.

There are different expectations for students in each one of their classes throughout the day. At BSM, a high level of instruction is expected, as well as, a high level of student performance. The varying teaching styles help to reach the diverse needs of their students. “All teachers have their own style. As a new teacher I’m taking a lot of material and techniques and make it fit the way I want to teach. I have these note cards with all the names of the kids in my class. Sometimes I pick a name and ask them a question about what were learning. It helps keeps my students engaged throughout the class. My goal for my students are to always feel safe and to have a hunger to learn what we are learning,” Vetch said.