Several things in this chapter resonated with my own experience as a teacher and with what I have learned in previous composition theory courses. I particularly liked the section about having class as “a conversation rather than a performance” (118). When I first started teaching, I felt very awkward when I tried to lecture in front of the room and have a one-way interaction with students. I soon found that when my students and I sat in a circle together, and I when I no longer tried to be the sole leader of the class, that everyone felt more free to discuss their perspectives.
Another comment that stood out to me was the line about how the teachers Bain studied for the article “often chose rooms with moveable chairs” (128). Last year, my previous university built an new learning commons with unique classrooms. All of the desks could be taken apart, all chairs had wheels, multiple screens and multimedia tools were throughout the room, and there was lots of space for writing on white boards. Several of the people from my cohort were able to experiment in a totally new way in a classroom. This classroom style seems super useful to creating a natural critical learning environment. Professors who used those classrooms were able to use multiple types of media and classroom arrangements to change up their lecture styles. One of the members of my cohort was able to do a media-themed class and use the new classroom style to do things I was not able to do because I was in a classroom that had only one table and a single computer.