Cross Case Features: Teachers

Hardin Middle School: Social Studies

Larry Runyon, Social Studies

Larry Runyon, who teaches seventh- grade Geography and ninth-grade World History, spends three to four times more time on Asia than he did before he participated in the seminar ¾bringing in more about Asian cultures and history into his classes. He is rewriting the curriculum on Asia for Geography, finding ways to infuse Asian content into the sixth-grade study of World Cultures, and in the ninth-grade World History class. Larry Runyon says he “pushes [Asia] as much as he can” but also feels tremendous pressure to cover material on the state assessment. One of the projects students work on is a comparison of family life in rural China and rural America; students conduct research on social relationships, the hierarchy of a Chinese family, interaction outside the family, and the role of women. According to Larry, “It just blows their mind away.”

Describing his experiences with giving his students a story to write based on some of the readings they had done on Chinese fables, Larry Runyon says, “You usually have to pull teeth to get kids to write, but, they got so much into it—that’s what they wanted to do. And they thought it was fun and fascinating. I had very few kids not want to write.”

As a teacher of a “core” subject, Larry Runyon has the most opportunity to promote/share his NCTA experience with other teachers on his team during a shared planning period. He says he has done some sharing, but “could do more.” So far, he has shared his NCTA experience in faculty meetings and with colleagues. Said one English teacher about opportunities to learn about the seminar from Larry Runyon and the other NCTA participant from Hardin Middle School, Donna Conrad: “They’re both very verbal people. They share all kinds of stuff. If they have anything that’s interesting, they share it with us. And, they do the same with the kids as far as telling interesting tidbits or some of their knowledge.”