My name is Cleat Dobbins and this is my third institute at Bryn Mawr.  I teach Drama at The Spring School of the Arts in Philadelphia.  I also teach adults affiliated with The Spring School.  The Arts have been part of my life for as long as I can remember and I feel very strongly about it's effects on children and our culture as a whole.  Children in all schools should be exposed to the Arts in order to get a sense of how the Arts can and do effect the lives of all human beings in a positive  way.

Welcome to my Newer Index page!  Here you will be able to get to understand the journey in which my brain has taken over the years and how inquiry and using open-ended activities has changed the way I teach.  I teach science in an urban school in Chester PA.  I want to focus this web page as a challenge to engage my students to think and learn not just memorize information!  Your are welcomed to add your suggestions and I encouraged you to come on this journey with me!
Mini Project page 2
My Mini Project Page
Sudoku Journal Table

If anyone is interested in how "ghetto" culture affects the potential learning of Black students in one particular charter school I taught at, one can start by reading through the article "Culture as Disability", by Ray McDermott and Herve Varenne. I grew up in a middle class culture. My parents were not very strict with me, and you can guess where this led me regarding my boundries. I found it difficult to modify who I am (for 12 teaching years) in such a way to actively teach and manage inner city students effectively. So, for the past years I struggled as a classroom teacher first, then as a specialist teacher.

Wednesday when we first began Sudoku I was fine with it, because I have limited previous experience with this game.  The challenge for me during the game I was playing came when I realized several of the cells I completed were incorrect.  It would have been helpful for me to have known ahead of time that several of my cell entries were incorrect; especially since I was playing on the entry level.

I did choose to clear that game with the intent to start again, but when I realized it was close to time to wrap up for the day, I then choose not to start again, anticipating rushing through the process would probably be what frustrated me.

Daydreaming Reading this article helped me to see myself as a creative person but is there more to daydreaming than this?  Am I becoming a secret creative designer that will actively observe and in my subconscious start to create and report back to my conscious a masterpiece of ideas that will "wow" or go "poof" or is this just another Daydream"?.........This is the point of my mini project to explore the unconscious and conscious resources of the mind and try to use this information to help students learn and think to prepare for the process of life.   Read on

Mini Project 2010

Sudoku Journal

Geneva's Introduction