In frequent visits to the Museum of Fine Arts, students connect literature with the visual arts. While reading Homer, for instance, the students might study Greek vases. By November each student has selected a work of art. During the following month, the students begin teaching at the Museum by explaining the work to a group of Chelsea Public School pupils, usually seventh and eighth graders. This is the first teaching experience for many of Tigner's students, and they face the challenge of new responsibilities and also experience some of the joys of teaching.
Students are often surprised by the amount of work required to prepare a lesson.
They learn quickly to be flexible, since even the best-planned lessons don't always go as envisioned. They discover that instruction is never exactly the same twice, and they grow so enthusiastic about their subject that Tigner has often observed other museum goers held rapt by their impromptu lecturing. If museum feet are a common problem for these students, then so is writer's cramp. A number of students express doubts about remaining in the class once they discover the depth of reading and study required. But by December, the most reticent students have joined the class's staunchest supporters.