I am intrigued by your discussion this week about covering material, getting through things, taking too much time to get through text. As teachers we are always fighting against the tyranny of time. And...
Our content is overwhelming.
So, you have to pick and choose what to focus on because teaching and learning needs to be deeper rather than broader to have an impact. I don't remember all those science quizzes I crammed for in eighth grade but I remember my violin lessons, which I had every week for 13 years. Equally, I don't remember the Regents exams I took (in New York) but I do remember making a solar oven and cooking a hotdog in it, on the playground, as part of my 5th grade science project.
Deep learning. Pick fewer concepts; select fewer scenes to read; cut down on the steady stream of content so that you can teach deeper. (This is one of the things that is so restrictive about pacing guides, like those they've adopted in Providence; the guide sets the pace, not the teacher.) One of your last precious powers as a teacher (except in Providence) is to set the pace of learning in your classroom. When students are disengaged (or over-engaged in the wrong activities)...slow it down and deepen it.
Sometimes you have to completely stop the bus, make everyone get off, and then ask them all to re-board--some concrete action to symbolize a new beginning. So, select what matters--for them and to you--and concentrate on doing that really, really well.
Critical questions for you, my reflective teachers. Please respond to one or more of these questions in your writing this week--see where the question takes you.
-Is it important to read every single word of a book or play? Can some scenes be summarized so that you can take longer on the more important ones? Where can you be economical without sacrificing your instruction?
-One of the most important parts of teaching is to get the students to "buy in." How are you going to get them to buy what you're selling? If "wow-ing" them isn't working, what other methods might you try?
-Is it important that your students are happy? Is that the same thing as having fun?
-Is it important that you are happy when you are teaching and working? What moves do you make to ensure your happiness as a teacher?
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It's important to me to be happy while I'm working and/or teaching. At the Writing Center, if I'm not in a happy mood, I don't always give tutoring my all. When that happens, the writer isn't into the appointment as much, either. However, we do get through the work at hand, but it's just not as fun as it should be, because writing can be fun. As for teaching, I'm happy when I'm front of the class. I love the material so much, and I want that to show. Most times, I think if one is really glad to do something, that energy will radiate to others. So I feel happy inside and I try to show my enthusiasm. I think when I tell the students stories about things in my life, but that also have to do with the material, they're more interested and eager to listen. Just last week, when I was explaining to them about the meaning of a vocabulary word, I told them about crashing my car. One student shushed the others because he wanted to hear my story. I like them to tell their own stories, too, because that makes the class a little more exciting and the text a little more interesting (it's hard to get students to like Shakespearean works when they don't like to read in the first place). I'm moving them onto Act III of Macbeth next week, and I'm looking forward to it because it's the act with Banquo's ghost and I'm going to open up the opportunity to share ghost stories - just in time for Halloween!
ReplyDeleteI've been told that I can make anything look fun, even if it's the most mundane task in the world. However, I know that even though I love the material, that doesn't mean the students will love it with me. I'm just hoping to get them to appreciate the language. They do understand the most important points of the play and can characterize Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. They've made good progress, and I'm happy that they have. I know I'm reserved, but I want to be more animated about the play. I want my happiness of teaching them the play to radiate.
For some reason, I never really thought about whether or not reading an entire text in a classroom is necessary or not because I always just assumed that it was. I never pick a book to read on my own and skip pages to get to the “more important” parts. I tend to think that everything that is written in a work has a purpose in creating the overall effect of that work. However, I decided that my position on that only goes for books I actually like, but for books I think are boring, I think that skipping around works just fine. Mike mentioned that I might want to skip parts in the play and, at first, I thought it was a bad idea but I’m definitely starting to come around to that point of view because I have found that it is hard to emphasize certain key scenes or focus a lot on them when we have to take the time to read everything. I am now in the position where I feel like, “Well, who am I to decide what’s important or not?” Something that I think is unnecessary to read in class just might be someone’s favorite part! Plus, I don’t really feel like I’m qualified to decide how to edit Arthur Miller for my students!
ReplyDeleteI feel like, after spending everyday in the classroom, happiness for the students and myself is one of the most important parts of this job. I don’t think that having fun and happiness necessarily go hand in hand (although having fun definitely helps as well) because I know that students can still be happy when they’re reading something they think is boring or having to write answers to questions, which they might hate. The overall happiness of students in the classroom comes from feeling safe, knowing that they are getting an education, feeling welcome with the teacher and classmates, and knowing that their voice is important. It doesn’t really matter if a student hates school and is miserable waking up in the morning – they can still be happy when they come into the classroom if all of the things I just mentioned are available to them. Making sure to take care of my own happiness also spreads to students; it’s much more difficult to be happy sitting in a desk when the person in control of the class is miserable. I have learned that I set the tone for the class and the few times when I have gone into my senior class in a bad mood because of something that happened with the sophomores, the whole class suffers. It has been so easy for me to be happy with the students I have – even the ones who sometimes drive me crazy – because they are all so awesome and fun and funny. I actually like going to my classes and talking to my students, whether it’s about the content or other things, and I think that helps make them more enjoyable for the students as well.
I agree with Kathryn 100% on the idea that happiness and fun don't have to go hand in hand, but that happiness is important in the classroom. I also agree with her when she says that happiness comes from feeling safe and welcome, feeling that their voice is being heard. I try to incorporate this happiness into my classes everyday and, coincidentally, both yesterday and today proved that I am successful in this goal.
ReplyDeleteYesterday was National Writing Day, and many of the English classes participated in this event throughout the day. Both of my classes, CP and Comp, did a fabulous job and made me very proud to be their teacher. I had students groaning because time was up and we had to move on. I had students, from my period 6 CP class, who haven't shared their journals in weeks (it's not mandatory to share in my class) "Ooooh, ooh, ooh"-ing at me to call on them to share what they've written. One of my students wrote poetry at each station...another nearly moved me to tears with her very personal, very heart-wrenching response to Robert Frost's "The Road Not Taken" (she cried while reading...) It was absolutely amazing...that these students feel so comfortable, so safe in my class, with their classmates, that they can share such personal writing.
Today, my period 2 class wanted to continue yesterday's event because our time was cut short since they met last period of the day yesterday. The students took about 15 minutes to journal at the beginning of class, and again they surprised me with just how trusting they are of me and of each other. For the second day in a row a student was so moved by her writing that she began to cry a little,,,and while I feel so bad that kids are crying in my class (on a daily basis, apparently) I still find it amazing that they feel safe.
I let them have this class today, by the way, to share their thoughts, to have a voice. Today was a reflective day. My lesson went out the window for the most part, but at least they know that I was there for them...that I was listening. To me, that's the most important lesson.
I'm glad to hear that Jill's students are making her proud. It is the greatest feeling that your students respond to what you're teaching in such a monumental way. Yesterday, my juniors wrote responses to the play and film, and I was so happy with their writing. Their responses were excellent and gave extremely good reasons for their abhorrence or admiration of any element in the play. They're getting it, they're paying attention, and they're enjoying some of the play and the movie. I love it!
ReplyDeleteI just read these posts, and I am BEAMING with pride. You make me so proud to be your teacher, and I am especially proud of your smart, progressive philosophies when it comes to engaging your students and to creating a community of learners in your classrooms. You are all so thoughtful, demonstrating here that you've devoted a lot of time to thinking about what goes in to transforming a room full of young people into a community of learners. AMAZING!
ReplyDeleteWe are going to be talking about cover letters (and resumes) very soon, and much of what you have written here should be cut and pasted into your cover letters. Talk about a philosophy of education statement!
Thank you, all, for making me so proud to do the work I do. You are all strengthening the bonds and the partnerships in these schools that I have been building over the years...you are the strong links in the chain...thank you!
Man, this is some good stuff...I *love* hearing how rewarding these classroom community experiences have been for you all...so inspiring!
ReplyDeleteI've been struggling with a class of 9th graders, and I think I have been confusing happiness with fun - I am aghast to realize that even in my personal life I am pretty sure I've been confusing the two. Yikes.
Maslowe's hiearchy has always been fundamental to my own teaching philosophy, and I feel that I haven't been able to establish the fundamental needs with one of my classes, as much as I've tried.
I had a pretty rough day with them Wednesday, and a little bit the day before - Tuesday I had the kids tell me how to help them like Shakespeare and we brainstormed on the board. They brought some good ideas to the table and I was excited to see that they were willing to serve as advocates for their learning experience - because they otherwise present themselves as kind of obstinant and apathetic (tons of "I don't know's"; most students will gladly sit in the darkening silence of that expression for a full minute before finally offering up a reiteration of the mantra).
I'd kept a kid after who'd dropped the f-bomb (not directed at anybody, and it was actually a pretty funny context, but still not ok) and after our conversation I was inspired to address the heightened nature of art through celebrity caricatures (he said "No offense, but when you tell us what Shakespeare said in regular words you make them all sound like Jersey Shore and I don't think they would talk like that"); I then had to throw that plan away, as after bouncing the idea off my mom I realized it was clearly wayyyy too abstract. This happens to me more often than not, and leads me to consider never speaking to my mother about anything, ever again. Though I tossed that portion, it being the National Day on Writing, I stuck to my writing plan - I had students create text messages from Benvolio to other characters of their choosing (from a provided list); the subject had to be within the context of the play.
(PART II...sorry this is so obscenely lengthy!)
ReplyDeleteSo I collected them on Thursday, which had been a completely "off" day for me (and Steve was in the room at the time, which made me a little self-conscious to boot). I was feeling completely dejected - then I got home, settled in with some decaf, and read over their text messages...THEY NAILED IT. They completely get what's going on. So they're unwilling to share that knowledge in class - OK. That's my next challenge. But reading their hilarious interpretations were so inspirational that it's guiding me to refocus my U.P. to from "figurative language" to "character" - something more concrete than figurative language, though I believe I can use the former as a lens to help students view and define character - so I'm still achieving my objective at a slant.
I also think the students feel like they're not doing any work - though my other 9th grade class seems to completely flourish under the very same approach, the dynamic of my period 5 freshmen is far less mature - individually they seem to grasp these concepts but on the whole, they get too caught up in the relative social chaos of the room; I think they feel antsy to get their hands working. Many play sports, but when I get them physically moving, they get too rough-and-tumble (literally, one student knocked another to the floor...they are friends, and he was playing the part of Tybalt, but I made sure to use the situation to explain that while I love the enthusiasm and passion, it is not OK to throw an innocent student to floor in my classroom, regardless of what we are acting out). So I think they need more tactile guidance (handouts, fill-in-the-blank type of stuff), but not total kinesthetic freedom, allowing them to "grasp" their accomplishments (or lack thereof, in a few unproductive cases).
Wow, putting that into words was awesome. I need to get more words out of my head and onto paper more often, but in a singular, organized area. That's probably what I've realized the most about this experience - document everything, but keep it all in one place so you can actually access all those valuable and all-too-fleeting flashes of brilliance and clarity!
As compassionate teachers, I believe, we feel that it is our job to make sure our students are happy. We create lesson plans with enthusiasm, trying to figure out the most creative and exciting way for students to engage in learning. In reality, every lesson you teach is not going to please each and every student and unfortunately the fun factor simultaneously follows. At the beginning of student teaching at NPHS I thought it would be a great idea if students created a soundtrack to resemble their senior project. The assignment was to select a theme song to go along with their topics and while reading their proposals they would play their song for the class. Unfortunately, some of the students looked at this assignment as just another deadline to meet. Yet others thoroughly enjoyed this lesson and embraced their inner creativity. When I was planning I thought all of the students would have loved an authentic assignment where they could incorporate music into school, one of their passions and escapes out of school. Knowing that not all of the students were happy or having fun with the project I felt like I had failed. Wasn’t this my job to educate teens in a fun and creative way? Presentation day came and I was anticipating a failed lesson. After the three days of presentations I was no longer bothered by the fact that every student was happy or having fun with the project and my main reason being the fact that they all “got it”. To me, this was more important than making sure each student was happy and having fun. It made me realize that even though students might not be happy or having fun during each lesson it is important to teach with your students likes and dislikes in mind so you can personalize lessons.
ReplyDeleteThese are great questions and I have really enjoyed reading everyone’s posts. I am proud to be part of such a brilliant cohort! I totally agree with the idea that happiness and fun are not always the same thing and that a safe relaxed learning environment is the key to a happy classroom. It is NOT always possible to “wow” your students. It is good to try (and succeed at times); but, not all students will even be “wowed” by the same things. I think that if you try really hard to have a legitimate purpose for everything that you do in the classroom, you let the students know what those purposes are, and you honor the students ways of learning by getting to know and understand the dynamic of the different classes and the individual students within those classes, that a happy classroom will be the result. I still believe that if students feel that there is a solid reason for everything that is done in your classroom, they will begin to trust you and your reliability. They will do the things you ask of them even if it doesn’t “wow” them. Obviously, there will always be acceptations to this, but for the most part, having the respect for the students to NOT make them do busy, purposeless tasks will go a long way to gain their trust and create a happy and productive classroom. As far as my happiness goes—yes of course that is important; but, I don’t really separate the happiness of my students from my own. I think one cannot exist without the other.
ReplyDeleteI also need to weigh in on the question about reading only some to a text. YES THIS IS OKAY! It may not always be the solution, but often, it may be the answer to making a text accessible to your students. If you risk losing your students by reading the whole thing, or time forces you to teach a text in half the time you wish you had for it, then I think deep learning using less material is much better than surface learning using more material (or concepts)! Remember “small bits of text!” I just did this with my TCWS class with The Things They Carried by O’Brien. I had planned on using a few of his stories but after the first one, and how long it took to finally get the students to really “get it,” I decided to just put together some brief excerpts from the other stories that really got at the meaning, which was what I wanted them to learn from anyway. That gave me time to add in a story from the book Shattered, which is a book of YA lit short stories about the effects of war on the young people left behind. This was a big hit and also rounded out the O’Brien stories and excerpts nicely. At the end of the unit, we did a “design your own project” culminating experience. I had such great results and I feel like I really got a lot out of them in a relatively short unit. I am going to bring in the projects for you all to see at seminar on Tuesday (before I return them to the classroom for display) because they make me very proud. My students really stepped up to the plate.
Part 2:(I guess I had a lot to say)
ReplyDeleteThe final projects for my TCWS class (tier 2 10th grade)were a perfect example of the “wow” factor vs. the “trust me this has a purpose” factor for the students, as there were four components and each student had his/her own opinion of which parts of the project excited him/her and which were a bit of a drag; but, they all did all four parts and impressed the hell out of me!! I can tell you more about this on Tuesday!!
Oh and Kathryn—who are you to know how to edit Miller or other texts? You are a very smart and qualified teacher and you can most definitely trust your instincts on that one. There is no “right” answer on which are the “important” parts, but not matter how you did it, I am sure it would make sense and you would fill in the gaps. I feel like a text should not be rushed, and I am sorry that is happening to you, because I am sure you are fitting in lots of supplementary materials and that your instruction is meaningful and packed with GSE’s that should be justification enough for how much time you are spending on it. I don’t think current High School teachers are always really using the “unit” model of instruction which we are being taught and which doesn’t just focus on one text from beginning to end. Hang in there!!!
Oh and a shout out to Lanni, my fellow split-placement girl, I wish we were going to be together for this. I hope your HS experience was as good as mine and here’s to both of our MS placements being awesome!! Congratulations and good luck!
Thanks also Laura and Mandy for the support at Vets--I'll miss seeing you everyday, as I have missed seeing the NP crew all along, but knowing you are all out there and that I will see you at seminar is comforting.
Good luck in middle school girls!!
ReplyDeleteThanks Jill!
ReplyDeleteI second that emotion! Happy Monday in Middle School!!
ReplyDelete