A Castle With No Foundation
Imagine that there once lived an architect. This architect was of great renown and his or her skills were recognized far and wide. So great were the architect's credentials that some member of royalty commissioned him or her to build a great castle. The architect has the techniques, knowledge, and equipment to turn the monarch's dream into reality, but the soil is very soft and hardly a suitable location for a thatched-roof cottage, let alone a mighty bastion. In this situation the one thing that prevents the architect from succeeding is a lack of proper foundation.
A barely-propped up analogy filled with holes? Sure, but the underlying message is pertinent (and to be truthful, I mostly figured this imagery would stick in your heads a bit more!) As an educator, you're not going to be able to teach your students unless you have some kind of foundation to build on. Think back to "that" class in high school. The one you hated. What was wrong with it - was the teacher rude, or did they only lecture? Perhaps they had such poor classroom management you couldn't hear yourself think, or maybe they had a seemingly personal vendetta against you. Whatever the reason, chances are that if that was eliminated from the equation... would that class have been better? Surely the answer is yes. How much better? Merely tolerable? Would you have perhaps enjoyed it? At the very least you would have learned more in that environment. As an individual who is going through the wringer of being legally prepared to teach, I find it hard to imagine that a licensed teacher flat-out cannot be an effective teacher - I believe they simply don't know how. (Again, the analogy is flawed, there isn't magical architect knowledge that will harden the ground as far as I know - forgive me.) If they knew what the problem was, truly admitted their current shortcomings and didn't let ego or stubbornness get in the way, I think any real educator would be able to clear that hurdle and reach the vast majority of students.
This brings me to a quality I observe in my CT that I admire. She has strong classroom management skills, but does not wield her powers for evil. (Think of "that" teacher - maybe they were too strict?)
If a student is talking...
in a whisper...
extremely quietly...
with someone right next to them...
about the assignment at hand...
for only a few seconds...
she lets it slide. This makes me think of The First Days of School by Harry Wong - an excellent book that I held onto after my initial "So You Want to be a Teacher" course for which it was required, I highly recommend it - in which he states that "an effective teacher always uses the mildest form of intervention possible." (Wong, 2011) I have found this to be true and I was quite surprised with just how mild you can be and it still having an effect - I suppose the key is to nip any undesirable behavior in the bud. For instance when a couple students were whispering to each other while my CT was talking, I softly cleared my throat and looked at them over my glasses - they stopped talking almost immediately! I almost fell out of my seat. My CT uses a technique where if the class is being too loud, she will suddenly fall silent and wait for them to be follow suit - the number of seconds they take to quiet down is the number of seconds she keeps them after class. This is quite effective because they stop after about 5 seconds - about 3 seconds in, half the kids have realized what is happening and have stopped talking, while one of the remaining quarters tells the other still-talking quarter to shut up. Additionally she is very flexible in regards to students' participation in class which I think is great - I am all about flexibility as a teacher. It makes me smile when she indulges a silly answer for a few seconds before getting right back on track, or elaborates on a theoretically-sound-yet-poorly-presented idea to help a student save face. I can tell that she is very aware of embarrassment being the kryptonite of teenagers.
Going back to the idea of flexibility in teaching, Randy Bomer takes that flexibility that I mentioned and elaborates upon that idea rather succinctly on page 25 of his textbook, Building Adolescent Literacy in Today's English Classrooms:
"To teach an adolescent or adult, one best begins by finding ways of showing him respect, by bringing him into the relationship as a whole, strong, worthy person. In a literacy classroom like an English class, one way to do that is by receiving students' existing literacies-- beginning the conversation with extended and explicit acknowledgement that most of the things we're going to learn in this class are just expansions on things they already do all the time because they want to. The existence of high-level literate behavior in their lives is, for most students, not something they will already be aware of, or even willing to agree about. So the teacher's job is to convince them of what they are already doing." (Bomer, 2011)
At the start of this chapter, a picture is painted of a youth who almost unknowingly is encountering high level literature almost constantly - through message boards on the internet, instructions for vehicle repair, playing online video games where text is used to communicate, even social media. Although Mr. Bomer thinks that "homies" is spelled "homeys" and that Halo is an MMORPG, this actually serves to prove his point - he does not need to know nuances of what they like, as long as he knows what they like and show them that it utilizes their literacy skills! I encountered this pretty early on - I mentioned it in my opening goals post - that I have something in common with many of the students, playing a certain popular video game. I have not gotten a chance to, but I am very eager to be able to tie this in to my teaching. For instance I could, a'la Mr. Bomer, touch on how they use text to communicate in-game and to look up information about the game. I could mention how using proper grammar and spelling in-game will garner respect, while inaccuracies elicit mockery and rejection. I could go over how writing a forum post that will get the attention of the community and generate a strong argument for your position is an ordeal in and of itself that utilizes the elements of crafting a persuasive argument. This is actually something I am planning on doing - for an upcoming lesson I'll be teaching, I'm going to have all my examples be from video games, music, fashion, or family. The point is that they encounter literature ALL the time and don't even really realize it. So what's the point of that, you ask? Lean a little closer. I'm going to whisper a secret to you.
This is how you get them to stop saying "Who cares about this stuff?" or "When am I going to actually use this in my daily life?" - show them they already are! This is how you make a reluctant student passionate about reading and writing!
Or so I hope, anyway. That's my thinking behind my philosophies of education. I'm not interesting in kids being able to impress armchair snobs by rattling off a list of Shakespeare plays they read but didn't understand. I'm interested in kids coming to class and soaking up the information because they know it will be useful to them.
It's a self-fulfilling prophecy.
"If you believe literacy skills will be useful to you in life, they will be."
Resources
Wong, Harry K., and Rosemary T. Wong. The First Days of School: How to Be an Effective Teacher. 7th ed. Mountainview, CA: Harry K. Wong Publications, 2011. Print.
Bomer, R. (2011). 2 Appreciating Existing Literacies. In Building Adolescent Literacy in Today's English Classrooms. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Timothy,
ReplyDeleteDon't discredit your analogy! It does help you get your point across. In fact, this is a technique you could teach your students about finding a "hook" for their writing! Regarding your interest in classroom management, I have found myself consulting "The First Days of School" as a helpful, easy device for my everyday practices. One thing I recently recalled from the text was about the timeliness of our actions. Specifically, the text discussed how we could gauge the appropriateness of our praise, and what that praise elicits from the students. For me this translates into our respect for our students. What do our words and actions mean to them? Your response to the noisemakers in the classroom seems appropriate for the situation. You didn't call them out in front of the class or embarrass them, you simply showed them that their behavior wasn't appropriate for what was going on in class. Bravo! It has occurred to me that many different teachers have different strategies for handling classroom management, and not all of them work. I think it's good that you are finding your techniques early to develop your teacher persona.
Best Regards,
Lindsay
Timothy,
ReplyDeleteI want you to know that your post, as a future teacher, has truly inspired me. I love how your writing is so creative; it forced me to picture exactly what you were discussing. I was totally engaged. Your analogy about the architect truly described the expectations of a teacher. We are the building blocks that create foundations for successful students (future adults)! I believe that your post touched on instances that all students, and future teachers, have experienced in their past.
Your “let it slide” point is so awesome because my CT has the same perspective. My “pre-student teaching” experience has been so beneficial because it is the complete opposite than my observation experience last semester. For example, I had a CT that fussed about every single “sound” made in the room. However, my “pre-students teaching” CT will give the class time to discuss certain ideas, but if it gets out of hand she will say “I’ll wait” expecting the class to start to quiet down. Her “I’ll wait” response isn’t sarcastic, but almost respectful because the students are not TOLD to quiet, except they feel as if they have an option, but their response gives the CT what she is waiting for (in other words wanting)! On that note, I really love how your CT will wait for the students to quiet down, and however long it takes for them to settle is how long she will keep them after class. I believe this is a great idea, and it is just as incredible knowing how the class has caught on. I also believe that this tactic used will allow students to feel more respected in the classroom. This gives them the opportunity to deicide what they want for themselves. By being more lenient the class is given more power and responsibility in making their own decisions. For example, they are able to determine the consequences (negative terminology) of their actions. They are forced to question whether their conversation is worth staying late after class. If so, I guess they will continue, but from it sounds like most of them stop talking.
I believe that connecting student’s activities to literature is a vital part of engaging them in the curriculum. Your idea of linking g popular video games to classwork activity would definitely increase your student’s attention in the classroom. It is great that you are able to recognize those connections and build upon them, because that is ultimately what will differentiate you from all the other teachers. Personally, I’m am not that most amazing video game player, but I still try to find those connections to students in other ways. All teachers will not connect to students on the same level, but what makes the connections so beneficial is that they are sincere.
Timothy, I really appreciate your ideas of connecting and building relationships with students because that is an idea that I have really reflected on as a part of my future teaching career. Thank you for your post!
Lindsey Wiggins