This past week has given me many opportunities to interact with the students more in going over assignments, working with small groups and clarifying student questions as they did work in class. This week I did notice that there is a significant difference in period 5 from all the other classes; they are much harder to keep on task and transition than the other classes because they are so talkative and social—not only with each other, but with me. I really enjoy this authentic engagement, and so sometimes it is difficult for me to recognize it and just shut it down right away. I also wonder if they are like me, and can be processing and performing even while they are talking with one another. I want them to be able to have fun while they get work done. But I do not want to sacrifice work getting done for only the fun. I found it necessary to raise my voice with them—not yelling—but just being more stern than I like to be, in order to quiet them and settle them into completing the task at hand. One of my goals for next week that Marcia would like for me to work on along with her, is to keep 5th period more on task and focused—not allowing them to eat up time in transitioning between activities. This is going to be HUGE for me, because the lessons that I have planned are really strict on the timing of them, so I am hoping that I really can get the kids to get down a groove of moving quickly in-between things to give us the maximum amount of time for the lessons.
I got to have lunch with a friend who graduated from ASU’s Secondary Education program too and she is now employed at a charter school as a 7, 8, 9 and 10th grade teacher. I was asking her about how she has approached discipline and management in her class, since she is my age and has gone through the same program as I have. I really loved her way of putting things to her students and something she said really lined up with what Ms. DeMuro described to me once. Katie told her students she would be addressing them by ladies and gentlemen because that is the kind of behavior she expected from them towards her and towards each other. That she would give them the freedom and privilege that came with such behavior, but if they began to act differently, she would treat them like the children they behaved like. She expressed to me how helpful it is to have good relationships with a few students who help her with “crowd control” and will shush their friends when she is trying to manage the classroom. Which is SOOOOOO smart, because truly, students listen to each other so much more and feel the pressure form each other so much more than ONE teacher can ever put on I think. So I hope I will also have that benefit.
I am thinking about the grammar and the vocabulary lessons that I will be leading in the future….i really would like to approach them in a new way, but I feel like, in the end they are just going to have to fill out the handouts and worksheets anyways in order to get a grade so me trying to make a “fun” activity out of it, would only add to their load of work. Instead of being able to just get it all done IN CLASS (which leaves no excuse for it not getting done), they would have to take the worksheets home with them and do it on their own time (which would most likely result in it NOT getting done). And THAT, would lead to failing grades whether they were “having fun” with vocabulary or not. I think it is great how students have so much class time to be able to do work in class. Because as Marcia has pointed out to me, they are so scheduled and so involved in many other things, that doing Language Arts homework is probably not the highest priority for them. The work simply wouldn’t be done if they had it every night. The work STILL isn’t always done by many students even though they are given the benefit of class time to finish! I wish it were a realistic goal to say, “I want my students to turn in all their work and to have put forth reasonable effort into the assignment.” That is sickly optimistic considering what I have seen so far. And yet….it is still something I really want for my kids! Not because I simply want them to do the work, but I want them to find value in their work and take pride in their work and I would like to think they think so highly of me, that they want to hear me saying, “Great job!”. But that is so wishful thinking, LOL.
So how can I strive for this though? Well, I believe the lesson plans I am creating give the students meaningful activities that cause them to achieve valuable learning outcomes. Which I hope they will get a sense that, “Hey, this is actually something useful or valuable”. Second I am trying to keep in mind what the kids actually like—both individually and just as a general group of 8th grade kids. They like to socialize, share, argue through things, ask questions, feel trusted, feel in control, feel they have a say, feel independent, get dramatic about things, etc. I am trying to keep things like this in mind as I try to create different activities for them to learn the objectives through. Put myself in their shoes and ask myself if I would find this interesting, useful, valuable, etc. I hope that by keeping all this stuff in mind, I can meet them in a place where they will be able to have fun and learn valuable academic things, as well as, non-academic things—more social things. I want them to be able to share their learning and their ideas. And I think that kids really can be drawn in by that—the atmosphere of sharing what you know.
That is something that bother me about what I have seen of Marcia’s style so far. Even when we are discussing our reading of the Pearl, she is doing most of the talking. She asks them questions, yes, but on the more deeper level questions, she just gives explanation. She doesn’t give them a chance to develop their own thoughts on the question before just giving them one she has decided on. There is no class discussion time for them to just share with each other on their reactions to the book! Which I think is so fundamental a skill to foster. I would rather them carry the discussion as the students, and I just guide over it when they seek my input or it is apparent they need it. But maybe the kids have a totally different idea of some of the situations or characters, or maybe they have some authentic questions they came up with as they were reading, or maybe they have some interesting things to say that will never be heard and discussed, because the teacher is up there doing all the talking. I think the reason she does this is in part because of time—she knows what she thinks is important for the kids to know about the reading and she designs a test that they need to be able to pass. And second, I think she just underestimates their capabilities. Some of them she seems to really believe they are capable of some awesome things, but many, she observes their behavior, or sees a record and she thinks she has the kid figured out. That they are this or that and that is just gonna be how it is gonna be.
She says how wonderful it is to get these “Introducing Me” projects from the kids because she loves to get to know them better that way. And maybe to an extent I believe that, but because of what I observe apart from that statement, I wouldn’t believe that if I were her student. I mean, I think it sounds great—especially to the parents—but….i mean, if I want to get to know my kids, (which I do), i would think that reading their journals, hearing their reactions in class to readings, chatting with them when I could, etc. would be more important than ONE assignment at the beginning of the year. If there is one thing I hope to accomplish more than anything, it is that my students would know they are valued and always feel encouraged and supported by me. That it was a safe place where they could learn and grow as individuals, not just brains. I really want to foster a community in my classroom with my students and them with each other. Katie reminded me of a quote, “Your students may not always remember what they learned in your class, but they will always remember the way you made them feel.” And I think that is SOOOOOO true.
So if there is one thing that drives me nuts already about teaching it is this: the lunch room. No joke. I thought lunch was supposed to be my “favorite class”? LOL. I just hate the negativity that seems to pervade most of the discussion—if it comes to students…and sometimes other teachers. It isn’t ALL the time, but it is a lot of the time. I have no problem with discussion of student behaviors and actions but….sometimes it does just seem a bit overdramatic. And then when they are talking about each other, it makes me think, “Gee, I wonder what they could say about me when I am not around?” And I HATE that feeling. Not that I think I do or have done anything worthy of being gossiped about, but you know, it is just one of those human psychological things where, you just wonder! I guess that the teachers need that freedom to vent about the frustrations with students, and it is not like they are attacking the students with comments that are completely untrue or unfair. It is just …I can’t even explain, it is like, “if you don’t have something nice to say it, then don’t say it at all”. Going over the annoyances and what-not wont make it any better for you, it just engrains in your mind your negative feelings about it. And it spreads those negative feelings to others. I really admire Jodi Leeds (the 8th grade social studies teacher) because I think she kind of feels like me. I don’t hear a lot of negative out of her, and when others are being negative she tries to put in an alternate perspective that is in favor of the student’s side—not always, but sometimes.
And last thing I want to talk about is the possibility that I may be able to lead a theater club!!!!!!!!!!! Which makes me so excited! I have to find another teacher who would be willing to do it with me though. J I can think of so many things I would LOVE to do with a theater club. And maybe….if I did an awesome job with it, they would recognize the potential for one more elective at Cocopah….theater!!!! And they could totally hire me as a theater teacher! Dang there are so many exclamations in this paragraph!!! Because theater is what I truly would like to teach more than English/Language Arts even. Hopefully Marcia and I will be able to talk to Susan about it on Monday.