She Was Crying Outside My Office Door

I answered the knock at my office door this morning to a visibly upset Charlotte. She had studied hard but did not understand the material and was afraid she would do poorly on today's test. I asked what it was she was not understanding. She told me it was the textbook, the concepts and the quantity of facts. I assured her that there's always an opportunity for remedial work to make up any lost ground. The tears flowed as she told me her father was a college professor who insisted that anything under 80% would be perceived by people in higher education as a lack of effort. I assured her that in my opinion she was already putting forth a lot of effort. Her 75% was a solid average. She wiped her tears and walked away, looking like she had received no comfort from me. I made sure I checked in with her during the test to answer her questions. I also asked her to be sure to ask for clarification when needed, not just an hour before the test!

Voted Against

Today my grade 12 students handed me their votes. I had not asked them to vote. They voted anyway -against having the test today! We had just finished the history unit that included the Greek "ostraka" procedure. They "ostracized" me through their votes for runnning the test today (all in good fun). So I decided to negotiate. They gave me their reasons for not being ready. I listened. A few legitimate reasons were brought forward. I asked what to do about those who were prepared to write the test. In fairness, they needed that opportunity. I proposed those who were ready could write the test today while the others worked on their unit task. Next class, we'll switch. Will the ones who write today give the answers to the others? Not likely, but I'll have to change a few things on the test for those writing next class, just to ensure an equitable oppportunity for all.
Two questions remain: will the students who were given the extension perform better? And finally, some said "thank you" for the extension. Was this a genuine thank you that will translate into putting forth their best effort?

Democratic Decision-making

What are the issues surrounding democratic decision-making in the classroom? My context is a grade eleven French class planning a unit final task related to international cuisine. I have not finished the process, but so far I observe the following:
a. Students initially persist in asking ME what is expected even though I have given the decision-making over to them.
b. I have spent 70 minutes instead of 10 setting up the evaluation criteria.
c. They came up with great ideas I would not have considered.
d. The second day (today) a few students were asking me if they could have a copy of the evaluation guide sheet even though we were still working with a draft and final decisions about percentages had not yet been discussed.
e. Students seem comfortable with voting on options presented and letting the majority rule.
f. The process is noisier and a few students love to offer their creative ideas.
g. Impractical ideas presented by fellow students are detected and voted down.

How Much do I really Care?

In my classroom experience I find that caring for the students conflicts with being in a position of evaluator. When students are anxious about grades, they are less able to receive care. When I am setting the expectations I am one step removed from caring. My position is one of judge. So the care I show translates into coming alongside the students as performers under pressure rather than as the persons behind the student persona.
Yes, there are ways to get to know students outside the classroom, and a democratic teaching style can lead students to feel less stressed about results. All the same, the general climate of the school system is one that mitigates the full potential of care. What do I mean be "care"? I mean connecting with students in a way that leaves a deposit of empowerment, self-confidence, healing based on understanding who they really are.

Passivity versus Ownership

Why are my grade twelve students handing in mediocre work? I know some are focusing on "core" subjects like sciences and maths, this course is a pre-requisite for the French Immersion Certificate, but it is not a 4U course, so it doesn't "count" as a pre-university credit. They are merely submitting to the requirements and doing (what I thought were interesting) tasks quite passively. So what am I to do?
My next step is to find out what aspect of history or question each individual may be interested in and modify my course expectations to invite them into the planning process. This may mean fewer assignments, more tracking and consultation, less content-driven lessons.....

Setting Final Task Criteria Together

I took the time yesterday to work out the final task of the first unit with my grade eleven students. I gave only the big idea: an interactive guided tour of a country. They contributed all the criteria and content without difficulty. I did not have to veto any of their suggestions. One student offered a very creative idea to include food preparation as part of the task - a lot of work, but I encouraged her to keep exploring that option. My students had no problem putting together a viable set of expectations. After all, they've had years of experience trying to meet very similar ones! I believe they are still thinking inside the box, based on form and content they are given as standard fare in school. Perhaps if I make this process of involvement my modus operandus, they will begin to think more outside the box, offer more creative, original ways of meeting the expectations.
One more thing: something happened at the emotional level.....the noise level went up, but it was positive energy. There was an air of freedom in the room.

Setting the Tone

The first week of teaching is over, and I'm reflecting on how it went. Over the years, I have had lots of energy, ideas and been able to apply creative strategies especially in the first two or three weeks. Then, as the term progresses into the dark days of winter, routine has tended to set in, the tasks have become predictable and prescribed by the curriculum and my energy level somewhat flattened.
This year is no exception as to the first part of the pattern. Week one was fresh and engaging. The students were surprised each day with different teaching strategies. I tried to establish rapport, smile a lot and interweave deskwork with interactive activities. There were new visuals around the room. I got acquainted with the students individually through reading their bios.
How will I maintain this positive engagement throughout the term? I think the answer lies in my personal life, how I pace myself, maintain margin for socializing, exercise, couple and family time. I enjoy my students. I want to keep engaging them in fresh and meaningful ways. Will I have it in me to keep the wellsprings flowing?

Pushing Our Students

When is it good to push the students? How do I know the difference between pushing upward, that is, toward excellence they are capable of, or pushing them down by applying negative pressure? I think the difference depends on a few things. First, do I know each student well enough to know what they are capable of and therefore what I can push for that brings out the best in them? Or am I exerting force to get them to perform to my standards regardless of their interests and abilities? Secondly, do I care about my students enough to want them to do what they can do best, or do I care about the curriculum and my program, time commitments, results, etc? Thirdly, am I assertive enough to keep them accountable to their own competencies, or am I content to make them do what I want, using my authority to demand a performance that suits my needs?

Reduced to Filling in the Blanks

My applied grade nine French students are not confident with grammar and writing. The exam is three weeks away. I have tried some creative activities, but am now dealing with perhaps the most abstract and irrelevant lesson to them: the past tense with être. They won't memorize on their own. Most don't understand how to apply the structures to their own ideas. 25% of the students in this class have been away for rugby and track over the last couple of weeks. If I launch them into more independent, creative work, they stall, balk and banter.



I have therefore reduced the work to inserting the correct answer in the blank from a list of elements to choose from (essentially, a multiple choice exercise). It bothers me that there is no creative thinking going on.

The other thing that bothers me is my tendency now to rely on the almighty "pass" mark to goad them on: "If you do this, you will pass"; "If you don't do that, you will fail." It is what they are used to thinking and hearing, and it does get most of them moving. But it's not how I want to educate. The crunch is the curriculum and evaluations that drive the teaching, a rather paltry pedagogical menu!

Reduced to Filling in the Blanks

Two things are bothering me today. One is that I'm limiting my teaching three weeks before the exam to my grade nine applied French students

Nobody Wants to Fail

When students consistently don't do the work we ask them to do, it becomes increasingly difficult not to believe they want to fail. Today, after weeks of gentle reminders, offers of extra help session and showing Sam his grade summary, calling home, he asked if I was available after school to catch up on his work. And he came on his own volition! He now has a clear sense of what to do, how to do it and that he can move from a failing grade to passing. Over the past weeks there were times my frustration would show. It felt to me like he was resisting the work for no good reason. I almost gave up trying to offer more opportunities. But I have to remind myself that no student wants to fail, and that Sam's personal situation -living with his grandparents, among other things, means I cannot easily predict when he will be ready or willing to  produce the work. I believe the offer must stand, the door must remain open, and the invitation must continue until such time as the student chooses to move forward.

Unexpected Reversal

Singing in a grade 9 applied French class is not that cool. But I'm doing it anyway. My reason? I believe students can be swayed to do something new and "uncool" when it appeals to different learning styles. Its like drawing out a dormant part of their being. I applied for a grant to get some help from a guest musician and songwriter.  Today, he brought in a track based on the theme of Endangered Species we had worked out a few weeks ago. A student named James ( not his real name ) sat in the back corner. He participated only when he could make loud noises and otherwise seemed detached from the song-making process. Then Jim ( the musician ) promised to hand out a rhythm instrument to the student who could say his/ her lines in time and clearly audible. James came through and got to beat cowbell in perfect time throughout the whole rehearsal! Sometimes trying a completely different type of activity apeals to a whole new set of intelligences ( musical, kinesthetic, for example). It can bring out a level of performance not previously noticed. In terms of the course requirements targeting reading and writing, James performs at a passing grade level only....

Breaking Out

I didn't know what to expect on the last day before spring break. How many students would show up? Four students showed up for class. I had invited a musician to come in as part of an Artist in the School program. We had drafted a song for this week for the class to rehearse before recording it in April. How would four Applied grade nine French students react to rehearsing without their classmates? Monica exclaimed: "I really don't want to be here!" and Mark shouted "Can we just leave?". Jim, the artist, matter of factly handed out rhythm instruments to each of them and began strumming the chorus on his guitar. Before long, they were banging their instruments and chanting the chorus and keeping time! Monica later let us know that she could play a number of band instruments...I've learned that young adolescents often complain until you bring them along and persist in something worthwhile. They can be won over.....

Stick with it

Three weeks ago when I first used Bitstrips comic builder in the classroom, I hit a few snags. Things weren't working right, the program wouldn't save some of the students' work, we couldn't print, the images froze....Today, after two or three weeks of persisting, the process was much smoother. I had the projector hooked up to the classroom computer. The students clicked on their own work and presented their comic strips audio-visually. It was gratifying to see them using their language skills using this comical,  interactive medium. I witnessed some artistic skills I would otherwise have not seen. Some students intuitively organized space, objects and colour in ways that added significantly to the communicative impact of the language. Also, some students were very successful in bringing out humour -a challenge for second language learners!  

Tempting to be Sarcastic

Situation: I'm working through a booklet with my grade nines. I ask the group to turn to page X and hold up the page, describing what to look for on the page. Sam has not looked for the page after everyone else has begun working on it. He is distracted, not slow or incapable. I help him find the page. Later, same thing. We're on to another page in the same booklet. Sam has not begun the work. He asks what the page number is, after the instructions have been repeated three times. I say to him: "Sam, you're two steps behind everyone else. Find that page now!" That announcement seems to be on the edge of depreciative, but my tone is still upbeat and positive. I really don't want to single him out in any derogatory way. In terms of what to change in order to help Sam focus, what am I missing? He sits at the front, I can see what he's doing and I've seen him get down to the task when he wants to...

Teaching with Tech

I'm still not sure about using technology in the classroom. I see benefits in terms of the quality of presentation. For example, I'm using Bitstrips for Schools, a comic strip bulider -great for language expression and development. But....the time spent moving to a computer location, loggin on, fixing problems like deficient save functions, print problems, manipulatives freezing within the program, etc. means other language learning opportunities are delayed or lost.

I will assess this whole experience with the help of the students in a week or two....

Neurons Firing

I smile when I watch my students putting together new vocabulary in sync with movement they have to precisely do as they speak it. In a second language class, connecting the words to reality is the goal. The students today were animated, cooperating, coaching each other, thinking about meaning, and rehearsing together. It was a teacher's sheer pleasure to watch and appreciate.

Differentiating Instruction

The class I work hardest to prepare for is by far the applied group. The class harbouring the most resistance to the subject I teach, with the low functioning students, is the one I want to reach the most. Why? First, because I don't want to lose the ability to reach them with topics and approaches they will find somewhat compelling. Secondly, I cannot rely on pen and paper, rows, and static classroom positions.

Last semester, I did a Multiple Intelligence inventory with the group at this level and found that 80 percent of them learned best through body-kinesthetic means. Keeping them seated and expecting them to learn was antithetical to their natural abilities!

Tomorrow, I'm working on an Arts intervention project with this group. A musician is coming in next week with his portable studio. He will show them how recording a song is done. Then we wlll come up with a theme, groupings for verses and different approaches based on student interests. So what do I do with the students who are the least musical? I will have to give them an alternative form of expression, while maintaining my expectation that they communicate orally in a meaningful way.....More the think about....