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....