March 23, 2010
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The Daily News
1 Here's what the moon looked like last night: My Mom's smile. : D2 We can learn a LOT from the moon.
3 So...here go:
4 Yesterday we had the WASC committee come to our school and take notes on how we are doing.
5 WASC is the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, and they come through different schools every coupla years and jot down notes to make sure we are truly an accredited school.
6 Three years ago, they marched through EV and noticed that every teacher was lecturing, like they were the sages on the stages.
7 At the time, I KNEW that this spelled doom and gloom for our staff.
8 I always knew that students needed to be motivated, and that the teacher should move aside and comment on the learning that they were giving to one another.
9 Hello.
10 Not only did I KNOW this anyway, but always tried to make school fun and enriching for the students.
11 Three years ago, the WASC committee wrote a report, and demanded that our teachers get away from the podium and allow the students to work in groups, to have fun, to enjoy meeting new friends, and doing what they call "cooperative learning", the current trend in education.
12 The classes I took last year taught all the methods I always used anyway: grouping, acting, skits, games, mime work, music, and all the rest.
13 What they wanted new teachers to get away from was the tendency to lecture.
14 Knowing this, and that their visit was imminent this week, I had planned from the first day of school to bust out my two best lessons, both of which involved students having fun and teaching one another.
15 Well!
16 I made the mistake of thinking March 22 was on Tuesday, rather than Monday, and I had a lesson plan that would have my students going crazy, having fun, and listening to music which I would subtly throw into the mix.
17 But I ALSO knew that yesterday I would need to lecture.
18 <buzzer sound>
19 I realized only too late that the WASC folks were going to be in our rooms yesterday, rather than today!
20 So I was a wreck. On Friday I cleaned my entire room, and it looked lovely, with all the Renaissance masks hung everywhere, with my guitar placed just so, and the room a seeming Starbuck's of education.
21 But I had to lecture, or neither of my classes would have understood Shakespeare.
22 My first class in the morning had a plan that included learning pronunciation keys, like how dictionaries had upside-down "e"s, "a's" and "o's" wearing party hats, and slashes that would emphasize syllable stresses.
23 I hand-wrote TWO vocabulary lists, complete with pronunciation keys, since our books introduced Shakespeare with very few vocabulary notes. In short, I spent all day Sunday writing a mini-dictionary based on Romeo and Juliet and Julius Caesar.
24 So the room was clean; the lessons perfect, my preparation some of the best ever, only I KNEWWWWW I had to lecture.
25 My feeling was that I could lecture really quickly, and then turn it over to the students to work in groups.
26 <buzzer sound>
27 Well, my second class came in ready, but the very SECOND I handed out the handouts, some lady came into the room with pen and notes.28 I told the class the the other name for the committee was the "WPC".
29 A student asked what that was, and I responded, "White People with Clipboards."
30 Brought down the house.
31 AnywayZ
32 After all my worrying and prep, I knew what MY students needed, so I began lecturing.
33 At that very moment, the lady came in and began instantly taking notes.
34 I did that lecture in cut time, but once I saw her, I knew it was over.
35 She waited until I rocketed through the list, due mainly to her presence, and then she left, disappeared with an audible pop.
36 I kept going, but of course, the students kept asking, "Were you scared Mr. H?"
37 Nope.
38 "Did she make you nervous, Mr. H?"
39 Nope.
40 Because I know what she didn't: ultimately, this will teach them to love Shakespeare.
42 At the end of the period, I played a CD of both Romeo and Juliet, and Julius Caesar, respectively.
43 The students then read along as professional actors and actresses played out those two wonderful dramas.
44 My first class applauded loudly at the end of the period. There wasn't a WASC person around. But they applauded because most of them never even DREAMED they could appreciate Shakespeare, and yet they understood, after just four or five days of prep.
45 That applause meant more to me than most everything that happened all this year.
46 THAT'S what it's all about.
47 More to come...
48 Peace.
~H~
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