October 5, 2011
-
The Daily News
1 It is raining.
2 It is also in the 2 a.m.
3 I remember the days when they used to tell us that we shouldn't be on the computer if it's raining because we could get electrocuted.
4 Does that still hold true?
5 In the teaching profession, rain is often welcome, at least if you don't have to teach P.E.
6 The students always seem a little quieter and more subdued.
7 I used to love that, because I actually love to rile my classes up. I don't like it if students get crazy and disrespectful, but overall, I like to know my classes are alive.
8 One of the creepiest things that can happen to a teacher is a sudden fifteeen minutes of absolute silence. In my younger years, I thought it was a sign that I had great control that day.
9 Now it's just strange. It's happened a couple of times. I'll say, "Read these ten pages in your books." And the students will. The room goes completely silent. After about one minute I want to put on some music, or something. We're a noisy world; absolute silence in a classroom seems eerily unnatural to me.
10 It's funny, because yesterday I scolded one of my classes for having been rude on Monday. I even moved a few kids in order to attain more order. One of the kids I moved came up to me and apologized for being rude, stating that something crazy had happened over the weekend, and that he and his friends were buzzing a bit about it.
11 He naturally wanted to sit where he had been sitting all year. I like my students to feel comfortable, safe, and at home in the classroom, but those guys were pretty disruptive on Monday. They're just good friends, and they all get their work done, but while I was lecturing on Monday they simply couldn't control themselves.
12 I allowed them to sit together once more. During my lesson yesterday they listened politely, although they might have been playing hangman behind my back for all I know. The lesson went well, almost a tad boring, but sometimes that's just the nature of the beast.
13 Tuesdays are sometimes fun for the students because I allow the students time to put vocabulary sentences on the board. They get a break from lecturing and have an opportunity to study for tests on Friday. I'll often put music on while they do this, just to keep a fun and lively atmosphere happening.
14 Yesterday ironically I put on Bill Cosby's Noah bit. They didn't really listen, but I was using my sophs just to see if the bit worked at all in a classroom. I also wanted to time it, because my English 4's are learning Bible stories, and have just finished reading Genesis.
15 When I brought the students back to see if they had used the vocabulary correctly, there was a little noise, since it was the end of the period. This happens at any meeting, seminar, or presentation. Nothing felt wrong, just a lot of energy as I closed out the last five minutes of class. There is always the sound of backpacks zipping, shoes shuffling, and talking going on. I felt at that time that any learning that lands at the end of class was dessert. Their sentences completely augmented the lessons. My sense as a professional was that even with a little ambient noise, the learning was absolutely happening. It felt great, and I felt energized.
16 With around two minutes left in class, one really sincere student handed me a bright yellow Post-It note.
17 It read, "Our group...feels really bad because nobody's paying attention. I think you need to move a lot of people to prevent people from talking."
18 I thought, "What a nice gesture; these guys actually have my back." At the same time, I knew instinctively having done this for so long that nothing was really out of the ordinary. There WAS a lot of energy, as well as a buzz in the room, but from my perspective, nobody was really being overly disrespectful. They knew it was the end of the period, and after a little fun activity there is naturally a lot of quiet talking.
19 We teach for almost 180 days. I have been teaching since the Flood. I know when to stop, when to pause, when to instill the fear of God in students, and when to relax and smile. If we decide as teachers to holler, scream, and separate friends too much, it will inevitably backfire.
20 You have to choose your battles. I would never have survived this long if I tried keeping silent rooms.
21 In my younger days, those sorts of things would have really made me feel that I wasn't handling things correctly, that all the other teachers had quiet kids who would sit with their hands folded and mouths shut.
22 I recall one time at some inservice or other a guy telling us that a classroom without a little talking and the occasional gale of laughter is a place of doom.
23 The guys who had been rude on Monday remained polite for the majority of my lesson. Yes, toward the end when I reviewed the sentences on the board there was chatting, but the students instinctively knew that what I was saying was a little closure and repitition, and that the lesson had clearly worked.
24 I wondered what the other teachers did at the school. Younger teachers sometimes become overly strict. I took some college classes in '09 that said those sorts of "techniques" keep students in their own cells, and that engaging students and allowing them to interact naturally will always get better learning results. Letting students teach each other will always work better than being the "sage on the stage."
25 The State of California tries to get it across to teachers that they should rather "guide from the side" and let students interact, and that straight lecturing with a stick is purely nineteenth century foolishness.
26 So I felt a little strange. From my perspective, I probably had one of the better lessons of the year, although I did feel that my "lecture" went a bit long. I knew they needed to break into groups and to relax a bit towards the end of the period.
27 This all puts me into an interesting situation. The group that wants to see me crack down on the "talkers" seems to feel empathy for me, yet I really didn't see any reason to reprimand late-inning laughter and enjoyment. What could wind up happening if I listen to the one group is that the other group might feel attacked. On the other hand, ignoring it might cause my "backers" at some point later to burst out and yell at the other group.
28 So I'm thinking of some sort of strategy to keep the class normal. I can't ignore the group who is concerned; they feel deep down that the other group is being overly disrespectful. And to be honest, they have had moments of blatant disrespect. It was not yesterday. I think my "backers" saw that I allowed the guys I moved to sit together again, and that any sort of noise from that area would look like I weakened. I don't feel I did; I feel that the student brave enough to come up to me and apologize was making a bit of a concession.
29 I'm sure after all these years that I'll nip this one in the bud, but it does strike me as a little funny that I need to stop and handle this, or that it might escalate.
30 At this point in my career, classroom management tends to be cake, especially this year. I've great classes, few behavior concerns, and everything seems better than ever. Last year I had a class that was pretty challenging, with truly disrespectful students, airplane tossers, and some students with severe home troubles. I had to remove students from class at least fifteen times last year. I wrote a record number of referrals. So I do know the difference between mischief and disrespect.
31 Those students last year were "rough", but they also became a challenge. We wound up having a pretty nice ending to the school year, and when they see me now, they smile and wave.
32 The hardest part of teaching right now is keeping up with all of the grading at a high-producing school. I also have to turn my ghost unit into an evaluation project, complete with action plans, deadlines, standards and all the rest. I worked on that all yesterday afternoon.
33 These days, time-management, planning, taking care of IEP's, meetings, attendance sheets, School Loop, parental communication, and grading has become the difficult part of the job. Classroom management, especially this year, has been cake. Trying to get a car tuned up or a haircut, or even making time to see friends and family has been the challenge.
34 But having sincere students worrying about the rudeness of other students cannot be ignored. It's a sleeping giant, and I'm going to need to come up with of some interesting strategies in order to deal with it this morning.
35 Fortunately it is raining.
36 It is also in the 3 a.m.
37 And somehow I'm still worrying about all of this.
38 I have to think that in some sort of strange way, it all makes me a better teacher.
39 Wish me luck. Right now I need a little more sleep. I've already had five hours, so I'm not worried about being awake. I've been really electrified and alert all year.
40 I'll just need to keep my radar turned up pretty high today.
41 And it's raining.
42 That much I know.
43 It is raining.
44 Peace.
~H~
