Have you ever started giving a lecture and watched your classroom fall apart? I have. It happened last week actually. Four students in a corner arguing loudly about whether Jesus was the biscuit or the syrup, a pair of students flirting, and the quieter students looking at their phones. It was going to be one of those days. I finally got the majority of the class to quiet down so I could restart. One girl loudly responded, "Now we're waiting for YOU!" Some students rolled their eyes, others told her she was being rude. I wasn't going to be able to do anything at this pace.
I put a five minute timer on the screen and said, "We'll start in 5 minutes." As soon as the timer started, I moved quickly. First to the loud arguing students. I had a good relationship with them so I simply said seriously, "Hey what you're doing is not cool and it's distracting. You don't always need to have the last word." They nodded and quickly affirmed they would no longer be a distraction. Then ... a bee line to the student who had made the comment about waiting for me. We had not always had the best relationship, but it was slowly improving. I looked at her quickly and said, "I didn't appreciate your comment." That was all I said. She responded, "Sorry about that." Okay two down and two minutes left. I moved to the flirting distracted pair. I moved one student across the room. I could see they were disgruntled. I made a note to talk to student I had moved after class. The timer rung. I said, "Okay, let's get started." This time, students were ready to listen and ready to work. Five minutes saved me 50 minutes.
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The first two weeks are flashing before my eyes but also feel very grueling. Especially in the first month, I am prowling the classroom. I am a lion. Hear me roar. Two of my classes are back to back for a 100 minutes with 8 minute passing periods. I did the arithmetic and I stand and prowl for 3 hr and 40 min straight. Coming from a previously sedentary summer, it's safe to say my body is in small states of confusion and weariness.
Yet somehow, this is still better ... infinitely better.. than my first year teaching. One of the biggest changes is that I'm addressing problems more directly. I've spent most of my life avoiding problems and hoping things will either resolve themselves or go away. I've found that as a teacher- problems only go in one direction: bigger. I've been interlacing math content with culture building activities. Today, I asked students to share a cultural practice or tradition so that we got a sense of who we are as people walking into the classroom. In one period, I could sense that students weren't buying in. "Why are we doing this? This is math class." I guess all that mumbo jumbo about learning together as a community wasn't cutting it. The problem is... that even if most of the class is cool with an idea quietly, a few vocal minority can turn the class around really quickly. It's one of those kind of remarks I might have stumbled through and proceeded on as if nothing happened. I gathered my thoughts and said, "I apologize that you don't find this a worthwhile activity. I want people here to know each other and know their backgrounds and histories better." I had responded for now, but made a note in the back of my mind to directly address it with her later. Then I gave my own example. I had crafted it beforehand. It was time to work the crowd. I sold my story. Students were nodding along as they journeyed through my early years without Thanksgivings. I saw a few faces that were grossed out when I mentioned kimchi- a spicy pickled cabbage. I had them hooked. They spent a few minutes crafting their own memories and I bee-lined to the disgruntled student. She had her eyes ready to roll. I said: I know you might not find this a valuable activity. And I can't force you to do it. She said: I'm not going to. I responded: Let me explain why I'm doing this. When I was a student in high school, I always felt like I had to leave some part of me at the door. Maybe it was because I'm from a Korean family with different values and maybe it was because I never felt very comfortable in a white-centric environment, but I felt like I had to be a different person to succeed. I'm doing this activity because I want people to know that whatever their background, history, or culture, they are welcome here. And I want you to know, whatever your background or history, who you are now, is welcome here. I don't usually say something so direct, and honestly- I'm not even sure that I knew would come out of my mouth. She didn't respond, but I observed a subtle yet noticeable shift in her attitude toward the class and the activity. We had a few people share their stories aloud- from New Years on a boat, to making Saturday deliveries with dad, to soccer Sundays, we listened and clapped as people shared. We'll definitely need a LOT more reinforcement before our class becomes a community but I'm hoping to take strides there. And mostly I'm hoping that responding to students and problems immediately is going to be way better than previous years. okay, I'm exhausted. next time I'll post a mistake making activity that students completed. I've dreaded my last period class on Monday every week since the second week of school. Students come in ready to get nothing done. There's a lot of craziness and chaos that fills the room. Some days I'm glad I'm a teacher. Other days, I wish I had a desk job.
Recently, my friend sent me an article on students meditating 15 min per day every day. They found amazing results like fewer fights and calmer classrooms and fewer disruptions. I was inspired. I knew I was going to have a tough road ahead because getting a class full of adolescents to quiet down and "clear their minds" is almost impossible. I gave them reasons on why it would help us feel relaxed after a long day and I let them know it might seem awkward at first. I went through a little prompt I had prepared in my head. "Focus on the breath, relax from your head to toe (naming each body part), breathe out bad energy, breathe in good energy..." Several students snickered and mimicked what I said or some other distracting behavior. I could tell that the kids who had started getting into it were quickly distracted. I then set a timer for 1 minute to simply clear their head silently. Kids were almost bursting out laughing. Afterward we went into the warm-up explanation and a problem set. I pulled three students aside individually to re-cap their behavior during the meditation session. A conversation something like this: T: I noticed that you were really laughing and making fun of the session. S: yeah, i know. I couldn't help it. T: I get it. Meditating can be pretty awkward at the beginning. It's just that when you started laughing it was hard for the rest of the class to have their own experience. S: Yeah yeah sorry. T: Especially you, I feel like you have long days and you can get easily stressed. I felt like this would have been particularly useful for you. S: yeah, i guess. T: But if you really feel like it's too much, go ahead and step outside in the hallway until it's over. S: I can do that? T: yeah, I'd rather you do that than distract the whole class. This week, I put meditation monday back on the agenda. Some students scoffed but didn't outwardly make comments. I went through some prompts about focusing on the breath. The students who I had talked to still didn't buy in but they didn't make any disruptive noises, which helped the rest of the class. After some prompts, I set the timer this time for 2 minutes. I made note to them that we were increasing the time. I asked them to keep their minds blank and still for just 2 minutes. Heck, I felt better after the two minutes. The timer rang, and there was a noticeable difference. Less chaos. I think we all felt better. Next week... THREE minutes! I've never really given much thought to how to respond to dysfunctional groups other than useless phrases like, "Get through the work." Instead I either ignore the problem or I split them up. It's not really a good solution. This summer I heard Zach Herrmann talk about an instance when he intervened between group members so that they would be able to function. It got me thinking... maybe this is possible. Students need to be able to work with other people in their future careers... they also need to be able to do it now. They should have opportunities to empathize and settle differences in high school.
On Tuesday, I saw one of my groups unraveling. During group time, they were silently working on their own with scowls on their faces. I decided to intervene. T: So, Ali what's wrong? Ali: nothing. honestly, I dont think we should work together. T: Okay, well you guys are all intelligent competent people. Let's talk this out. Are they not working with you? Ali: Some people in this group don't take the work seriously. (Haily and Jory immediately get defensive.) T: Okay, so what's the deal? Do you think Jory is not taking it seriously? Ali: Yeah. He doesn't really do the work and he's always joking around or doing his own thing. Haily: Yeah, and we asked him POLITELY not to say answers when we're working on something, but he does it anyway. Jory: ok whatever. You guys said "SHUT UP Jory." That's not polite. Haily: That was only after the fifth time we needed to say it. (Mind you this was as they were talking over each other.) T: Ali, tell me what Jory is doing that is bothering you. Jory, I just want you to listen. Ali: He just works with Kim the whole time and doesn't really participate with the group. And he is always messing around or doing something else. (Jory tries to interject) T: Jory, I just need you to listen right now. Haily: Yeah, he just ignores us when we're talking to him. T: Jory, do you agree? Jory: No. I'm working some of the time. And they're NOT polite. They just say, "Stop or shut up." I see I've already spent at least five minutes with this group. I'm worried about time. T: Okay, Ali, Hailey, what do you need from Jory so this group can function? Jory, I want you to just listen. Ali: He should stop playing around so much.. and actually include us instead of just Kim. T: Alright, Jory, what do you need from Haily and Ali so this group can function? Jory: I donno T: Well, what upsets you? Is it that you feel disrespected? Jory: Yeah, they need to stop telling me to shut up. Ali: We never did! T: Okay, that might be true, but that's how he hears it. Right? T: Alright, Jory, you need to stop playing around so much. You have to be able to kick it into gear for your group members. Haily, Ali, I need you to start talking to Jory respectfully so he doesn't feel like he's being singled out. You guys have 10 minutes left. I know you can work together. So, use these 10 minutes wisely. I walked away... hoping it worked. hoping I wouldn't turn around and see another argument. Holy crap! They all gathered onto one side of the table and started working together on some challenging circle problems. They were focused and working together the rest of the 10 minutes. While 10 minutes is a short time, this was a MAJOR success. It was my first time mediating between student groups... and right now I think it's TOTALLY worth it! *names have been changed. I don't like to give automatic detentions for tardies... Sometimes people are late. And after school is over, there is no instance where you will get a detention because you're late. Most of the time, you just explain why you were late and apologize. You try not to make a habit of it. One of my mentors and I had been trying to problem solve two years ago. Problem: Kids come in late. Solution: She suggested that I could have a post-it system were kids explain why they were late.
I think a natural response is, "What if they lie?" and "What if they're late every day?" As for the lying one... I think that's always possible, but I want to start the year trusting students until they show me a reason not to. (not the other way around: don't trust them until they earn it.) And... honestly, lots of students tell the truth. As for the late every day part, I think that one person could have a different consequence than the entire class. I'm not yet sure what that is though. As students come in through the door (late), I hand them a post it and ask them to put it on my desk with their names on it once they explain why they were late. This is what adults do. They explain to others why they were late. And sometimes it makes a lot of sense. If there is one thing I'm thankful for during my high school years, it was developing a poker face. My close friends may be able to read every single thought on my face, but I've learned in necessary situations, not to show my emotions. This has helped me in teaching more days I can count.
One of my students was disruptive for a good 30 minutes, and I got angrier and angrier. She was doing poorly and was not using the time well. So I asked her to step out in the hallway. And I'm so glad I started calmly. I did not yell, I did not show any emotion. T: So, do you know why I pulled you out here? S: Yes, I was talking and being disruptive, but other kids were too. T: That's true, but most of the time, I heard you carrying conversations for a long time that had nothing to do about math. That was from my perspective, but maybe I saw things wrong. S: Well, I don't get any of it and no one can help me. I'm just not good at math. I never have been. Somewhere in my head, the light bulb went off. A-ha* the root problem revealed. T: So talking to other people... is kind of like a coping mechanism? S: I guess. I donno. T: Tell me what your strengths are. S: I donno... English? I'm good at memorization too. T: Cool, what other things are you good at? S: Making diagrams? T: That's great, those are useful skills to have in math.... I'm seeing that one of the ways your showing your frustration in class is by talking about other things. That makes sense. T: But I can't have you continually be disruptive in class and I also don't want you to feel like you don't understand anything. Here's the deal: You need to come to tutoring before the next class (we have block periods). Otherwise, I can't have you working with a group and you'll be seated alone. She was great the rest of the period. I reminded her in the hallway the next day to come see me for tutoring. She came by and we went through some previous work. She got more and more excited as she realized she was capable of learning. I liked this conversation a lot because I connected with the student first and not the behavior. I also provided an actionable next step with a sensible consequence. Hopefully I can remember to keep calm for more of my student interactions. Update 12/5: The student came back for tutoring a second time and was an angel during class. She was 100% a different person. I have a particularly challenging class when it comes to respecting others and myself. They came into class ready to do nothing. I put aside the curriculum and asked them to do a "Chalk-Talk." Each student gets a different color marker and answers a question. They can start to make connections to what other students in their group are saying.
Afterward, students get a few mini post-its and do a "gallery walk" and put their post-it on anything they really agreed with. I did my own gallery walk with purple post-its. In retrospect, I'm not sure if I should have distinguished my color. They answered the following question: "When do you feel respected in class? When do you feel disrespected in class?" Problem Solved? Not quite, but it's a step in the right direction. The rest of class went fairly smoothly, if that says anything. |
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