Once Is Not Enough or No One Listens To The Adult...I Mean Teacher.
For the last week we have been gearing up for an output activity in my Level I (second year) class. Each student writes an essay about himself. We started by reading a story about an elephant named Victor and the challenges that he faces at school. In the story, he ends up at a new school and starts over with a fresh and positive beginning. Lots of interaction/discussion. We compare ourselves to Victor. We underline sentences that we could use in that essay about ourselves. As a class we write a short piece in first person from Victor's perspective. "This is soo similar to what you will write in your own story!" I had told them about the final piece and how it will be about them and everything important to them. Then they had a few minutes to sketch a flag that the new school created to cheer Victor on as captain of the football team. I connect that to the story we had done about the Mexican flag and the legend of the symbol on the flag and the colors represented on the flag (Mexican Independence Day Sept. 16) Because that is also my birthday, I showed them a flag that I had drawn that represented me, my history and my dreams for the future. Each time we did an activity, I made a big deal about how this was similar to the piece they would do about themselves. I have a series of activities that require them to read before writing and one of them is about designing their own flag. They have to read and answer a series of questions about themselves, sort of like a survey, then take the answers and use them to design the flag. (again, reminder...this will be part of the final activity....an essay about yourself) We read some pieces off of the internet about what the color of your car says about you, what the color of your clothes say about you, what your favorite color says about you etc. We read a piece about the messages that can be send using different color flowers and how colors represent certain things. We filled in a review grid of verbs in the Yo form that they had acquired last year. We PQA'd all kinds of things about ourselves that yes....and I said it out loud...could go in the essay. I made a powerpoint of my own essay using those verbs and we had all kinds of conversations about those sentences, comparing me to them. Now, armed with the survey (written in Spanish and totally comprehensible), the grid, the articles, and a paper copy of my essay, I gave them the verbal and written instructions for their own essay. I asked several students for clarification to check for understanding. Then "Yolanda" raised her hand and said, "I don't understand this at all...what are we doing?".
Ohhhhhhhhhhhh my. I could feel the entire class watching me, holding their collective breath. I needed a deeeeeeep breath. "Okayyyyy, try getting started...then I'll come and peek over your shoulder and see how it's going. You can ask me any questions when I get to your desk". After waiting a second to see if I was going to blast her with super-teacher-laser-remarks they got started.
So I went over to her desk and explained it again, writing short notes on her paper to outline the steps a different way. She looked right at me and said, "You know, I had no idea we would have to do anything like this. You should have told us about it ahead of time. We don't know to say anything. This is dumb."
Ohhh baby. Obviously there is a chasm the size of the Grand Canyon between my mouth and her mind. I had sooooo carefully laid the foundation. I set up every building block I could think of and spread verbal mortar over each piece so that it would all hold together. And yet, there was this giant disconnect.
Was it her fault? Maybe. Was it my fault? Maybe.
Truth is....it doesn't matter. I've got an assignment that I want completed and a kid that doesn't get what she is suppposed to do. Even if I think that she is supposed to. At the beginning of my career, I would have been very growly about the situation. Fine! Ask your friend. I've already explained it. Too bad! Figure it out. I worked hard to put this all together and you didn't bother to lisen. Give it your best shot, maybe next time you'll get it. Heavy sigh. Maybe two. Eye roll. Head shake. Maybe even whipped out a little sarcasm if this were a kid who was easily distracted in class. Yup....that would have been my response.
These days I am learning to ask myself a few questions before I open my mouth. What is my goal here? If my goal is to get a good read on her ability to synthesize information in Spanish, then any of the above reactions is counterproductive. Today I decided that that was the case. We spent five minutes looking at how she could adapt sentences from my essay and make them about her. She used a verb from the grid to make another sentence. Then it was easy. She was off on her own, writing her essay, and enjoying it. I was able to walk away and she was able to tackle it in the independent manner I had hoped for.
When she was finished and had handed it in, I piled up the papers that we had used and quickly showed her how I had chosen those activities so that she could use them, the way she had, to help her to write her essay. "Oh, Now I get it. Thanks. A lot of time time things make sense to the teacher but they make no sense to us. We don't think like a teacher. At least I never do. " Whew.
I'll be honest. It took all had not to take her reactions personally. The truth is, she didn't trust me. She certainly didn't trust her own abilities. By asking me what we were doing, she wasn't criticizing me, she was trying to solve the problem. She expected me to be more interested in getting a final product, than helping her to understand the process. Unfortunately we often are. Thank you Yolanda for reminding me that just one more time might be just what the student needs. And that I should be more interested in the student and the process than the product.
Ohhhhhhhhhhhh my. I could feel the entire class watching me, holding their collective breath. I needed a deeeeeeep breath. "Okayyyyy, try getting started...then I'll come and peek over your shoulder and see how it's going. You can ask me any questions when I get to your desk". After waiting a second to see if I was going to blast her with super-teacher-laser-remarks they got started.
So I went over to her desk and explained it again, writing short notes on her paper to outline the steps a different way. She looked right at me and said, "You know, I had no idea we would have to do anything like this. You should have told us about it ahead of time. We don't know to say anything. This is dumb."
Ohhh baby. Obviously there is a chasm the size of the Grand Canyon between my mouth and her mind. I had sooooo carefully laid the foundation. I set up every building block I could think of and spread verbal mortar over each piece so that it would all hold together. And yet, there was this giant disconnect.
Was it her fault? Maybe. Was it my fault? Maybe.
Truth is....it doesn't matter. I've got an assignment that I want completed and a kid that doesn't get what she is suppposed to do. Even if I think that she is supposed to. At the beginning of my career, I would have been very growly about the situation. Fine! Ask your friend. I've already explained it. Too bad! Figure it out. I worked hard to put this all together and you didn't bother to lisen. Give it your best shot, maybe next time you'll get it. Heavy sigh. Maybe two. Eye roll. Head shake. Maybe even whipped out a little sarcasm if this were a kid who was easily distracted in class. Yup....that would have been my response.
These days I am learning to ask myself a few questions before I open my mouth. What is my goal here? If my goal is to get a good read on her ability to synthesize information in Spanish, then any of the above reactions is counterproductive. Today I decided that that was the case. We spent five minutes looking at how she could adapt sentences from my essay and make them about her. She used a verb from the grid to make another sentence. Then it was easy. She was off on her own, writing her essay, and enjoying it. I was able to walk away and she was able to tackle it in the independent manner I had hoped for.
When she was finished and had handed it in, I piled up the papers that we had used and quickly showed her how I had chosen those activities so that she could use them, the way she had, to help her to write her essay. "Oh, Now I get it. Thanks. A lot of time time things make sense to the teacher but they make no sense to us. We don't think like a teacher. At least I never do. " Whew.
I'll be honest. It took all had not to take her reactions personally. The truth is, she didn't trust me. She certainly didn't trust her own abilities. By asking me what we were doing, she wasn't criticizing me, she was trying to solve the problem. She expected me to be more interested in getting a final product, than helping her to understand the process. Unfortunately we often are. Thank you Yolanda for reminding me that just one more time might be just what the student needs. And that I should be more interested in the student and the process than the product.
Laurie, I want to be in your class. Thank you for reminding me to take a deep breath and not take it personally.
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What if you have half a dozen or more kids not listening to the instructions? Would you do the same thing with each of THEM? I have no trouble being patient with the first one or two, but after that. . . well, I start to lose it.
And yeah, I do get it that if there are that many, I am probably doing something wrong: not demanding everyone's attention, not explaining it clearly, etc. But truthfully. . . sometimes it's just that the kids want everything spoonfed to them.
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I've had groups like that. It is exhausting!!!!!! My first strategy was to watch to see who was purposely not paying any attention. In my room that is a behavioral issue and I will treat it that way. First a quiet reminder one on one that that is not acceptable, second a more direct conversation about being rude and not following classroom policy etc.
Once I have dealt with the one or two taking that route, The next strategy was treating hearing and following directions exactly the same way that I treat new structures. First I told them directly that this is important for them to be able to do. My job is to be as clear as possible, their job is to try to understand the directions the first time around. Second, we practiced,in English, with very simple instructions. I did a lot of "pop up" pointers. Things like: get started and see if it makes sense, ask a classmate if the time is appropriate etc. When kids ask for vocab, I ask, what do you think it might be? before I answer. When kids ask for directions I asked, what do you think I wanted you to do? before reviewing. Two problems were consistent: a) the student was not listening b) the student knew exactly what to do but was unsure/without confidence. We also had MANY discussions about the polite way to request help. Sometimes it was just the "Hey I don't get this stupid thing" being yelled across the room that set me off :o) Kids need instruction in manners. It just isn't part of their world any more, sad to say. I'd like to tell you that it solved all of our problems, but of course, some groups are well...challenging. But individuals did improve, and as a group it was much better in June than in September. Susie often suggests showing middle school kids just what listening 'looks" like.
Another strategy that worked really well was to choose a student who was sometimes "clueless" to be the manager for the assignment. His job was to listen very closely and then be available to answer the questions of his/her classmates. If I carefully chose my manager and made it a privilege rather than a punishment (they usually had to do a shorter assignment) that worked well.
The other thing that was very helpful on some assignments ...especially longer projects or more challenging readings etc....was to let independent workers work and to take aside the 3-10 kids who need "supervision" and work with them in a small group in a part of the room where you can still see the rest of the class. I allowed kids to leave the group quietly once they felt that they could tackle it alone and students from the independent group to join if they felt the need. (or if they "couldn't handle it" behaviorally)
Again, it may seem like we are constantly doing extra work, but I found that the extra time at the beginning of the year, or with new material, really paid off and students became much more independent as the year went on.
And always..many deep breaths!!
with love,
Laurie
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