This week was full of drama,
tragedies, and successes, and I’m proud to say that I have finally figured out
how to meet these students where they’re at without
sacrificing what I believe is important, namely, teaching. My periods of
anger, frustration, and self-doubt gave way to a sense of steely resolve
(cracks knuckles). It’s not certain how long I’ll be able to maintain the level
of order necessary to educate these kids, but for now, I’ll say it was good
week.
Although
the instructional weeks are short, and the time it takes to introduce a lesson,
explain an assignment, and facilitate productive work time leaves me with
approximately 10 minutes of actual teaching time, I discovered that I don’t
need to work as hard as I have been. These students are intelligent, but they
lack discipline. After I cracked the whip, yelled, and reminded my classes that
I am not their friend, they got to work. I established my authority, then moved
on with my lessons. Once I did that, my students actually had fun with my
lessons and activities. They worked, they learned, and they didn’t whine about
the assignments, probably because my assignments are fun. I feel more confident now that the majority of my students are
on track, and it left me the time I needed to adjust lessons for those students
who require more one-on-one instruction.
Of
course, I still have students who exhibit some serious behavioral issues, but I
learned that my frustration isn’t going to help them, so I adjusted and planned
for a few contingencies. For example, one of my juniors has been awarded a
football scholarship and since then, he has expressed visible and verbal
disdain for the work and is a constant disruption in class. The day I gave his
class a quiz, he refused to take it. He was belligerent, obnoxious, and
altogether childish, especially since he insisted on making a show of the
rejection. I gave him three chances to take the quiz, all of which he snubbed,
so I wrote a “ZERO” on it and told him that we were going to call his mother
then and there. He was expecting to be sent to the in-school suspension room
for disciplinary actions, and he even seemed eager to leave, but I wasn’t about
to give him what he wanted to replace what he needed, which was a serious
scolding.
Although
his mother never returned my call, he and I had a discussion, and he
condescendingly explained that “nothing was gonna change,” and that he “doesn’t
have a relationship” with his mother. My initial reaction was annoyance, but I
took his feedback and decided to create an alternative assignment for him. The
assignment isn’t difficult, and it includes some high-interest and highly
relevant reading material. Basically, if he refuses to take the next quiz, I
will hand him a thin packet containing 4 articles about high school football
recruits and the various ways they failed due to academics and failure to meet
the new NCAA requirements. His assignment, paralleling the unit on Antigone, is to respond to the question:
How does hubris cause tragedy? My hope is that he will simply
fall in line with the rest of the class, but I’m prepared if he doesn’t.
For
my next feat of strength and flexibility, I will explain how I scared my
sophomores into completing the homework I assign! My sophomores are reading a
novel set in a post-apocalyptic world where a nuclear war has ravaged society.
As an ongoing writing assignment, I created a role-playing game where students
are faced with problems to solve or obstacles to overcome (in writing).
Students who score 0-4 points twice in a row DIE. This week, I held a funeral,
and the class realized that I was serious. The student was not allowed to speak
(because he was dead), and a few students spoke at the “funeral” to chastise
the “dead” student for not even trying. It was hilarious and effective, and the
best part? I didn’t have to scold anyone myself because the students did it for
me.
After
the funeral, I asked the student if he had any regrets, and he said that he
wished he had done the work. Being prepared for this situation, I provided the
student with an alternative assignment in order to get back into the game. The
student will need to write a reflective essay, similar to that of an obituary,
and he will need to specify the mistakes he made and his regrets, how he would
do things differently, and descriptions of his strengths and weaknesses. The
student was so eager to get back into the game, that he began writing
immediately.
I
am beginning to understand how crucial it is for a teacher to set firm and
rigid expectations early on, and although I missed out on a lot of
instructional time trying to maintain order and manage my classrooms, I’m doing
it now, and my students are responding well. My freshmen have been the worst
class for turning in assignments, but now that I build in class time for them
to write down homework, there has been a dramatic increase in homework submissions.
In addition to having the assignments written down, I have also been displaying
the high-quality work to praise those students who deserve it while providing a
model for the students who are struggling. Again, I do not need to chase down
assignments or reprimand a class because the students are learning how to
monitor and police themselves.
It’s
really nice to sit back and watch my students collaborate on learning instead
of waiting for me to force it on them.
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