04/06/06 I decided to take a break from numbers for a bit. Let's do some words for a change -- calendar, months, date. I figured that this would be a good topic for regulars and newbies alike -- just start everyone on something new. So, first thing to happen was that my regular classroom was unavailable (literally taped shut with "Do Not Enter" signs in both English AND Spanish!!!). The room I got had couches around the perimeter, no white board, no writing surfaces for students, no desk or podium to put my notes on. To shape the space so that students could be nearer one another and in a circle, I brought in some chairs from Betty's classroom (oops, just realized I forgot to put them back, oh well). I've been carrying around 2 small white boards in the trunk of my car (part of my Traveling Show), so out they came. I'm just so sensitive to space -- layout, room arrangement, can everyone see each other, can everyone see the board, does anyone have their back to the others????? AND this was Chandrika's night to observe -- thank goodness I didn't have to videotape too!!! But, all in all, I was pleased with the lesson, and I "taught" all night in my dreams.
Comments on interruptions vis a vis Flow: Because of space arrangements, I had to do more than my usual amount of up and down and walking around. And while I had to step away from the group to gather materials, erase little white boards, etc my "team" teacher Rebecca went into her usual "de-railing of my lesson" mode. OK -- she WAS answering questions that a student would ask -- like "What's the word for______?" And, yes, I too follow those threads when they come up -- until they go far past the point of relevance for the lesson. Rebecca is a nice friendly person but she has no concept of Flow. Here I've crafted a lesson that I know can unfold in a logical sequence, each part building upon the parts that have come before. But Rebecca takes the class off on tangents. (When she is teaching, the entire lesson is one big tangent -- no planning, no lesson objectives, just talk, talk, talk about whatever comes up.) Tonight I had to say to Rebecca -- Please let me follow my lesson plan tonight -- My teacher is observing and I need to show Chandrika that I have a plan and that I can execute it. Another example: When Genia was my "team" teacher on Tuesday nights (when I first started and before she quit), she'd usually sit in the back of the room doing paperwork. She totally left me to teach the lesson. But every now and then she'd interject a comment, related or unrelated to the on-going lesson, and as she tried to explain in English what she was trying to get across, the students would become more and more confused -- they didn't have a clue what she was talking about. To my way of thinking, interrupting the (my?) Flow with explanations in English that are way over the heads of the students shouldn't be done. Another example: Tonight every time Isaac heard an English word that he recognized, he would start singing a rock song in English that contained that word. He knows English lyrics to lots of rock songs and uses pretty good pronunciation with them too. (Does this mean that he understands all of what he's singing? I'm not sure.) At one point (after Chandrika had gone), we went off on what I considered a pretty unproductive tangent discussing music. But wait, Chandrika! The discussion was all in Spanish. Yes, it was social and fun, but I felt after a certain point I had to bring them back to spring, summer, fall, winter. And I felt like somewhat of a party pooper in doing so. So the question is -- how far do I follow students' questions before I have allowed us to pass the point of no return and find ourselves on a bona fide tangent? (Sounds like "Sex and the ESL Teacher") I think I can answer that for myself but I resent when others interrupt MY Flow. Chandrika -- how DO you just sit there and not say a word and let us do it our own way when you can obviously see a better way??? I think that must take a lot of patience!!! But I do thank you for allowing me to make my own mistakes so I can learn from them!
My final comment on the evening has nothing to do with teaching but everything to do with service to my fellow humans -- which is why I'm doing this in the first place. Isaac told me 3 things last night -- I heard every one of them -- but they didn't totally "register" til I woke up this morning. First, he said that he had walked 30 minutes to get to class because he doesn't have a car. I actually thought I heard him say (twice) that he walked an HOUR and a half but I don't want that to be true. Then he said he had $1000 to buy a used car and hoped he'd find one soon. Then he said that if he didn't learn English he would lose his job. This comment came as he tried to ask me the English word for "lose." I should've sat him down right there and asked him what vocab, sentences, etc he needed for his job!!!!!! and made arrangements of some kind to teach them to him. And we're not going to meet at all next week. Why didn't I HEAR what he was telling me? What does spring, summer, fall, winter matter when you don't have a job??? I wasn't nervous, anxious or stressed out last night ( with Chandrika's visit or with weird space arrangements). I just WASN'T LISTENING. And I feel bad about that today.
Comments on interruptions vis a vis Flow: Because of space arrangements, I had to do more than my usual amount of up and down and walking around. And while I had to step away from the group to gather materials, erase little white boards, etc my "team" teacher Rebecca went into her usual "de-railing of my lesson" mode. OK -- she WAS answering questions that a student would ask -- like "What's the word for______?" And, yes, I too follow those threads when they come up -- until they go far past the point of relevance for the lesson. Rebecca is a nice friendly person but she has no concept of Flow. Here I've crafted a lesson that I know can unfold in a logical sequence, each part building upon the parts that have come before. But Rebecca takes the class off on tangents. (When she is teaching, the entire lesson is one big tangent -- no planning, no lesson objectives, just talk, talk, talk about whatever comes up.) Tonight I had to say to Rebecca -- Please let me follow my lesson plan tonight -- My teacher is observing and I need to show Chandrika that I have a plan and that I can execute it. Another example: When Genia was my "team" teacher on Tuesday nights (when I first started and before she quit), she'd usually sit in the back of the room doing paperwork. She totally left me to teach the lesson. But every now and then she'd interject a comment, related or unrelated to the on-going lesson, and as she tried to explain in English what she was trying to get across, the students would become more and more confused -- they didn't have a clue what she was talking about. To my way of thinking, interrupting the (my?) Flow with explanations in English that are way over the heads of the students shouldn't be done. Another example: Tonight every time Isaac heard an English word that he recognized, he would start singing a rock song in English that contained that word. He knows English lyrics to lots of rock songs and uses pretty good pronunciation with them too. (Does this mean that he understands all of what he's singing? I'm not sure.) At one point (after Chandrika had gone), we went off on what I considered a pretty unproductive tangent discussing music. But wait, Chandrika! The discussion was all in Spanish. Yes, it was social and fun, but I felt after a certain point I had to bring them back to spring, summer, fall, winter. And I felt like somewhat of a party pooper in doing so. So the question is -- how far do I follow students' questions before I have allowed us to pass the point of no return and find ourselves on a bona fide tangent? (Sounds like "Sex and the ESL Teacher") I think I can answer that for myself but I resent when others interrupt MY Flow. Chandrika -- how DO you just sit there and not say a word and let us do it our own way when you can obviously see a better way??? I think that must take a lot of patience!!! But I do thank you for allowing me to make my own mistakes so I can learn from them!
My final comment on the evening has nothing to do with teaching but everything to do with service to my fellow humans -- which is why I'm doing this in the first place. Isaac told me 3 things last night -- I heard every one of them -- but they didn't totally "register" til I woke up this morning. First, he said that he had walked 30 minutes to get to class because he doesn't have a car. I actually thought I heard him say (twice) that he walked an HOUR and a half but I don't want that to be true. Then he said he had $1000 to buy a used car and hoped he'd find one soon. Then he said that if he didn't learn English he would lose his job. This comment came as he tried to ask me the English word for "lose." I should've sat him down right there and asked him what vocab, sentences, etc he needed for his job!!!!!! and made arrangements of some kind to teach them to him. And we're not going to meet at all next week. Why didn't I HEAR what he was telling me? What does spring, summer, fall, winter matter when you don't have a job??? I wasn't nervous, anxious or stressed out last night ( with Chandrika's visit or with weird space arrangements). I just WASN'T LISTENING. And I feel bad about that today.
posted by Connie | 9:01 AM
2 Comments:
Connie,
Have you had a chance to talk to Isaac after that night? It sounds like he hasn't come back.
One of the things I noticed that night was that it was going to be very hard to pair him with the other two students - he seemed to need to go way faster than the other two. What you've said about his job confirms that.
DON'T feel bad about anything - you're doing the best you can.
In terms of sitting there and watching you when I "know a better way" - :)
To me, it's all about giving people the tools and letting them (to some extent) figure out some patterns for themselves. That's the way I learn, and often, if I'm told to do or not do something, it's awfully hard for me to put that into practice. Sometimes what a teacher says doesn't quite register till I go through a certain experience. I don't know if I'm making much sense here.
For your situation, knowing when to bring students back to the purpose of the lesson will come much more easily with practice. Now in a situation where everyone's having fun talking in Spanish - well, that's what non-class time is for. So bring them back. If they're talking in English, give them more time.
And as I mentioned before, if music seems so interesting (not just to one student), maybe that needs to be the focus of a lesson (or a few) soon.
I enjoy watching you teach!
C
Isaac did NOT come back this week on Tuesday. And, yes, I will have to spend some time working just with him. In fact, a couple of weeks ago -- after his first time in class -- I prepared the next lesson with some activities for the whole class and an "advanced" version for Isaac. But then he didn't show up that next night either. But I will answer every one of his questions that I can!!!
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