Dealing with Ambiguity

I read online this week that "a good teacher knows how to live with ambiguity". The first thought that came to mind was, "Well what does that mean?" Sometimes I will plan what I believe is a really exciting and engaging lesson and my students will leave the classroom more confused than when they arrived. Initially, I thought this meant I had not done my job. I was a terrible teacher and had missed my calling in life. Then I began to wonder, "Does confusion imply lack of learning?" My answer? No!
If my students are confused, they are at least thinking about the material. They are questioning concepts and playing with ideas in their head. My solution to confusion? Revisiting material. As my seniors have worked on their research papers, I have noticed that their idea of paraphrasing is simply selecting a few synonyms for words and restating the same information. When I explained to them that this was not paraphrasing, but plagiarism, they looked lost. I decided to set aside a day of class time to discuss paraphrasing in-depth. I showed my students specific examples of acceptable paraphrasing versus plagiarizing a passage. Then, each member of the class created their own paraphrased version of an article passage. Once we reviewed the material together, I could see the light-bulbs start to come on.
Part of accepting ambiguity is also understanding that some lessons, novels, poems, etc. may not affect the student today, but one day they might look back and truly appreciate the things they learned in a classroom. They might remember the words of one teacher who cared.

Classroom Management... (sigh)

Another week commences at North Marion, and what a week it has been! Monday was unlike anything I had experienced thus far. Not only was it a club day, which alters the regular schedule, but also there was a freshman assembly and memorial service for 9/11 in the gymnasium. We were informed of all of this last week; however, between Thursday and Monday the office sent out two revised schedules for the day. Initially, first period was planned to last an hour and fifty-minutes. My host teacher and I planned accordingly, providing a variety of assignments and even allowing for some free time and bathroom breaks. Unfortunately, we ended up staying in first period for over two hours and surprisingly, sitting in a classroom for two and a half hours with a group of anxious 11th graders isn't as exciting as it sounds. All joking aside, the students did work well for the time they were in there. All of the assignments given were completed and most of the students volunteered to share answers and responses for the activities. The remainder of the day was pretty crazy, too. Each class period was shortened to last 20-25 minutes, so not much could be done in regards to introducing new material. This wasn't too bad though, because the short block served as an introduction to Tuesdays lesson.
The rest of the week has gone pretty smoothly. My host teacher and I have begun to discuss different ways of managing the classroom. My two afternoon classes are extremely talkative and she has been helpful in giving me suggestions for bringing them back to the lesson and keeping them on task. For example, as opposed to saying, "Okay, I'll wait until you all finish talking to start" she suggested I directly state my expectations by saying something like, "When I begin speaking, you all stop!" This leaves no room for interpretation or misunderstanding.
Next week we will begin Senior Research. Wish me luck!

Making Connections

After a long and rainy four-day weekend it was back to school. This was my first week of full-time instruction for all five classes: three senior, two junior. On Tuesday morning I was nervous, excited, exhausted, and energized, all at the same time. I felt comfortable with my students from day one, mostly because I have already worked with them during either tutor or participant year. However, the pressure of establishing a stance of authority, while also developing a connection with them began to sink in quickly.

The first thing I did was filled the students in on my rules for the semester and told them I would be taking over full-time instruction until December 9th. I typed and distributed a parent letter which introduced myself, included my email, and established some communication methods for the students' parents and me. I had already worked diligently each day to memorize my students' names, so I was able to call on each person individually without looking at a class roster or seating chart. I could tell my students were more comfortable with me because I had taken the time to do this.

Since the beginning of the school year, I have taken the time to stand outside the door between classes to greet my students and speak to them in the hall. Initially, a few students were not very open and responded quietly, but now they have come to expect my welcome and they will often talk to me before and after class. This has helped me become more comfortable working with them and I am sure that it has done the same for my students.

Although I have been busy this week with grading papers, creating PowerPoints, catching students up on makeup work, organizing lesson plans, collecting consent forms, etc., I have really tried to make it a point to develop a positive rapport with each of my classes. In addition to the points previously discussed (greeting students, learning names) I have also tried to emphasize active learning as opposed to discussion, smile a lot, and incorporate jokes every now and then. I verbally praise my students when they have done a nice job and always compliment them on days that they work hard and quietly. During our daily warm-ups, I respond to the writing prompts and quote interpretations with my students, which is something that will connect directly with my action research.

As for the rest of the weekend, I will try and prepare myself for the crazy week ahead! We have club day on Monday, along with an activity in the auditorium to remember the events of 9/11. Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday will be packed full of activities so that we can stay on track and Friday is an early dismissal. Let's hope I can keep everything together!

This week in my PDS, I learned about making changes. I had planned on teaching grammar to my juniors at the beginning of the week, then moving on to the introductory section of the literature book. We would talk about the foundations of America, while focusing on Puritan and Native American Literature. I had planned for this introduction to take about two weeks, after which we would move on to discussing the Crucible by Arthur Miller.
Everything was going according to plan until my host teacher received word from the office that the juniors would have to complete their research paper by the end of first semester. My host teacher informed me that I had seventeen days to finish The Crucible. This changed my plans drastically. Instead of spending up to a month on the text, I would only have a few short weeks to fit in all of the activities I had planned to do.
Thank goodness my host teacher was so helpful. She gave me all sorts of unit materials she had used in the past, mapped out a day-by-day schedule, and helped me rearrange my lesson plans so that I could time everything to work out. Although I will have to condense much of the information, I have confidence that I will be able to fit in everything that is necessary. On to another week!