Digital Reflection

Student Seating and Classroom Management

Another seemingly obvious epiphany that I had recently is how important something as simple as how the seating in a room can affect student participation and lesson comprehension. Most science classrooms are designed around desks, and they invariably force students to sit at odd angles in relation to where most of the instruction takes place. I understand the need to have student-centered learning, however, having students facing away from the focus of instruction does very little for a 14 year-old’s comprehension. The standard single seats from the 70’s and 80’s seem to be traded out at an increasing rate for more social desk groupings. This is even taking place in non-science classrooms. I have recently discussed this issue with one of my cooperating teachers, and he stated that he can understand my point of view, especially considering the few number of labs we do that require desk usage. With the fundamental purpose of teaching being the transfer of understandings to our students, I feel that anything that promotes this idea should be embraced. The classes I am teaching this semester are all taking place in portable rooms that have no distinct designation between Social Science, English, or Earth Science. However, the classrooms where science isn’t being taught all have conventional single seating, and those teaching science all have table group seating.

            I see the benefit of having tables available for students while conducting lab work, but during the other 80% of their time in the classroom, the table group seating works against their ability to remain focused. Having experimented with multiple table arrangements over the past school year, I have seen how quickly students drift away from the central focus of the lesson when they are staring directly at another student. Some of my best students have been distracted by students around them when seating assignments and arrangements change. Unfortunately, I don’t see any one correct answer to this problem. Limited space and larger numbers of students in every class will likely just exacerbate the problem. Facing a student in any direction away from the focus of learning is simply telling them that what is going on isn’t really important. Students know that the direction they are facing is where the information is, whether that information is content or socially based.

The Bottom Line

Over the past six months of teaching I have frequently reminded my students and occasionally myself what the reason is for them being in my class. It isn’t to get good grades, nor is it to please their parents. The reason that seems to get muddled by all of its byproducts is the attainment of knowledge and understanding. I know this sounds obvious and simple, but it is amazing how often we lose sight of this while interacting with students. I completely understand that students want to get good grades. I strive for this as well in any class I am enrolled in. But when I remind students that learning is the true reason why they are in the seats, they look at me like I am inconveniencing them with some silly fact.

            The reason I need to occasionally remind myself about this, is that sometimes a student might ask me a question that isn’t directly connected to the lesson being taught, but is nonetheless a valid inquiry based on a real desire to know more about a particular subject. With time always being a commodity I am short of, I will try to give a brief answer that I think satisfies the student’s question and quickly move back to the subject at hand. This particular scenario came up just the other day when I was discussing the distances between stars and the speed of light. I had a student ask me about my feelings on UFOs and whether I thought we might ever visit other solar systems. I answered the question which was asked, but looking back, I feel I may have missed a tremendous opportunity to provide additional information, not just to this student, but to the entire class. My simple answer of the distances being so vast could have been better executed if I were to go through the math of question. I could have had the class, as a group provide the information about how far light travels in a single year (approximately 5.9 trillion miles), and let them decide whether they felt we would ever make such a journey. Instead, I was focused on cramming the last few hours of review in prior to their CST exams and potentially lost a teaching/learning moment that might have lasted them the rest of their lives.

CST Prep

With the science CST sections coming up in about a week, we are currently looking at different ways to solidify the students’ understandings of the information covered over this school year. Although I believe that there is a definite need for some sort of standardized way of evaluating the effectiveness of teaching, I am not sure this is the best method. Whenever told about an upcoming state mandated test, it seems that the first question asked by the students is whether it will count toward their grades. Each teacher understands what the students are really asking, “Do I really have to try on this test?”  This is a dilemma that is faced every year as teachers try to impart upon their students the importance of a test that has no immediate affect on their lives. To try and get students to “do their best” without a reward for doing well, or a negative impact for doing poorly is simply not effective.

      In an effort to help students demonstrate their abilities and reinforce content understandings attained throughout the year, we are looking to have an extra credit review session. This will benefit both the students and the school, as they should be better prepared for the CSTs and allow them to gain extra credit to positively affect their own grades. Even with such an incentive, many students still will not take part in the session.  That being said, I am looking for additional ways to better solidify understandings late in the school year. I want to reinforce key concepts not just for the sake of higher achievement on the CSTs, but for the true reason for their learning, to help them commit key concepts to their long-term memory. I predict that I will be wrestling with this dilemma each year around this time throughout my future teaching career.

EDCHAT POST #2

Natural Born Teachers

One of the more interesting comments/topics presented during this week’s edchat was the question of whether the participants felt that there was such a thing as “a natural born teacher”. My opinion on this is that teachers need to be leaders, and yes some people possess that special “something” that helps them succeed in leading others, but these are few and far between. The better, more complete answer might be that although we may have the basic foundation for becoming a strong leader or teacher, it is much more dependent upon being taught how to lead, and given strong examples to emulate.

The big difference between leaders and teachers is that to be a teacher you must be a leader and have the ability to convey valuable information to audiences quickly and effectively. Knowing what information is critical to a class’ learning and being able to present that information in a digestible fashion can prove to be the greatest hurdle prospective and seasoned teachers face. I myself do not pretend to have all of the answers, I only know what I have observed in others, and feedback provided to me from those who have critiqued my own teaching methods.

      I believe that a skill such as teaching, like any other skill can atrophy over time and needs attention to remain at a constant level of effectiveness. This is where a PLC or PLN can come into play. Through collaboration and communication with others in the profession, teachers can be constantly exploring new ways of presenting information to their students. Just as the information we teach gradually changes, so should our pedagogical style. Teaching is a never ending evolution and refinement of leadership and communication skills. I personally hope to be a better teacher on my last day of teaching than I was the day before. 

What guides my decisions as a teacher.

Whenever I come across a dilemma that requires me to evaluate how different choices will affect my students, I try my best to think about how that decision would affect my daughter if made by one of her teachers. Although she is a few years older now than when this photo was taken, I still see her this way and probably always will. I want the best for my daughter, and I am sure that the parents of my students feel the same about their children. I don't want a teacher to make my daughter's life easy. I want them to challenge her, while still respecting her and helping her. Teachers and parents have two very similar tasks in this respect. They both are trying to prepare kids for their futures away from the direct support of their families. They are also trying to make them the best adults they can be. The other day I had a student who was failing my class approach me about advancing him some extra credit that he would be completing in the future, so he could remain active on one of the school's sports teams. As much as I would like to have given in and let him off the hook, I knew that I wouldn't be truly helping him understand that actions have consequences (not in the California Content Standards). At that moment, I thought about what his parents would have wanted me to do, and I thought about how I would feel if he were my son. In the end I told him that I will work with him to make up any deficits in his grades by allowing him to turn in missed assignments, but that I would not advance him the upcoming extra credit. Although it is not our job to be our students' parents/families, I do feel that we must take every opportunity to provide guidance not only on content, but also on life and growing up. 

Embracing Our Inner Nerd!

 Each time I am introduced to a new class, I try to think of something interesting to say that might inspire them, and have them looking forward to being in my class. I have developed a relatively generic speech that explains what I expect of my students, and the general policies of the classroom. However, I have recently decided to modify my introductions to include something that I hope becomes even more important during the course of instruction. I now ask them to embrace their inner nerd. I tell them that it’s alright to actually think some of this is cool.  I go on to explain that I try my hardest to present material that at least I find interesting and cool. I try to explain to them that they shouldn’t feel bad for quietly thinking or saying to themselves, “That’s cool”. I then go on to explain that applause will not be required, unless of course they are truly moved to provide it.

           

The other point that I try to accentuate is that it is completely OK to come up with a wrong answer when I ask for input. I usually try to relieve any fear of looking foolish in front of their peers by assuring them that after the next three years, they may never see another student in that particular class again. Although I am going for a laugh at this point, I do assure them that high school does not predict the rest of their lives, and that they should have nothing to fear while in my class.