Last semester I had the "pleasure" of doing my practicum hours with a teacher we will call Ms. X. Ms. X has been teaching English in junior high school for 15 years. While I am sure that she is more than competent in her discipline and passed her education courses with flying colors, there is one shortcoming in her teaching strategies that I noticed during my time in her classroom...there is NO opportunity for students to practice oral literacy!
Her classroom may be the only one in the entire building that is silent. When students enter her classroom, they are required to read silently for 15 minutes. They quickly transition to a lecture given by Ms. X which is then followed by a short individual activity time where students work alone until the end of class. I know that you must think that I am exaggerating, but I am telling the absolute truth! In 35 hours of classroom observation I never witnessed one ThinkPairShare, Fishbowl, Small Group Discussion, or any of the other oral literacy activities shared in this week's module. What I did witness was groups of students who lacked motivation and excitement for Language Arts, and it was not a pretty sight.
So what could Ms. X do to help her students make their voices heard? A lot! In one of the lessons that she taught about personification, she began the instruction by showing commercials in which inanimate objects showed human qualities. (Remember the one with the broom begging to come back after being ousted for the cleaner, sleeker Swiffer? Poor broom! Whisked aside for a newer model.) After showing the videos, she asked the students to write down three examples of personification that they had seen on television or in movies. Some students were so overcome with excitement that they actually called out their responses! She promptly squelched their little voices and instructed them to keep their answers to themselves.
AAAGGGHHH! Why not ask the students to turn to their neighbor and share their answers with their neighbors and include how the items shared are examples of personification? There are only benefits to be had. First, students are learning to communicate with their peers (a lost art); second, students are practicing the skill of giving textual examples and supporting those examples; third, students have the opportunity to help classmates who may not understand the concept of personification by giving examples and discussing them; fourth, students are able to release their wiggles and have fun in class!
Also, during my time in her class, students wrote several types of essays: persuasive, narrative, expository, etc. Not once did they ever have the chance to edit those essays using peer groups. They wrote the essays, handed them in to the teacher, and received them back with a grade written on the top in purple ink. No feedback offered. About this time I was ready to pack up the little 7th graders and smuggle them into the "fun" English class so they could know the feeling of sunshine on their faces and the taste of lemonade on their parched tongues! Conducting small groups activities, such as peer groups to edit papers, is a fantastic way for students to interact in a way that encourages them to use academic language (e.g. "I like the hook you chose to use." or "I couldn't find the topic sentence for your third body paragraph."), to gain experience in editing written texts, and helping fellow students to succeed. Is there a downside to this? I think not!
While I did not necessarily enjoy my experience in Ms. X's classroom, I am grateful that I had the chance to observe her teaching practices because I know that I want my classroom climate to be very different from hers. I want students to express themselves through writing and speaking. I want students to learn to collaborate with their peers to find the best solutions to problems. I want students to understand that the spoken word is powerful! Spending 6 hours in school is hard enough on teenagers (and teachers:). Why make it harder by stifling them?
I loved this post!! Great examples on what not to do from Ms. X. I really like how your classroom is going to be set up, very good vibes coming from Mrs. T's room!! That is so sad how excited the students were to share their great feedback and didn't get the opportunity to have others hear their awesome comments.
ReplyDelete-Molly
Polly,
ReplyDeleteThis was such an amazing post, and you are such an amazing person! I am so excited for the students who will be lucky enough to have you as a teacher. You already know this, but I have always been impressed with your love for English and for teaching. It is unfortunate that some teachers do not realize how powerful of a tool oral language is, especially in a language arts class.
It blows my mind when English teachers do not allow their students to communicate in more ways than simply writing. Yes, writing is extremely important, but so are speaking and listening. I agree wholeheartedly with your belief that communicating with one's peers is becoming a lost art. Of all the classes that should push for oral language, English classes should be at the top of the list because to me the whole idea behind language arts is to teach students to communicate effectively through multiple forms and for multiple circumstances.
Oral and written communication share such a strong bond that we can not fully teach one without the other. Discussion is a brilliant learning tool, and some people find it easier to learn by discussing the material in multiple formats. I also believe that there absolutely needs to be some fun in the classroom. Like your story about the commercials and the concept of personification. The students were so excited to share, and the teacher should have utilized that excitement to create a wonderful learning experience, but she crushed their enthusiasm by insisting they remain quiet. English teachers need to insist that students speak up!
Thanks, James! I kind of think you are amazing, as well. I am hoping that my enthusiasm rubs off on my students, otherwise they are just going to think I am crazy...like 69% of the people who have met me:)
DeleteHi Polly,
ReplyDeleteI think Mrs. X may be operating under the pernicious myth that a silent classroom is a well-managed classroom. I remember when I worked at Jordan School District and I was evaluated by my assistant principal. He would come into the room with a stopwatch and count how many students were on task every ten minutes or so. He often equated being "on task" with being "silent." But silence is often a sign of disengagement, as you pointed out in this posting. On task classrooms are ones where students are talking a lot, but most of the talk is about the topic. Great ideas for Mrs. X to add more oral language to her class...and by so doing, add more learning and motivation to her class as well!