Here is the situation: I teach a semester Senior English class, Struggles of Humanity (the running joke is the class should be called Struggles of Celini...it's only half-funny). I don't have a set curriculum, and my dept. chair gave the freedom to "do what I want, as long as they learn." Both a blessing and a curse, cast down on me (borrowing the line from The Gaslight Anthem song, "Red at Night." I know, shameless plug).
I have no state exam to worry about (NY Regents is taken in junior year), and I have the freedom to tackle any concept in literature that deals with a struggle that humankind has faced. That translates to, well, anything.
On the flipside, we don't necessarily track our students in senior year, so the range of abilities is immense. Last semester, I had a number of students above the 100% mark (they went beyond every assignment I brought to them) and I had 4 students fail below the 30% mark (lowest mark in one quarter ...7%). It is both a dumping ground and a melting pot.
Now, to my newest group of students. We are 1 month into the semester, and I don't know my students. Oh sure, I have their names down and I taught a few of them last year, but of the 25 students staring back at me, I don't know who they are and where they are (in life, etc.). And, it's not from a lack of me trying. Or, more reflectively, it IS from a lack of me trying - because I'm not trying the right way.
They are simply (or not so simply) apathetic. When I say they are silent, I mean it. I have a had a few courtesy giggles in a given period. That's it. I was discussing this with a veteran colleague yesterday, and his reply was "quiet, just the way I like 'em." He was only half-joking.
I don't want quiet. I don't want status quo. I sure as hell don't want apathy. (Even my horrible pun, which I repeat every year and still giggle at, didn't elicit a response: "Give me apathy! Or give me something else." Attribution, anyone?)
Most of the class needs to pass the class to graduate. I have concerns about some already, who have been late with assignments (@TomSchimmer - I'm still the "10% per day" guy, though I haven't stopped thinking about your "Lose the 0" post a few weeks back).
Last week, our PDT presented a short video about Differentiated Instruction (see my post about teacher reactions). In the video, the teacher had three different levels of assignments: straight ahead, uphill, and mountainous (a loose paraphrase would be easy, medium, hard, I guess). I have been thinking about how to utilize this thinking in my classroom. When I looked at my seniors, thought of the differentiation, the two seemed to meld.
Here's my plan:
- Divide the class into two possible groups: straight ahead and mountainous (I will modify the names later)
- When each student arrives, he/she needs to choose what they feel like doing that day...they get to choose how their learning will be structured.
- If a student chooses the "easy" task, he/she will go to the back of the room and will be asked to do individual seat work. He/she may not participate in the day's lesson, unless he/she switches to the "challenging" task - then he/she may join the conversation.
- For assessment, here's my thought: I will create a checklist of required work for the quarter, and each student must hit the minimum requirements. If a student consistently choose the "easy" assignments, he/she will be turning in MORE assignments of STANDARD quality work. On the flipside, the students who choose the "challenging" assignment would hand in FEWER assignments of a MORE CHALLENGING quality.
Here is my big question: Is this educationally sound?
The vision I have is that a small number of students who want to participate will sit near the front initially, and we will have conversations, etc. This will allow me to "teach" those who "want" to be taught. And, hopefully, the numbers will shift based on what the "easy" students see the "challenging" students doing.
I am asking students to complete this survey over the weekend so I can get their feedback on this type of system.
But...am I doing this for them, or for me? Is this an attempt to fix a problem using the wrong tool? Since DI is such a new concept to me (as a practical resource), I want to make sure I do not misuse it. I also hope to bring this up at the Teach Meet NJ conference tomorrow morning (#tmnj11).
I would truly appreciate any feedback. And I know it's a long post, so thanks for reading.
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Hi Anthony,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the mention in the post, but clearly I wasn't forceful enough to make you take the plunge!!
I've attached a clip from a teacher I've worked with - Naryn Searcy - who allows her Sr. Lit class to use creativity to show-what-they-know.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17l9WIWVGjQ
Differentiation is about taking the opportunity to differentiate when it fits through the content, process, environment or products. Sometimes the content is non-negotiable, but you can differentiate for the process by which students learn the content. D.I. is not a thing but way of approaching learning; I always talk about D.I. as taking advantage of natural points of entry and allowing for choice when it fits.
The idea of choice is great, but it takes time for kids to develop a 'choice' mindset as many, especially seniors, have been passive learners for so long! You may have to do some gentle nudging at first. Allow your students to identify and use their talents and you'll be amazed at the results...and they won't feel like they're doing school work!
This is my first year teaching seniors, and I agree that they are slow to change. But once they get into a new way of doing things, they can really enjoy it. Personally, I like to inject a dose of silliness to get them off-kilter, which seems to help them unbend.
ReplyDeleteI do think that if you get into a front of the room "learning," back of the room seat work you may be asking for classroom management problems. The less motivated don't put the time into the seat work that you expect, and then you have idle hands... Just a thought.
@ Fran: I do see that...my frustration also stems from the fact that, as Tom says in the first comment, the "passive" student mentality has been ingrained in them. How do we break that idea? My initial reaction was "well, it's just too late. They won't change." And then I took a step back and said "Old Habits, Old Ideas!" I need to find a way to attempt to meet them where they are, and then hopefully bring them to where I want them to be. If I don't try, then I am as apathetic as they are.
ReplyDeleteI also realize I may not succeed, but the experience will be worth it, either way. I will learn something, and I guess that is the point, right?
Wow, commenting on a blog post can be kind of stressful, can't it? Anyway, here is my humble opinion on your post:
ReplyDeleteFocusing mostly on the last bullet of your list, it sounds like you're making more work for yourself. I'd be willing to bet that as an English teacher, you have enough work already.
Also, it's great that you're giving your students the opportunity to choose, but am I wrong in observing that you've already predetermined which choice is 'good' and which is 'bad'? (If so, whoops!) The reason I say this is because the easy students end up with more work than the challenged students, which to me makes those assignments seem more like punishment than anything else.
Do you think the students are quiet because they don't understand? Maybe they're shy? Maybe they've been told for the last 12 years that good students are quiet students?
I think most teachers can relate to the sleepy class experience. I had a similar bunch a few years ago, commenting on the "awkward silence I have come to know and love" was a daily thing. They were not into discussion, but they were a brilliant class: they eventually created original music and plays, and their participation with an online discussion board was active and hilarious. All it took was for me to stop talking.
=)
@Erin: thanks for the thoughts. You know, the more I thought about it over the weekend (and while attending a great conference, TeachMeetNJ 2011, I came to realize that I was not approaching this the right way. You are absolutely correct with the more work aspect - aren't we all overworked?
ReplyDeleteTo clarify the work idea (for whay it's worth): my idea was to assign more things that were much "easier" to complete, so the quantity would rise, but not the difficulty. For the other group, though, the quantity would decrease, and the difficulty would increase. To put this in simpler "classroom" terms, one group would do 5 1-paragraph assignments, while the other would do 1 5-paragraph assignment (or something like that).
I am most appreciative, though, of your last line "all it took was for me to stop talking." That really captures my experience, and is an important perspective to carry forward. I guess I also need to realize the reality of their situation: as frustrating as it is to me, this is where their learning for the past 12 years has brought them. I can only do the best I can to do what I do - teach.
Thanks for the insights.
@Tom: Just watched the video you posted above...and I would love to have my class doing that. I would be curious to know about Ms. Searcy's class makeup - the level of learner, full-year, etc. It is both inspiring and incredibly difficult to watch a video like that: on the one hand, it opens doors of possibility; on the other, my natural, habitual tendency is to close them immediately, as I go to the "reality" place (which is only true if we let it be true; i.e. I my brain says "Well, I'll never get video cameras to do this..." it can just as easily say "How can I get video cameras..."). I guess it's all just a shift in perspective (the irony here? that is the title of my class website).
And Tom, your words and ideas were forceful enough - I have plunged, in my brain. I am putting out feelers to how this can work in small doses. My "old" way of doing things was to jump in 100%, but I've learned that without creating the proper element, the idea doesn't always work (hence this blog post asking for ideas, instead of one reacting to something negative I've created without "thinking" it all through).
I am in the midst of my own internal revolution, and I intend to "test" things out for the rest of this year in the hopes of implementing them fill force next year.