More Classroom Management!!!

Though I really want a noisy class, my students here in Aleppo are going a little bit beyond my hopes and expectations. I fear that I will have to make an example of a few students this week and assign some lunchtime detentions. It will be my own brand of detention: lunch taken in silence followed by a debrief of why the students are staying in and making a plan to ensure they do not find themselves in at lunch again. (Lofty goals for a thirty minute lunch break!) I am somewhat hesitant to assign detentions though because I have observed that these consequences do not seem to stick with this particular group of students.

I think that these students need a tailor-made approach. I agree that they need to practice their listening skills and being respectful towards others, but they should be practicing these habits through opportunities that either play on their strengths or are so meaningful to these students that the kids cannot help but get tuned in and focused.

I have encountered a lot of middle-school aged kids as a camp counsellor, and there are always kids who are not listeners. When considering boys in particular – it is the behaviour of the boys in my classes that other teachers and myself are finding the most challenging – these guys can often be self-centered doers and jokers who feed off of one another. They like to talk, which unfortunately interferes with their listening. While I agree that these students can do some great work when they finally sit down and get to it, the fact that there is a regular struggle between teacher and student to get to that productive point suggests that these students are lacking buy-in. The typical presentation of the material does not jive for these students.

Some teachers manage this group by being strict disciplinarians and maintaining a rigid class structure. Personally, I find it hard to believe that a student constantly sent into the hallway or to the vice-principal is going to eventually start learning effectively, although the rest of the class might be kept in line through this one person’s punishment. I think that it is better to channel students’ energy rather than fight and contain it because the majority of these students are going to grow out of their self-centered behaviour anyways! Students receive countless reminders about listening to and being respectful towards other, but it is a lot nicer for everybody involved if students are praised for when they do listen instead of being reprimanded when they do not.

As I go through my last week of in-class teaching, it is my hope to put some of these vague notions into practice. Wish me luck as I try making up lessons for students who really like being at school but have trouble listening once they have an opportunity to start talking!

Happy Easter!

The Dreams of Teachers

I had the wonderful opportunity to sit in on parent-teacher interviews last week with a Grade 7 and 8 teacher. Although I am sure I can look forward to many interviews in my teaching career where parents are angry, apathetic, or simply absent, it was pretty spectacular to start off my experience of the parent-teacher meeting by encountering so many moms and dads who are genuinely concerned and interested in the success of their children. I listened to parents who tutored their sons and daughters, parents who advocated for their children, and parents who took the blame for putting too much pressure on their kids to get high grades. I suppose I should admit that many of these parents are in high-profile positions and recognize the effort it takes to be academically and professionally successful; moreover, there were “power-parents” who did not show up for an interview, but from purely my own experience of the day: Bravo Parents! Even where the student needed to translate for his mother or father, it was a phenomenal opportunity for the teacher, parent, and student to get back on the same page and ensure that the student was playing at the top of her or his game.

When sitting down the other morning to my last prep period of the day, I came to a point where there was no other work for me to do. I essentially have all my lessons planned and prepared until we go to visit Crusader castles! This was an alien experience for me since I sometimes found myself scrambling to be prepared for lessons during my practica in October, December, and February. At this school in Aleppo, I, like all teachers here, have between two and four hours of prep time every day. From one perspective, it is wonderful to have all this time because it enables me to take advantage of my evenings in Aleppo. The flip side of this coin is that I am often teaching for only half of the school day; consequently, I find it difficult to keep my “teaching groove” from class to class and day to day. The time that I spend with students is always the most brilliant part of my teaching day and helps motivate me to come up with compelling ways to teach the next day’s lesson. When I only see the kids for two or three periods during the day, it is hard to keep up a full head of steam!

Motivation in Leadership

I hope to someday serialize and post an essay I wrote for my Public History course regarding motivation and Grade 10 History students in Ontario, but time flies and I have still more ideas to write about. I am continuing to examine the motivations of students during my practicum, and in particular I am looking at the level of commitment that some students show towards leadership camps, which I have referred to in other posts. At these camps, students learn about the essentials of communication, group dynamics, problem solving, goal-setting, leadership styles, stress relief among other topics. Whether these participants in these camps actually develop into effective leaders is an entirely different question, but the organizers of the weekend have a high intrinsic motivation to make their camp a success. There is a high emotional attachment to the camp, many students feel that they change as a result of this camp and want to make a difference in the lives of others, and there is also some pride or status attached to being a part of this camp, which is of course an extrinsic motivation. I am not sure that educators are ready or really want students so interested in a particular course that they put off other school work, become almost obsessively focused on the work, and ignore even bodily needs of sleep when preparing for large activities, but it is interesting to look at how such motivation might be directed and harnessed for the purposes of education. While I suspect that one of the reasons that students devote so much effort to leadership camps might be because it is not a school activity, I think that this potential should nevertheless be investigated.

Leading the Way in Inconsistent Behaviour

The students who participate in planning leadership camps at my practicum school are incredibly passionate about and dedicated to creating a leadership camp experience that builds on the fantastic time that they themselves had as delegates only a few years before. At the camp that I helped to supervise in the late fall, I was stunned to learn that these students were willing and able to provide a quality camp to delegates when running on only a few hours of sleep. Their motivation in that moment was such that, whether or not this was a reasonable and healthy choice, they were willing to push their own physical limits in order to pull off the camp that they had been dreaming of and planning for the previous three months.

It was therefore so frustrating for me to attend a leadership planning meeting this past Monday to observe this dedicated group carrying on a multitude of side discussions throughout the course of their time together. Brainstorming was definitely less efficient with only part of the group tuned into the discussion, and the disregard that some students showed towards their peers was shocking. Were these the same individuals that had shown a united front dedicated to seeing through a quality leadership camp?

While many of the students involved in planning leadership camp have strong intrinsic motivations for directing considerable time and energy to this extracurricular activity, I wonder if the extrinsic rewards of being recognized as a member of the planning committee or validating the club to skeptical teachers are actually what focus the entire group to complete tasks. Perhaps these students acquire and demonstrate greater motivation as they are able to see the fruits of the labour. Because the group is so large, it may be that a consensus model is unwieldy for organizing such a large event. I believe that the energy these students invest into leadership camp can be directed towards other activities, but it is essential to identify and harness consistent sources of motivation rather than tapping unsustainable levels of commitment.

Motivating Students Through Extracurricular Involvement

With this revival of Humility in Education, I thought it would be best to start off with some posts that are fresh in my mind rather than bringing up concepts or challenges I encountered in the fall. Reflections on the fall will come with time, but let us examine the present for now.

As I returned to a school at which I have already spent two months teaching, I experienced a secret delight at being remembered by students I worked with or taught in October and December; however, it has been particularly fascinating to observe how excited the students I knew from a school leadership camp I helped to supervise were to discover that I would be their teacher for the month. It will be interesting to observe how their excitement is sustained over the course of this practicum as they get to know me as a teacher rather than as a supervisor for an extracurricular activity about which they are particularly passionate. In any case, their reaction to my presence suggests that building a professional relationship with students outside of the classroom can have an impact, at least initially, on student engagement in class activities. It is really affirming to know that participation in extracurricular activities, which can be a real joy for both students and educators, also has benefits that come into the classroom; consequently, I will need to make sure I get involved in the activities of whatever school I find myself at in the coming fall.