This past Thursday, I taught my first lesson in the unit the class is working on focusing around the book Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer. Starting the class with a journal entry, I quickly realized that was a horrible idea to start the class with even though I had seen Mrs. Ellis use the same type of activity as bellwork successfully before.
While trying to make sure all of the students present had notebook paper to write their journal entry on, the class was a bit noisy and disrespectful. Then something amazing happened: Kyle, my "fostered gamer," said something along the lines of "Come on! Can't we just be good for her? Show some respect. She's finally getting to teach us!" I was so proud of him. Normally he's the class clown, distracting students from their work, but right now he was the only student in class that stood up for me and I realized that maybe I have started to make that connection with him that so many of you mentioned in your thank you notes to me.
Once the students had been given a bit of time to write their journal entries, I started the tape so we could all listen and follow along to chapters four and five of the novel. Listening to the author read his story, I found that several of the students were beginning to doze off, but I could not think of any part of either chapter that warranted stopping the tape to discuss more. All of it was so cut and dry, I did not see any reason to stop, especially considering the time to listen to the two chapters was limited to the class period. I did stop between the chapters and offer to read the second chapter aloud myself, but the class seemed to prefer the tape of the author.
One of the suggestions I received from Mrs. Ellis was to stop during the chapters I teach in the next couple of weeks and discuss what is happening and ask questions about the content of the chapters. Hopefully the next few chapters I teach will be easier for me. Have any of you read this book? Taught it? I need all the help I can get!
Tonight while grading the journal entries from last Thursday, I realized that the students in this class are very different from one another. Only a handful made a successful response to the prompt that was given, which was to imagine they were climbing Mount Everest with the novel's author, Jon Krakauer. Others pointed out the obvious: "I would be cold." "I would be scared to die." "I wouldn't be on the mountain in the first place because I'm afraid of heights." I couldn't help but wonder: were my instructions unclear or did they just not care? I tried to make my prompt broad enough that it would be possible for both those in the special education program as well as those who were not to respond to it successfully. I also did my best to make it relevant enough so the students could relate back to the novel, while still making it a personal narrative. Where did I go wrong?
I don't think you did anything wrong! From what you have written here, it sounds like you are teaching the book exactly like the normal teacher does. My class sounds a lot like yours; they tend to not pay attention and often at least one student falls asleep during class. I have been teaching this week as well and here are a couple useful techniques that I have found to keep my students focused:
ReplyDeleteHave you considered having the students read out loud? This idea terrified me and for the first part of the week I read everything out loud myself. However, today I had the students volunteer to read. I didn't think anyone would volunteer, but a majority of the class took a turn! I never had to call on someone to read and it went really well. I feel like the students were more focused when their peers were reading in comparison to when I was reading to them.
Also, I frequently stop while we are reading and ask the students to summarize what happened in the last paragraph in one or two sentences. This helps them to keep focused and stay on task. I also think it helps them to understand what is going on in the story.
I have never read "Into Thin Air," so I am not entirely sure if either of these methods are applicable to your book, but they have really helped me! I know they may seem basic, but implementing both of these strategies made a HUGE difference in my class! Good luck!
I also don't think you are doing anything wrong. This is sort of a first for all of us, since we get to teach the whole class period for once! I learned today that I can't be so critical of myself, because I'm not the most amazing teacher ever (yet). I don't have the skills to bring forth amazing conversations, or to foresee all the problems that may arise during a lesson like my CT does, but that comes with time!
ReplyDeleteI've read parts of the book, and I think it's very dry and a bit dull. I think it would be tough for any teacher to get kids involved in something like that, but I think you just have to try your best. Have you tried talking to other teachers in the hall to see what they do? Go to Ms. Schawe (pronounced shaw-ve) or Mrs. Phillips, and tell them Nicky sent you :) They are super helpful and have great ideas for lessons. Also, I've found that looking up lesson ideas online is pretty much full of ideas. If they won't work for your particular lesson, you can always tweak them! Good luck Sam, and don't be so hard on yourself :)
Nicky
Oh and apparently I'm so excited about the ideas I find online that I can't type the sentence correctly. But I think you get what I'm saying :)
ReplyDeleteI don't think you've done anything wrong, and I'm absolutely thrilled that you're making some connections with the gamer student! Teaching is a lot of trial and error in making learning connections with students. Try a different comprehension activity (maybe a ticket out the door?). And your CT is absolutely right on having reading checks. We've been doing that throughout the Great Gatsby, and the students really respond once they know what's going on. Keep trucking!
ReplyDeleteMy students sound like your students. :) It's okay to feel frustrated. Most of the time, my students do not seem very interested.... but then they surprise me. I had a similar issue regarding Rumble Fish prior to me starting my own lessons. I made questions to go along with the chapter and created writing posts that made them look outside the box and think. For example, I gave my students a prompt about the main character of Rumble Fish [Rusty-James] who was expelled from his high school and told that he would have to attend another high across town. The problem was that a boy who had recently tried to kill Rusty-James by slashing his side open with a knife attended this other high school and Rusty-James was afraid to go to this other school because he knew that if he went there, he would be a dead man. Rusty-James is scared, but he chooses not to share his fears with his school guidance counselor. My prompt was what would have happened if Rusty-James had told the guidance counselor about his fears? Then I related Rusty's silence to the fact that he has no adults in his life that he trusts. And I also asked my students who they trust. -- It seemed to go well. I had my students share ALL of their responses out loud to the class. Peer sharing is a great way to keep students engaged because they generally like to share their opinions and get feedback from their peers.
ReplyDeleteGood luck, lady!