This year was an interesting one for me in terms of teaching style. I think I got into a sub-conscious rut, but my students definitely pulled me out of that. The problem was that I was unprepared to be pulled out of it; so there was a definite period of discouragement, introspection, and disorientation.
What had worked for the past five years at my school (and what I had spent time each year refining and expanding due to the success of my approach) most definitely did NOT fit with my students this year. I think some teachers would chalk it up to a bad year and try again with next year's students; but the experience opened my eyes to some inadequacies of my teaching approach. I'm grateful for the message, although I don't want to repeat the experience! Ha! Growing years can yield beautiful products, but the process is painful!
I adjusted one aspect of my approach during the last quarter of instruction, and it seemed to be successful. Instead of focusing on one task during the class period, I would focus on several assignments per day, and give my students 15 minutes to work on each part. I think this worked for two reasons: one, they didn't have time to procrastinate or put things off or finish early by rushing through a project or assignment; and two, it kept the focus fresh and revolving, which I think helps my kids who have focusing issues.
Another thing I learned was not to have expectations about my students' behaviors based on the previous day. This is something I have always tried to practice in terms of negative behavior; I didn't hold a grudge and every day was new. This year, however, I had to put it into practice in regards to positive behavior. A good, productive day was of course a blessing and fun and energizing; but I had to be careful not to expect it to be the same the next day. The expectations really brought me down in the beginning of the year, before I realized what I was doing.
What didn't go well? When I reflect on this year as a whole, it's hard to pinpoint where things went wrong specifically. The whole picture just seems disjointed and strange; three quarters of struggle and one quarter (fourth) of finding our groove and (mostly) working it out--with my inspiration and motivation too shot to enjoy it. When I really delve into the causes of what probably shaped my year, it comes down to three things.
1. The kinds of assignments that had been readily accepted and even enjoyed by my previous classes were roundly rejected by this year's group. They were very honest in their evaluation of the assignments (and therefore, of me, right??). While some of it was in the normal complaint cannon ("I hate school, I don't want to work, why can't you just give me credit?"), some of it shot to the heart of the matter (What does this have to do with my life? I don't learn anything when we do this).
2. I realized, while reflecting through this year, that I have had three past years of really good classes. Of course, there were still some stand-out students struggling visibly above the waves that had their moments; and of course, each year had their own set of unique challenges. But all in all, the challenges were not antagonistic to the learning process or to authority figures. In retrospect, my discipline/classroom management tool box got rusty and dusty, because I honestly didn't have to use it very much. By the time I broke it out and examined what I had, it was much harder to implement since the year had progressed quite a bit. One of my goals is to consistently use a designed structure so that I don't find myself in that place again.
3. Drugs. This year's student group was very open about their habitual use of marijuana and cocaine, and it impacted my classes significantly. School, in their minds, was a place to rehash, connect, solve,or blow up any drama that had occurred over the weekends. Many students were either on drugs or coming off (detoxing) during my classes. Sometimes, the focus has to be making my classroom a safe place for them to weather the physical manifestation of their choices. But, as drugs will so often do, it definitely impacted the relationships between my students and me; and also impacted the culture of my classroom. I don't want to repeat that--but I'm really not sure how to fix this one.
No comments:
Post a Comment