The Power of Silence

There is a poster that is making the rounds on Facebook,   Talking.  
It says:  

"TALKING (verb): Your mouth is moving and there is any kind of sound coming out. This includes talking to yourself, talking to somebody else, whispering, singing, or sound effects."

I replied to the posting:
It always astonishes me that some kids seem totally unaware that they can be heard, talking all of the time. I have taken to telling the younger ones (I start subbing 3rd grade up), that they should learn to talk inside their heads and not out loud.

I have had this conversation with far too many kids:
Me: Would everyone stop talking for a minute and listen to these instructions.
Kid: Yes. (Kid continues talking to his neighbor.)
Me: That includes you.
Kid: Yes, I know. I was just telling him .........
Me: Do you know what STOP talking means?
Kid: Yes, I was just telling him ......
Me: (Thinking: Should the whole class just wait for you to tell him about your ....?) 

I have asked before why it is that kids can't seem to keep quiet for ANY length of time any more.  Then someone followed up, saying that adults have the same problem.  And, now that I think of it, many do.  

The question is WHY?  Why are we so unable to keep silent?  I should note, that not all people are afflicted with this problem.  Some of the kids in the classrooms I sub in seldom say anything.  Some adults that I see, for instance, at games nights, seldom say much.  But, by far the larger number of people are more talkative than not.  And, I am, unfortunately, including myself.  I remember being at a teacher workshop with a friend.  We were required to attend a session that each of us could have easily taught ourselves.  We had gone over the material many, many times in the course of our work.  So, what did we do to keep ourselves amused?  We whispered jokes to each other during the training session.

Thus, one of the reasons for the abhorrence of keeping quiet: boredom or the activity of busy brains when outside stimuli aren't as interesting as internal ones.  

But, I think there is more to it than that.  It seems, as a culture, we have gotten so used to sound that we almost require it in order to feel comfortable.  People leave the TV on, even when no one is watching it, just so that there is some background noise.  Same with radio.  When people are out running or exercising in the weight room, they often have earplugs in their ears and are listening to something.  There are even a few people who have waterproof sound systems that they can listen to when they are swimming.  Restaurants and elevators have background music.  

Recently, my music teacher recommended that I listen to more music - music of all types.  I need to listen to more music to discover things that I like about various songs and types of music, so that I can incorporate some of them into the music that I am writing.  She is right, but I am reluctant and stubborn.

See, I have discovered that I like silence.  I like how my mind can wander around over all of the things I might want to think about - without the distraction of background noise.  Silence has the power to let me think.  To think my own thoughts and to figure out the world.  

True, not everything I think about is profound - or even interesting, but it is interesting to me.  I currently find it more interesting than the various types of music I should be listening to.  And, it isn't as though I am completely without music.  I often am singing one of my own songs as I work and think.  Lately, I am feeling very selfish.  I like my own thoughts - and I like the power of silence around me.

 

Teaching GT Kids

OK.  I will just admit it.  I love teaching GT kids.  I was at a charter school for GT kids today - 5th and 6th grades and I really enjoyed the day. 

First of all, the atmosphere of a GT school is different.  There is an enjoyment of learning that I don't usually see at other schools.  The teacher left some "Plexer" style worksheets for them to do if they had some time and the kids grabbed them enthusiastically.  Then later in the day, they were reading aloud from a book with multiple characters and they really enjoyed listening to different kids read their parts.  There was a willingness to tackle problems and think about the implications of different aspects of their learning. 

And the students are also a bit different - the interest in things; the acceptance of each other; the acceptance of "the sub" as a person of interest and not an adversary. 

It was fun. 

I suppose this is one reason why teachers in regular classrooms sometimes feel that teaching GT kids is "easy".  In general, they WERE more compliant that kids I teach in regular classrooms.  Their enthusiasm carries over to their work and it makes teaching more interesting and more fun.  And, in general, as this is a charter school, their parents are committed to their education.  The parents who picked up the kids seemed genuinely interested in what their children had to say. 

As a sub, I can't really tell much about their ability levels.  My guess is that most of them were moderately gifted, with a sprinkling of students above and below that.  I still didn't see accommodations for kids who would be outliers, even in this environment, the EG and PG kids, but the general attitude that learning is interesting should make it more comfortable and accepting even for those students. 

Good day, even though I am coming off of an illness and am not at 100% myself. 

"Stop" Means "STOP"

Recently, I was teaching in a 5th/6th grade combination class, where a group of girls were acting silly (not unusual)  and directing their silliness at various other girls.  Some played along and had fun, but it clearly annoyed one girl.  She first politely asked them to stop, but they didn't.  She attempted to physically remove herself, (we were lining up to go somewhere), but that also didn't work.  Finally, albeit a bit late in the game, I realized that this was a good opportunity to give the kids the message that "Stop" means "STOP".  So, I told the girls who were being silly that when someone says the word "Stop", it means that they need to "STOP".  They weren't actually bullying anyone with their silliness (I think it was something like just saying a goofy word over and over again).  I told them that, as long as the people around them didn't use the word "Stop", their silliness was just annoying, but once someone asked them to "Stop", then they needed to do so around that person.  "Stop" means "STOP".

The young girl who was the target of this, but didn't like it, looked at me with extreme gratitude and it occurred to me that I should have been doing this MUCH more often.  I can't believe it has taken me so long to get here.  I guess it is because, in my family we would tease each other quite a bit.  Sometimes "Stop" really meant - "This is funny and if it doesn't get worse, I am actually enjoying the attention."  The problem is, the person doing the action isn't always aware of the point at which "Stop" ceases to be funny and crosses over to "STOP" meaning "This is enough."

Now I need to think of a word to use that means "This is funny and fun, but be careful, because you are getting close to my limits."

"No" means "NO" and "Stop" means "STOP". What would be a good word for "Watch out; I am enjoying this now, but I may have enough of it in a minute."  -- "Careful"?  "OK"?

Difficult Day

I had a really difficult day today.  The job I took said it was third grade, which is the youngest grade I usually sub for.  But it turned out to be a second grade.  OK, I can deal with second grade for a day, I thought. 

Wrong.

This was one of the most difficult classes I have had all year.  It wasn't that large - only 24 students and one was absent, but about one-third of the class had huge problems in focusing on their work.  And about two-thirds of the class could best focus on which rules the other kids were breaking and which rules they could get away with breaking because I was a sub.  Talk about tattling.  Sigh. 

The morning wasn't terrible - they started out with a "social studies" assignment, drawing food groups on plates.  Indoor recess was not great, and then came their literacy block.  They were supposed to write a summary of a book they read yesterday, then move on to a list of activities (spelling, read to self, computer work, read to partner, read to teacher).  They all insisted that they had read the book yesterday and we went over how to write a summary.  Only half of the class wasn't listening - they were busy trying to kick their neighbors.  And by the time they got to their seats to start writing, most of them couldn't remember anything about the story they insisted they knew.  Fifteen minutes later, they were finally settling down to writing, and then some students started finishing - everyone was distracted again. 

The afternoon was worse.  I was supposed to teach a math lesson to a smaller group, when the better math students left for a different math class.  Only this group of about a dozen couldn't focus on anything.  Even more of a disaster.  One kid kept putting his hat on as an ammo belt.  Another kid kept putting his shirt over his head like a hoodie.  One girl kept moving around and annoying everyone, then complained that they were "mean to her".  One boy who was supposed to sit next to me to work, insisted on sitting by himself.  A girl who was supposed to sit next to me got NOTHING done, unless I was working with her directly.  And on and on.  I finally had to send Mr Shirt Over His Head Distracting Everyone to the office.  Another gigantic sigh.

Then came library.  I was relieved to see that the library teacher also had trouble getting them to settle down and pay attention - even for a short time.  And finally computers.  Over half of the class had trouble logging on (and I had no passwords to help them).  Some finally managed to do so, but 8 students never could log on. 

Back to class to get ready for dismissal.  Little Miss Get Everyone Angry at Her is hitting people, because they said something unkind about her sister.  They, of course, insist that they didn't say that.  Little Miss Get Everyone Angry at Her then gets mad at me, because I tried to do something fun for dismissal.  Sigh. 

Never again.  Their regular teacher is a saint. 

Kids and Wastefulness

Why is it that, when kids need a circle about an inch in diameter, they cut that inch-sized circle out of the middle of the piece of paper they are given?  Why is it, when a girl has a runny nose, she takes two tissues to dab at her nose and then throws both of them in the trash?  Why is it that kids will cut through several sheets of paper to make a construction and then minutes later throw the whole thing in the trash?  Why do they use up a whole tape roll putting together pretend wallets and then pretend that they are not theirs when they are later found on the floor?  Why is it that, given brand new pencils, one of the first things kids do is to pull the eraser off of the top?  Why do kids cheerfully grind new pencils down to stubs in electric pencil sharpeners? 

OK, so I understand the grinding down of brand new pencils.  It is rather pleasing to let the sharpener grind away, for some inexplicable reason.  But, in general, why are kids, at least American kids, so wasteful of what they have in their classrooms?  How many times have I found complete sheets of paper in the recycling containers, just because they have one pencil mark on a corner?  Why do kids grab a whole handful of index cards, when they need just two? 

When kids have to provide their own pencils, colored pencils, highlighters, markers, and paper, you get the constant complaints that they don't have the supplies that they need to get their work done.  If the teacher provides the supplies (often out of his/her own money), the kids have no concern whatsoever for being conservative in their use.  At the end of the school day, I ALWAYS find pencils or markers on the floor - even if I have had the students clean the room, until it is spotless just before they leave.  Somehow, the mere movement of children through the classroom causes pencils to jump out of desks and boxes and place themselves on the floors - optimally in a hard to reach place under a desk. 

And, what is the solution?  How do you get kids to think about all the stuff they are wasting?  In one classroom I went to, the teacher put the student's initials on each pencil that the child was given out of the classroom supply.  At least then, you could tell who was constantly leaving pencils on the floor.  Maybe you could set up a class economy, where they have to 'buy' supplies by doing classroom jobs.  Alas, that doesn't work for a sub, but it might make me feel better. 

Engage Me vs. Engage Myself

In a Facebook discussion the other day, SH and I were discussing corporal punishment.  I am still on the fence about it, but I find his arguments interesting.  And, I agree that we need disciplinary options that currently aren't available or aren't working.  For instance, the favored disciplinary option in the US seems to be either lunch or recess (if there is one) detention.  After school detention usually isn't available in the US, at least where I have lived, because of bus schedules.  Even recess detentions are problematic, with the already too short lunch period (frequently just 35 minutes) and the demise of additional recess times. Add to that the complaint, usually valid, that the kids who earn the detentions with their behaviors are also frequently the kids who need recess the most, and there is a real problem.  What options do teachers have?

I am, as I said, on the fence about corporal punishment, but I am very concerned about the lack of other disciplinary options. I have had some very bad experiences subbing in high schools, middle schools, and even some elementary schools, all three of which needed some more consistent and more frequently enforced options for controlling student behaviors. The favored mantra in most schools now is "Get the students engaged and then they will behave". But I am not convinced that that is the proper causality. More and more, I am thinking that we need to get the students to behave and they pay enough attention to the lessons to actually become more informed and more willing to become engaged.

SH pointed out that the mantra "Get the students engaged and then they will behave." puts all of the responsibility for students' behavior on the teacher.  The student is not given the primary responsibility for his/her behavior.  If they misbehave, it is the teacher's fault for not giving them something that they can take an interest in.  But, in my experience, the students are misbehaving well before the teacher even has a chance to give them something to take an interest in.  And, on top of that, some of what they need to learn in school will inevitably NOT be highly engaging.  School is not an endless video game. 

I was subbing in 3 beginning German classes several weeks ago and they were a "challenge". The students would not listen, would not even attempt any of the work, and actively tried to do everything they could to disrupt the class and prevent anyone else from learning. I taught (full time) in a class several years ago, where about 10 of the students (out of 35) begged me to ignore the impossible behavior of around 6 of the students, so that they could actually learn the material. The discipline in the building was impossible. (long story) In both of these cases, the student misbehavior was high, in spite of interesting projects and attempts to make the material more relevant to the students.  I think it is high time we acknowledge that students also need to take responsibility for their behavior and for their engagement in the material they are to learn.  

Kids will sometimes tell me that I have to EARN their respect. I don't know how they got this into their heads, but the respect should be there BEFORE they even meet a new teacher. If the teacher does something to have that respect taken away, that is another issue, but the respect should be given to the position and the authority until it is "un-earned".  Similarly, the students should have an open mind about the material to be learned.  They may find it much more engaging if they actually make some effort to understand it.  

Saying Thanks

As we head into the Thanksgiving holiday here in the USA, I was reading a Facebook post suggesting that parents give a handwritten note of thanks to their children's teachers.  I was feeling a bit morose about the fact that I won't get such a handwritten note, from the parents of the children I have taught, from the teachers, or from the administrators.  But, then I also got to thinking that many of them do not see the work I do and I would probably feel that their thanks was nice, but a bit generic.  They don't know how hard I work.

But there is one group of people who do:  the students I work with.  And I am reminded of the young 4th grade boy who thanked me on his way out of the classroom.  And the older boy, who asked me if their class was the worst class I had ever taught.  He knew how hard he had just made that class (he was one of the ringleaders), but, in a way, his acknowledgement that I had survived the class, with some of his respect was validation, too.

Little girls sometimes give me handwritten pictures of rainbows and hearts.  And there is the occasional, "I hope you come back!" 

Not all days are good.  Subbing is hard and often thankless, in every sense of the word.  I am thankful for the kids who acknowledge somehow that I helped make their day a good one. 

Talking and Attention

This is a somewhat rambling post, where I am thinking about kids' talking and issues regarding attention. 

The class I subbed for yesterday had book buddies, so I had a chance to talk to another teacher while the older kids ( my class) read to and with the younger ones (her class).  Somewhere in our conversation, the topic turned to the differences over the years in the kids in classes.  Both of us observed that kids now seem to have tremendous difficulty really LISTENING.  She said that they seem to feel the need for constant noise around them - music, activity, talking to themselves.  I hadn't noticed it in this way, but I do notice that kids seem to talk nearly continuously.  And, although I have posted on this topic before, I am still wondering WHY.  Why do kids feel the need to talk so much at school?  Is it something we are doing - or not doing - as teachers?  Is it the nature of school?  Is it natural and only now becoming so much in evidence, because there are so many students in the classroom or because the consequences of constant chatter aren't enough to deter it?

First of all, let me say that even the students seem to be aware that they cannot do some of their work well when people around them are talking all of the time.  This seems to be more apparent in subjects where the nature of the work is completely independent effort, e.g., writing.  But even knowing this, kids who feel the desire to talk don't or can't inhibit their talking if they themselves feel the desire to do so.  They know that if someone else talks, they get distracted, but if they talk, they seem to feel it is needed or justifiable. 

Further interesting examples of this are often seen in the computer labs.  Kids are working independently on projects or simply different choices of math games.  They are chattering constantly.  In spite of the fact that each student is most interested in their own activity, they are talking to other students all of the time.  And the other students sometimes are listening.  I know there have been many studies that show that people can't actually multi-task - that they are actually just switching focus back and forth, but students seem to be faster at it than the studies would seem to point out.  Are kids better/faster at switching focus?  Does it depend on the level of focus necessary? 

I know I can think of other things when I am swimming.  I know that I can do fractions in different number bases while I swim.  But, one thing I can't do when I swim is focus on a word-intensive task at the same time that I am swimming.  I can think about topics using words, but I can't create word-related things while swimming, i.e., I can't work on the lyrics to a song that I am writing.  So the depth of focus does matter - at least to me. 

The other part of the problem is hearing what is said.  I have noticed that many students require multiple repetition of simple directions, e.g., "Open your books to page 81."  Some, like me, are very visually oriented and will not need further assistance if the page number is also posted on the board.  Others seem to ignore both verbal and visual presentations and need multiple references to them both before they can complete the task.  It is as though they have to go through several layers of attention.  First they have to be aware that they are being asked to stop whatever they are currently doing.  That takes several attempts.  Then they have to be aware that they are being asked to do something else.  Then they need to shift their attention to thinking about what they are being asked to do.  But then the attention seems to shift back to their previous task and they have to think about what they were doing and what they need to do to end that.  They have now completely forgotten about p. 81 in the book and need several more reminders in order to get back to that.  This sequence seems to be repeated for some students every time there is a new directive given.  And, all of the while, some of them are still talking. 

Quite a while ago, I read an article telling college professors not to lecture so much and to break up lectures into smaller chunks.  I can't actually imaging lecturing to students the way I was lectured to when I was in college.   Most of the classes I had were around 50 or 60 minutes and the teacher would lecture for a large part of the time.  In recent years, lectures have gotten much shorter and have been augmented with discussions, demonstrations, working of problems, etc.  Even the MOOCs (online courses) that I have taken have been broken up into videos that last between 6 and 18 minutes (at most).  Most are around 10 to 12 minutes long. 

What has happened to our attention spans?  What has happened to the depth of our attention? 

Many things to think about.

Bullying of Teachers

I don't plan to return to the high school, where the kids were so difficult last week.  It is a very long drive for me and I only took the job, because they desperately needed a sub who could speak German.  But I am still thinking about some of the behaviors of the students in two of the classes there.  At what point does bad behavior turn into bullying of the sub?  When kids talk loudly and interrupt the sub constantly, does that constitute bullying?  (probably)  Does passive refusal to do anything constitute bullying?  (probably not, but it still makes life difficult for the sub)  What recourse do subs have? 

If students are bullied, we tell them to tell an adult.  If subs are bullied, what can they do?  I called the administration to come remove a student from one of the classes I taught.  No one came.  So the students all learned that subs have no power and no way to stop them from doing whatever they want, short of violence.  I didn't feel physically threatened in this case, although it would have been possible - there were a lot more of them, and the odds would have been bad.  But, I was hired to teach them, not babysit them, and their behaviors certainly did interfere with my job. 

What else could I have done?

Subbing - German - Day 3

I was anticipating that the third day of subbing with no lesson plans and two (of three) extremely disrespectful classes would be even worse than the second day.  Only, it wasn't. 

The upper level French teacher had asked me to sub for her for the first three classes.  She assured me that they were just taking quizzes, so they would be fine with a sub who, for all practical purposes, knew no usable French.  [One semester of college French more than 40 years ago doesn't go very far.]  And I knew she was actually an excellent teacher.  Her room was across the hall from the office where my non-existent teacher's desk was and I could hear her leading her classes - excellent accent, no nonsense teaching style, but very supportive, too.  So I took her first three hours.  They were, in fact, fine.  The only slight glitch was that the office had given me her sub folder, which was supposed to contain attendance rosters, didn't.  So I just had the kids sign their names on a sheet of paper.  I didn't have time to go down and back up at least 3 sets of stairs to get to the office, so they had to deal with the attendance problem. 

Then came my first (and second worst - according to the previous day) class.  Dread.  I had decided that today, as a follow up to the lesson yesterday, I would have them do a lesson from the textbook.  Yesterday, according to a suggestion from the other German teacher, I had had them make a poster of a family.  So, I chose a lesson from the book which discussed a family tree and how to describe various people in the family.  At least there would be some continuity of lessons.  I did not hand back the posters from the previous day - I left them for the new teacher.  This class had 2 extremely talkative students, who felt it was their jobs to regale the rest of the students with jokes and comments whenever they felt like it - which was pretty much constantly.  There were also several hanger-on kids, who joined in the fun whenever they felt like it would provide an additional amusing annoyance for the sub.  Again, there were also a large number of absences - nearly 1/3 of 30-some kids.  My tactic this time was different.  I separated the two continuous talkers - and got disrespectful protests from the student I asked to move.  I told all of the students that they were not obligated to listen, but that they were also not allowed to disrupt the learning of those who wanted to get the lesson.  I had to do this several times and repeat it at various times during the 50 minute lesson, but eventually, the two talkers subsided a little and I got to the lesson.  I just followed the textbook, picking the sections that required little student interaction (which I could not risk) and having the students who were actually making an effort write their answers down.  I required every student to hand in a paper at the end of the class on their way out, with at least their name on it.  At the end of the class, I was shaking with nerves and suppressed anxiety, but at least I felt that I had accomplished something and the students who had participated had had a productive lesson.   

Then came lunch and a chance to calm down a bit.  The second German class was the class that actually tried, so I wasn't particularly worried about it.  The second German class was, indeed, much better.  It was almost fun.  In addition to the same lesson I had given for the first class, I read a little bit of Babar, in German.  I didn't have to spend all my energy trying to control the class.  I am glad this class will have the new woman as their teacher.  She will do well by them.

Then came my "planning" period.  I graded the papers of the first two German classes and updated my notes for the new teacher.  But the biggest challenge was still coming up and I was not looking forward to it.  Fortunately, it was in the great French teacher's room (who was back from her morning meeting).  I explained to her the disrespect I had had to deal with the previous day in relation to her special chairs, so she casually sat at her desk working for a few minutes as the class started,  It was a great help.  There were around a dozen kids absent from this class of 38, so that helped.  The same lesson.  But, for some reason, this class was not disruptive.  There were around a dozen students who absolutely refused to do any of the work, but they didn't interrupt and there were 4 or 5 students who were actually participating and learning.  I count that as success. 

And that was the end of the day.  I cleaned up and then went home. 

It occurred to me on the way home that bullying can actually happen in a way that isn't normally addressed.  Students can bully teachers, too.  These two classes were actually bullying the sub - verbally and emotionally. 

But it also occurred to me that the suggestions of the other German teacher were probably wrong.  He didn't provide me with any lesson plans, but said that I could do review of letters, numbers, colors, body parts, etc.; and I could do an art project with them.  Last on his list of suggestions was to do a lesson from the book, but there was no indication where in the book the students might be.  Given the chaotic nature of the first quarter for these students, I think I should probably have started out with the book - no matter where.  They needed the structure and assurance that they were actually supposed to learn something and that they were capable of doing so.  Art projects and relatively unstructured review made them view the classes as just place holders, until the real stuff came along. 

Oh, well.  Live and learn.

But one thing that gives me a little satisfaction:  after hearing the other German teacher speaking German, I have the smug knowledge that, even if my grammar is a bit lacking, I have a MUCH better German accent than he does.  I still sound like an American when I speak German, but not as much as he did. 

Subbing - German - Day 2

Well, yesterday may not have been horrid, but today certainly was.  

I was hired to sub for the German classes. One of the 3 classes was great. The other two were horrid. 

The teacher will be a "floater" - no room of her own, so I had to go around to different rooms.  I followed a suggestion by the other German teacher and planned to have the students make posters of a family.  They could choose their own family or the Simpsons or even just make up a family.  They had to have at least 5 members in the family.  They had to label each of the members of the family and they had to draw arrows with the relationships between the family members.  (He is her father. She is his aunt. And so on)  All of the words they needed to use were either on the board (for rooms with no overhead projector) or projected from my plan.  The first class did the bare minimum of sloppy work.  Only a few really rude kids in this class - just passively non-compliant.  

The second German class was the saving grace of the whole day.  For some reason, the kids in this class actually seemed to want to learn and do a good job.  What a refreshing surprise!

Then, the next hour, which I was supposed to have free, they assigned me at the last minute to sub for a social studies teacher. They said that the lesson plan would be on the desk.  Nothing was there.  There were a couple of worksheets on a table, but there weren't enough of the one on top for the number of students in the class.  So I handed out the other one and told them to read it and highlight the important parts (as per what one student said they usually do).  I did try to discuss it after a sufficient amount of time, but no one in the class was paying attention. 

AND that "hour" was immediately followed by 30 minutes of "extensions", with the same class, for which there were also no instructions. I gave up and just let them talk, draw on the boards, and play with their ubiquitous electronics.   

The third German class was the worst.  37 registered students, about 7 of whom were absent (I guess I should be grateful).  The teacher in whose room I was for the last hour class asked the students specifically NOT to sit in her special chairs. They moved. But as soon as she left the room, one boy went back to the chair and refused to move when I asked him. I called the administration to come and remove him - and no one came. GRRRRRR!!!  And most of the students in the room refused to do ANYTHING.  No one answered questions; very few listened to what I said.  Some just wrote their names on other people's work.  Some just talked the entire time with their neighbors or on their phones. 

And this rant is the SHORT version of my complaints about the day.

Rude kids, unresponsive administration, unprepared teachers.

I don't care how badly they need a German sub. I am done with that school!  -- after tomorrow.  Unfortunately, I have to go back one more day.  UGH!

Colorado Association for Gifted and Talented - CAGT 2013

I am attending the CAGT conference at the Denver Tech Center's Marriott Hotel.  It is a two-day conference, with the first day (now over for me) today and the second day tomorrow.

Small personal victory:  I took the bus to the Tech Center, instead of driving, and it was fine.  Easy and on time.

Reflections:
The first session I went to was Jim Delisle's presentation on Underachievement.  He breaks down underachievers into two categories - the true underachievers and the "selective consumers".  The typical example of the selective consumer is the boy who gets into trouble and is disruptive, unless he is in a class he really likes or has a teacher who "gets" him.  The typical example of the underachiever is the quiet girl, who does everything fairly well, but is devastated by any negative feedback - she credits her successes to luck and her failures to inability (stupidity).  Most people focus on the disruptive kid, because, as a teacher, you have to - or the whole class spirals out of control.  The quiet kid is the one who concerned me more - probably because that was me.  I just kind of slid by in all of my classes up until college.  I was such a good kid and so smart that no one worried about me.  I did what I was told and did it well, so no one ever knew that I felt like a failure.  I think Jim was a bit surprised at what I recommended for helping the quiet underachiever - the chance to really fail.  But I still think it would help.  I needed to fail at work that required real effort.  I needed to know that I could survive failure on something really difficult and I needed to learn 1) that is isn't the end of the world, 2) that I could try again, and 3) learning is sometimes really hard. 

The second presentation I heard was Susan Jackson's first keynote.  Because of the federal government's shutdown, Deb Delisle, who was scheduled to speak, wasn't allowed to come.  So Susan Jackson filled in.  It was an interesting presentation.  The major focus of it was on the necessity of play in our lives and most especially in the lives of children.  Sadly, I see this all of the time in schools.  Time is so structured that children never have time to just play with stuff or with each other.  Even when they can play games, the games are almost always limited to games with a hidden objective - math games, spelling games, etc.  Free play and the beautiful manipulatives languish on the shelves (see blog from two days ago).  Even recess times are cut woefully short.  Recess AND lunch for the kids are 30 minutes.  If they are lucky, the kids will get another 15 minute recess.  Most are not lucky. 

The next presentation I attended was Linda Silverman's talk on Giftedness though the Lifetime.  I have heard much of this talk from her before, but this time a good deal of the emphasis was on the plea for us to understand that giftedness is something you are - the way you see the world.  This is in direct contrast to the recent emphasis in NAGC on talent development.  While I agree with Dr. Silverman that giftedness is something you are - intrinsic to your whole being, I think too much is made of the supposed abandonment of that view to the talent development model.  I have long thought that the best model of giftedness and talent is the Gagné model, where giftedness is the left-hand side (of the usual visual representation).  This is the giftedness that Linda Silverman talks about.  In Gagné's model, the other side of the visual is the talent side.  I would describe our job as educators to be to take the raw giftedness and gradually turn it into talent.  And there are a huge number of areas in which talent can be developed.  My goal would not be eminence, but rather self-actualization.  The people who achieve eminence need not just giftedness, but culturally-related education and luck.  E.g., in a culture that does not value the arts, even the most gifted artist may never turn into a talented artist.  And, in a culture that does not allow for education of women, even the most gifted female mathematician will never develop her talent.  In a culture dependent on inherited connections to wealth and power, the gifted poor child can never become eminent. 

Jim Delisle also gave a keynote presentation titled Learning to Exhale.  I agree with him wholeheartedly on this.  When I first attended full time gifted classes as a 6th grader a million years ago, it seemed to me that my whole mind was waking up from a long dull stupor.  I get along well with a huge variety of people and, as a sub, I connect with a huge range of children and adults.  But I come fully alive and cherish the time I spend with other gifted people.  It is truly my lifeline.  It is sad to me that more gifted kids don't have this opportunity.  I am a swimmer.  Being with other gifted people is like coming up for air.  I need that breath of air to keep me going through the rest of the stroke.  Gifted kids don't just WANT peers, the NEED them, with their whole beings.

The final presentation I went to was Mary Ellen Sweeney and Brooke Walker's discussion of Ethnographic Research.  I have long been interested in other cultures and chose this presentation to see how others approach the topic.  I found some useful ideas here - especially the graphic organizer about the various aspects of culture.  I wish they had started their presentation with a preface, though.  I would like to have known that they had written a book about this process and that the book was aimed for middle-school and high-school teachers.  I gradually found that out as the presentation progressed, but it was unnecessarily confusing at first.  And, rather than the process of doing the unit, I would like to have heard some specific case examples, e.g., one student who was taking notes on his soccer team came up with these artifacts ..., these customs ..., and these rituals ...  I did like that we got to talk to other attendees for a short time.  I had a good person to talk to.

All in all, a worthwhile day. 

First in Line

I might as well say it:  I hate getting kids lined up to go somewhere like art or PE or lunch.  It takes way too much time and it seems demeaning to me.  Do adults line up to go somewhere?  Do we insist that they walk single file without talking?  Do the adults in the hall avoid talking when they pass rooms with their doors open?  No, no, and definitely not.  Yes, I understand that we want to avoid clogging up the halls, when many classes are moving around, and lines do help.  But I really don't like them.

And furthermore, I especially don't like the fact that kids actually fight over who gets to be first in line and who gets to be in front of whom.  "She cut in line", "You can't save places in line!", "No frontsies", etc.  Why is it that kids, almost universally want to be first in line? or ahead in line?  I can understand why adults want to be first to get on the airplane - so that they get prime luggage storage space and so that they don't have to force their way past cramped seating crowded with people.  But what is it that kids are fighting for?  Being first in line conveys no extra privilege.  It doesn't raise them in the esteem of their teachers or their peers.

To be fair, not all of the kids want to be ahead in a line.  There are those who prefer the end of the line, especially if the teacher walks at the front.  They can get away with more at the end of the line.  And there are a few, usually the more passive kids with fewer friends, who don't seem to care (but, even so I wonder if that is just a front).

So the question remains, what is it about those stupid lines that is of such social/psychological significance?  Over and over again. 

Why Do Some Capture Us?

As a substitute teacher, I see WAY too many kids in a week to remember them all.  In fact, if I am in a particular class for only a day or a half day, I often have trouble REALLY noticing quite a few of the students.  This is especially true of the quiet ones, the ones who seem to become part of their chairs.

One of my ongoing questions of myself is why do I notice some students and remember them and why do others completely fade from my mind?  If I come back to that same classroom weeks or months later, which kids will I remember and which ones will I have no idea about who they are or what they are like?

As one might suspect, the naughty ones are memorable.  And the class clowns.  The kids with special needs that make themselves known to the sub.  Those are easy reasons to remember particular students and they are all reasons why I remember some students.  But that isn't the entire cast of the ones I remember.  I am thinking back over the class I had just yesterday and trying to think of which kids I still can bring up faces or names for.  Interestingly, many of the kids do not fit any of those categories. 

Kids who speak to me personally are more memorable - even if it was just to ask to go to the nurse.  Kids who help me with some piece of equipment or some unique classroom procedure are also memorable.  Kids who display some part of their character are also memorable.  Sometimes even the especially quiet students are memorable. 

But, there is one category of kid that I remember especially well.  It is the kids who ask memorable questions.  And, yes, for me, the obviously gifted kids.  Weeks ago, I wrote about one young man I interacted with and felt especially drawn to.  During the literacy block, when the rest of the class was busy, this young man had told me all about a book he was working on - about American heroes.  For some reason, he and I really connected.  I was sorry when the day ended that I probably would not teach him again.  He is in a grade that I normally do not sub for, but I like his school, so I had taken the job for that class.

I was wrong that I would not teach him again.  I was in the grade one higher than his at that school a couple of days ago and he came into the math class that I was teaching.  This confirmed my assessment of his probable giftedness - kids are rarely accelerated into a math class higher than their own grade, unless they REALLY need it.  And, wonder of wonders, he was also delighted to see me - in a very quiet way.  He is not a loud, assertive kid.  But he did come up during a transition time and ask me if I remembered him.  I did.  Again, that mysterious and wonderful connection.  But too short. 

If I could teach kids like him every day, I would do it for free.  They are that intriguing to me. 

Party Time

I would have skipped it if it had been a single job.  I was subbing for a 4th grade the day before Valentine's Day.  The class was only 20 kids, the teacher had made interesting plans, and the kids and I were having a good day.  But then the secretary asked me if I would come back the next day, since the teacher's children were still sick and she needed a sub for the second day - Valentine's Day.  That meant Valentine's Day parties and marginally controlled bedlam.  But, I really hate to have kids have to have two (or more) different subs in a row, and we had had a good day, so I agreed.

Most of the day was fine.  The kids were disappointed that their regular teacher wasn't there, but we had a good day anyway - for most of the day.  And the kids would say for the entire day.  They do love their parties.

The parents were in charge of the party - food and activities.  There were two adjoining classrooms.  In the other classroom, they were going to play bingo.  In my classroom, they were going to dance.  The parent in my room explained that she had carefully chosen the music, in order to eliminate language and references that were inappropriate for 4th graders.  And most of it was.  It was hilarious to watch the boys start the dancing.  At that age, it is entirely group dancing, usually a circle of boys and a different cluster of girls.  Soon enough, a large number of the kids were dancing - slightly more girls than boys.

Their favorite songs were obviously "I'm Sexy and I Know It" and "Call Me, Baby".  I am glad that I had nothing to do with the music, since I would have been very embarrassed in front of the parents who were there, if they had thought I had chosen these songs.  Virtually all of the kids knew all of the words to those two songs.  It surprises me that the parents thought that they were OK for 4th graders.  And the kids got to vote on which of them they would play again for the last dance ("I'm Sexy and I Know It" won).

Maybe I am getting old, but I remember when we wouldn't have even been allowed to play this song in high school and we certainly wouldn't even have considered the chest shimmy that the girls were doing.

I know kids love parties and Valentine's Day, but I will avoid it if I can.  Sigh. 

Positive Behavior Reinforcers

When I sub, I often am encouraged to use each teacher's or school's particular set of positive behavior re-inforcers.  One school will have tickets; another will have marbles; another will use adding letters to words to earn a particular reward.  Some teachers will use all of those things and more.

The other day, I was introduced to yet another variety of re-inforcer:  the ClassDoJo app.  The teacher I was subbing for had this app on her iPad and on her computer (PC-compatible).  I got to the classroom early (the previous day, I had had trouble finding a school that was unfamiliar to me, and I was afraid of it happening again - but, of course, when I leave EXTRA, EXTRA early, I have no trouble finding the school).  So I got to observe her working with her students and using the ClassDoJo app.  She had excellent control of the classroom and the students were working very productively.  They were working on writing and she was teaching a lesson about writing conclusions.  A lot of the classes I have been teaching lately have been working on persuasive writing, as it is part of the testing that is coming up soon in this state.  The lesson was well thought out and she taught it well.  The writing instruction follows the pretty much standard 5 paragraph essay: introduction (topic and opinion), three paragraphs, each supporting one of the major reasons, and conclusion.  Even the conclusion has a standard format: repeat topic and opinion, restate the three major reasons, demand/urge the reader to action.

While the kids were working on their essays, she used the ClassDoJo app on her iPad to add points to children's records for how they were working.  If they were following independent work expectations, she would tell them, "Good following independent work expectations, [Name]" as she awarded the point.  There was also "Good participation", and several other categories.  There were also negative categories, e.g., "Failure to Follow Instructions" and "Disruptive Behavior".  It seemed to work really well for her.

She needed to take her iPad with her for the meeting she was going to, so she showed me how to use the application on the computer.  It is relatively straightforward and easy to use.  But since the computer was set up to use the Smart Board for everything, it was also completely visible to the students, as it was used.  Evidently there is a contest for the students to have the highest points by the end of the day or week and they followed the standings throughout the day.  As a sub, I found this rather distracting, but the students seemed used to it.

The cracks in the system began to appear after she left me alone with the students.  I had little trouble using the system, but, as usual, the kids test the limits of the sub and using the system wasn't as efficient for me as it undoubtedly was for the regular teacher.  I had two different groups of students (she taught writing to two different classes and science to both of them as well) and I didn't know the names of the students.  The software doesn't use their pictures, just a name and an icon.

The students got work done and their behavior was acceptable, if not stellar.  But I left the school at the end of the day feeling uncomfortable.  And, on my long drive home, I was trying to figure out why I felt slightly down and depressed.  And, it occurred to me:  I felt like Pavlov's dogs: manipulated and conditioned, treated as an object, and not as a person.  I don't know if the students felt like that.  There was one student who said that this was the best school he had ever been in.  But there were 3 or 4 students for whom the system seemed to represent a negative.  I was only there a half day, so I don't know any more than that.  But I do know the effect that it had on ME wasn't especially good.  I felt that I hadn't had a chance to talk to kids, to interact with them on a personal level.  The system seemed to be a barrier between us.

When it is used on the iPad and is more hidden, it can give excellent information to the teacher about which kids are exhibiting which behaviors.  I am not sure how customizable it is, but it would be interesting to me to record things like higher level questioning, insightful answers, kindness to others, etc.  But I am not comfortable with putting such a strong emphasis on the number of points each student has and passing out rewards for that.  It feels a bit Big Brotherish to me.

Positive behavior re-inforcers seem to be very popular, but they make me uncomfortable.  And yet, most teachers swear by them.  I feel like we are manipulating students into behaviors that they should exhibit without the reward system.  They should be exhibiting good behavior for its own sake and not for the reward.  But, in some of the schools they seem to work.

I feel out of step.  Once, again.

Book about French Kids' Eating Habits

I have posted this on my book blog, but I am posting it here, too, because I think the review deals with some important education issues, too. This issues include teaching kids about nutrition and foods.

French Kids Eat Everything: How Our Family Moved to France, Cured Picky Eating, Banned Snacking, and Discovered 10 Simple Rules for Raising Happy, Healthy Eaters by Karen Le Billon
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Although I do not have young children any more, I enjoyed reading this book. As a substitute teacher, I go to many different schools and I have previously taught regularly in quite a few more and I am not happy with the eating habits I see kids developing. It started with water. There was a big push to have kids drink more water and since the water from drinking fountains was often not very good, kids started bringing their own water bottles. Then kids would substitute juice for plain water, which soon was switched out for energy drinks. The morning milk and cookies snack, became the morning juice and crackers snack. Then came the decision that kids should determine when they were hungry and thirsty, so they should be allowed to eat whenever they felt they needed to. In some schools, VERY MANY of them, actually, this has become "kids can eat all day, whenever they want". This has led to an INCREDIBLE amount of food being thrown out - from their school lunches or from their packed lunches, usually food that is higher in nutrition than sweet drinks and chips of various sorts. Even at the high school and middle school level, in MANY schools, kids are eating virtually all day. I had one very chubby girl tell me that she "needed" to eat all day, or else she would suffer from faintness. She could have been telling the truth, I have no way of knowing, but it certainly wasn't doing her any good to be eating cookies all day.

So, it was very interesting to me to read about a different culture where this was not accepted. The only problem with this book for me personally is that I really do not like to cook. It made me wish very much that I did.

I must also admit to skimming a lot of the latter part of the book. Still, if either of my daughters ever decide to have children, I may seriously consider buying this for them. And should I ever have a say in the matter, I would also seriously advocate for changing the eating habits of children in American schools.

View all my reviews

Politically Incorrect

I subbed in a school today that had a significant number of special needs students.  These students came to the classroom I was in for math.  There were 3 or 4 classes at the grade level I was teaching and this teacher had the lowest group of students.  There were approximately 26 students in the class, 4 of whom were special needs students.  An additional special needs student was absent.  There were 4 aides.  Three of the special needs students required one on one aides and the other two (normally including the absent student), evidently could be helped with just one aide.  One of the special needs students could do part of the day's lesson, with help from the aide; the rest could not and were working on things that were unrelated (one was working on days of the week; one was counting dots on a die and trying to say the number; the third did nothing, as far as I could tell).   

I have no objection to special needs students being in the room when aides are provided for those who need them, and most especially, I think they belong there if they can do all or part of the lesson with adaptations.  But I am not sure why the students who were utterly unable to do the lesson - or anything even close - were there.  The special needs students sit separately and don't/can't interact with the other students.  Even that would be fine, except one of the students was evidently unhappy about something.  He spent most of the class period moaning and groaning very loudly, and occasionally emitting a high pitched, drawn out whine.  It was very disconcerting to me and it was extremely difficult for the other students to hear me talk above the nearly constant groaning and whining.  I was supposed to lead the students through one worksheet/hands-on exercise and then teach them how to play a game. 

I feel the other students were short-changed - at least today.  Perhaps they could concentrate better than I could, because they were used to the constant noise.  But it left me with nerves jangling and feeling that I couldn't adequately help the other students, when they couldn't hear me.  26 or so students in a classroom is a lot, anyway, and when they need more support than other students, the addition of the special needs students seemed a bit much.  I feel that the class should somehow have been significantly smaller or the students who were unable to participate in the lesson and were making nearly constant noise should have been removed.

I guess I am completely politically incorrect.   And the regular teacher must be a saint.

________________________________________

Additional thoughts, upon further reflection:
How do we determine what is fair in the classroom?  Treatment of students can NEVER be equal, since each child is unique and has unique needs and experiences.  Do we attempt to treat them all the same and say we were fair?  What does the "least restrictive environment" mean in terms of children with severe disabilities?  What does it mean in terms of the rest of the children in the classroom?  

This post is a response to SH's post Black Paper

This post is a response to SH's post Black Paper, found at:

http://chockyschild.wordpress.com/2013/01/19/black-paper/

Key points:

1. Children are not naturally good. They need firm, tactful discipline from parents and teachers with clear standards. Too much freedom for children breeds selfishness, vandalism and personal unhappiness.
2. If the non-competitive ethos of progressive education is allowed to dominate our schools, we shall produce a generation unable to maintain our standards of living when opposed by fierce rivalry from overseas competitors.
3. It is the quality of teachers that matters, rather than their numbers or their equipment. We have sacrificed quality for numbers, and the result has been a lowering of standards. We need high-quality, higher-paid teachers in the classroom, not as counsellors or administrators.
4. Schools are for schooling, not social engineering.
5. The best way to help children in deprived areas is to teach them to be literate and numerate, and to develop all their potential abilities.
6. Every normal child should be able to read by the age of seven. This can be achieved by the hard work of teachers who use a structured approach.
7. Without selection the clever working-class child in a deprived area stands little chance of a real academic education.
8. External examinations are essential for schools, colleges, polytechnics and universities. Without such checks, standards decline. Working-class children suffer when applying for jobs if they cannot bring forward proof of their worth achieved in authoritative examinations.
9. Freedom of speech must be preserved in universities. Institutions which cannot maintain proper standards of open debate should be closed.
10. You can have equality or equality of opportunity; you cannot have both. Equality will be the holding back (or the new deprivation) of the brighter children.

My Thoughts:

1.  I agree and I think we have lost sight of the fact that the word discipline means teaching - teaching the child the ways of society that make it function well.  We can't just go around doing exactly what each of us would like to do, because it infringes on the rights of others.

2.   Competition can increase both motivation and effort.  Too much competition can be unhealthy, but so can too little.

3.  Yes, we need quality teachers, but I think we also need a lot of them.  Part of the reason teacher quality has declined is that other occupations have opened up immensely for talented women.  Less competent teachers have had to fill the void.  But schools, in the US and I suspect worldwide, have also tried to economize on teachers.  They have purposely hired less competent, less experienced teachers, because these teachers cost less. 

I am also disturbed at the increasing class sizes I see as a substitute teacher in the last year or two.  Part of teaching is getting to know the students and developing solid relationships with them.  This is more difficult as the class sizes get larger.  To me, this is self-evident, but it is based on the following observation:  when I sub for classes of 24 or fewer students, I can manage to learn the names of each of the students in the class.  I even have time to learn a bit about most of them.  As class sizes increase over 24 students, I find this increasingly not even worth attempting.  And, learning a student's name is the first step to getting to know them.

I tend to see equipment in a moderate way.  You can do a lot with simple equipment - probably much more than most people think.  But some things are essential - stuff to write with and on; basic art supplies; things to read. 

4.  I think this is mostly semantics.  Schooling IS social engineering. 

5.  Agreed.  I think we fail in this respect to a large extent.  I used to strongly support bilingual education, but lately I have seen results of it that I don't think benefit the bilingual students.  I was subbing in a bilingual school where the students were to be taught in one language in the morning and in the other language in the afternoon.  I am fluent in only one of the languages, but understand a fair amount of the other one.  It seemed to me that the students who speak English at home benefited greatly from learning a second language at school.  But the students who spoke Spanish at home were being cheated by this system.  They only had to get through half of their school day in English.  The rest of the time, at school and at home, they could speak Spanish.  Consequently, their language skills, both reading and writing especially, were significantly below the level of the native English speakers.  If they are to have the full range of options for high school and beyond, they need to be fluent in English as well as, in this case, Spanish.  High school and college are almost universally taught in English in the US.

6.  I am not an expert on reading.  I expect this is true, but I have always HATED reading instruction, both as a student and as a teacher.  Thus, my opinions on this are suspect.

7.  This is one reason why I am a strong supporter of gifted education, especially in deprived areas.  Gifted students with parents who have the economic means to support them have a reasonable chance of succeeding.  Gifted students whose parents are struggling with basic necessities will have far fewer chances and need more support from the schools.

8.  I have recently begun to wonder if we couldn't entirely restructure education into learning modules and allow students to progress through them at their own rates.  There could be outside examinations for each module:  Reading, Level A, Basic Phonics; Reading, Level A, Basic Text Comprehension, etc.  One advantage of this is that now the students might perceive the teacher differently.  Rather than being the obstacle to their advancement to the next level, the judge of their efforts, the punisher of wrong answers, the students might begin to see the teacher as the guide to passing the next task, the facilitator of learning that we all hope to be, but sometimes fear we are not.  Unlike many teachers in the US, I actually LIKE standardized testing, but I think it is used incorrectly.  It is not typically used to inform instruction, but rather to judge the student and the teacher.  This is one reason why I like computerized adaptive testing.  Students can progress through the test to the level of their abilities and the results are available immediately, so they can be used to inform instruction.  "You have just passed Reading, Level G, Inferences from Pictures; you are ready for Reading, Level H, Inferences from Metaphors. "

9.  Freedom of speech is vital, but is seldom practiced below university level.

10.  Equality is impossible.  Any parent of more than one child knows this.  Any emergency room doctor knows this.

Thanks, SH, for food for thought. 

Charter School vs. Charter School

In the past month, I have subbed in two different charter schools, both in the same school district.  Both schools have relatively new buildings, with decent equipment and supplies.  Both schools require their K-8 students to wear uniforms - polos, khakis, plain pants or skirts, etc.  Both schools have large class sizes, though at the second one, they were a bit smaller.  I was in the same classroom at each school for 2 days.

The first school I will not go back to; the second school, I will return to any time I get called.  Why?  At the first school, regimentation seems to be the order of the day.  My day was planned down to the last minute:  at 8:45 take attendance; at 8:47 say the pledge; at 8:49, announce to the class, "Get ready to transition to ..."; etc.  As a sub, I felt this to be a recipe for failure - if attendance took longer than expected, I was already behind; if I waited to line them up for something, until they were quiet, they were late to their next class.  The day felt regimented and overplanned.  Except that, the regular teacher forgot to tell me some important things - like where the math book was (on the shelf, under the white board) and how much of the lesson had already been taught (a significant amount), and where the science test was that they were supposed to take (on a different shelf).  It was an uncomfortable two days.  And, this time at least, it wasn't really due to the kids.  They were reasonably respectful and interesting.  Or at least I thought so, until I went to the second school.

The second school was actually enjoyable.  The lessons I taught were substantial and allowed me to actually do some teaching - bring some of myself into the lesson.  I wasn't just a place-holder, delivering a throw-away lesson, while the REAL teacher was gone.  And the kids made me feel like they were actually intrinsically nice, not just regimented into it.  I wish I knew the secret to the atmosphere of the second school.  I have been to other schools that feel as welcoming and worthwhile, but not many.