Wake up and start swimming!

Choice

In the previous blog, I suggested that novice teachers are, despite their years of teacher training, strongly influenced by the people they have had as their teachers. I suggest that this puts them into a kind of hypnotic state, following memories - embedded instructions - that are perceived as useful and right. 

Unless the novice teacher awakens from this hypnotic state, they risk repeating the teaching behaviours of their previous teachers. Students are from a different generation to their teachers’ teachers, and need different behaviour from their current teachers.

I also suggested that curiosity, about the students in the room, will serve to break out of the hypnotic state, and bring clarity to what is actually happening in the classroom, and provide the inspiration and resources for the teacher to develop.

Phase two - You become the side of the room teacher

You have been teaching a while. You are tired. OK, you are exhausted. And you wonder how much longer this situation will continue, how much longer you will carry on. You know that you are not reaching all of your students. The test results show it. Their deteriorating behaviour in the classroom shows it. And you are feeling it in the uphill struggle every day, to get past the unteachables, and reach those who are willing to learn.

You reflect on your role model, certain teachers who reached the kind of students you are struggling with. And you realise that you have only begun to learn about being a teacher.

You are waking up. Your curiosity leads you to ask, “What were they doing at the back of the room? What were they talking about behind their hands?”.

This is the moment when you decide whether to

teach your subject,

your students,

or both!

You know your subject. So who are your students? You decide to find out. You ask the School Admin for a copy of the class register, their home addresses and the class photograph. You proceed to find out everything they have about the students in this class. You talk with the School Counsellor. You talk with the students’ other teachers, the Head of Year, the Head of your subject, and anyone else who might have useful information about the people in your class. And as you read between the lines, you find out a little more about the stories behind the behaviour in the classroom.

Lesson Time

You start your lessons with a silent roll call. You mark the register in calm silence. You show concern for any missing students. When you need to, you get help from certain students - the natural leaders - as to the health of their classmates. Soon you are able to name every student from memory. Soon, the students know this. And now they begin to know that you care about them, they are beginning to care about what you know about the subject that you continue to enthuse about.

The lesson of the day usually begins with you not saying anything. You stand; and wait for attention. It took eight minutes the first time, four minutes the next. Now it usually takes two or three minutes, depending on the weather. Yes, students are affected by the weather.

You begin the learning process by leading a discussion about the previous lesson and the homework. You ensure fair turn-taking by using a checklist of their names, calling on students to contribute or pass.

Your focus is to map “Who knows what?” and “Who has gaps in their knowledge? What gaps?”. You are planning this lesson - together.

You resist the urge to criticise or comment when you discover that most of the students have not done the homework. Instead, you ask what arrangements need to be made so that they are able to do it. Your lack of criticism allows more students to open up about the challenges they have in the classroom and at home. You learn about them. They learn about themselves. The subject learning will come next.

You issue work to be done in accordance with where the students are in their understanding of the topic. You teach, on the board or in small group discussion, what needs to be taught to those who lack it. Other students continue to read and practice on their own or with a classmate.

You see students speaking up as part of the learning dialogue. In the middle of a lesson, when a student calls on you for support, you quickly assess if their question is something that will engage the whole class, or if it is a more private matter. 

Whenever possible, you encourage students to solve problems in dialogue with you and their classmates. You ask, “Who else finds this question challenging?” and “Who has a solution they are willing to share:” Then you move them into a small group to share and learn.

These days, it is not only you who writes on the board. Students write on the board to demonstrate their skills by solving different problems or showing what they have learned from their research and study. And you take note!

You keep your chalk n talk to a minimum. Modern whiteboards and dry erasers are wonderful, and you are not the only one who wants to use them. 

Videos and computer programs are a valuable asset as well as a reward system, but you have not fully integrated them into your teaching. Yet.

Next

In the next blog, I will show how to fully involve students in their learning. I will also show how media such as videos and computer programs can release you from the mechanics of teaching, and allow you to become a teacher who doesn’t teach.

Martin Richards is an experienced Secondary School teacher who has taught for over 30 years, in many ways from traditional to modern.