The amount of time between posts seems to be getting longer and longer. The problem is not that there is any dearth of things to write about. In fact, it is quite the contrary. I have witnessed any number of blog-worthy things, but I am trying to stay upbeat in my outlook and post at least as many positive things as frustrating events. However, one incident just could not go undocumented.
The other day, a teacher was asked how she managed her classroom. The teacher said in a confidential whisper, "Ma'am, before we used to really beat the children but parents started objecting and we were not getting new admissions so the management asked us to stop." The facilitator, trying to keep the shock out of her voice said, "Well, so how do you manage your classrooms now?" The teacher responded brightly, "Now I am just afraiding the childrens with my eyes."
And that, ladies and gentlemen, sums up the last few weeks in a single sentence. How do you help teachers unlearn so many years of considering discipline to be pindrop-silence in the classroom and learning to be notes written without any mistakes? How do you show teachers the difference between children who are authentically constructing knowledge and those who are "blindly" copying notes down from their peers?
Our answer to this has been setting, "ground rules" or a set of expectations that children and teachers negotiate and agree upon. Usually these include, "No mass answers" and "When others talk I will listen." However, ground rules can only be implemented by a teacher who believes that children are not, in fact, malevolent little imps who are out to destroy the tone of the classroom.
The other day, a teacher was asked how she managed her classroom. The teacher said in a confidential whisper, "Ma'am, before we used to really beat the children but parents started objecting and we were not getting new admissions so the management asked us to stop." The facilitator, trying to keep the shock out of her voice said, "Well, so how do you manage your classrooms now?" The teacher responded brightly, "Now I am just afraiding the childrens with my eyes."
And that, ladies and gentlemen, sums up the last few weeks in a single sentence. How do you help teachers unlearn so many years of considering discipline to be pindrop-silence in the classroom and learning to be notes written without any mistakes? How do you show teachers the difference between children who are authentically constructing knowledge and those who are "blindly" copying notes down from their peers?
Our answer to this has been setting, "ground rules" or a set of expectations that children and teachers negotiate and agree upon. Usually these include, "No mass answers" and "When others talk I will listen." However, ground rules can only be implemented by a teacher who believes that children are not, in fact, malevolent little imps who are out to destroy the tone of the classroom.
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