Help Me Help You

I've been on paternity leave since Spring Break. It has been 2 weeks out of the classroom, plus half of Spring Break. During that time I've certainly missed being in the buzz of the classroom. There is something to be said for the noise, bustle, and thinking that 75 kiddos bring to your day. I'll be back on Monday, and for all that I say I miss the buzz I'll likely be regretting the time missed with my baby boy at home!

One thing that I've had a chance to reflect on is the need for patience. I've re-watched Dan Meyer's "Curriculum Makeover" TEDxNYED talk again. In it he speaks of the need for patient problem solving in math. Our textbooks end up providing a smooth trajectory to the end product, and if it doesn't work out you can just check your work in the back of the book. That is the equivalent of kids finding out "Is it good enough?" which I've lamented for quite some time. The applications to other subject areas is clear, at least to me!

Let's look at reading. First off you end up with kids who go "Do you have a good book for me?" The willingness to try is off to a poor start off the bat. From there said student might grab one of the books or opt to grab none, and just pick one at random with no connection to it aside from the hammer of needing a book hanging over him/her. They read about 5-30 pages (30 is really high in this case) before bringing it back and putting it away. When questioned they often go "eh, I just didn't like it." Like Meyer's example for math, many kids are accustomed to a book that hooks you with action that carries throughout and ends neatly. No bigger problems. No larger applications.

Delve further into this with the example of the Hunger Games. This book is huge everywhere, and my classroom is no different. I don't use it for novel study, but do have a few copies of it. I don't pump it up as I want kids to self select into the book for their own reasons. I will typically pull kids over that are reading it and have them read orally, checking for fluency first... then we go through some questioning. Why do you think Katniss was thinking that? What do you think she means when she says...? Why do they have the Hunger Games? The answers vary, with some very nuanced answers. But often you get the less patient view of- she just wants to live; she likes Peeta; they want people to fight to the death; she is scared of the games.

The willingness to prod deeper is often limited. Why? It is hard. The books before have always had the hero come out alive, or triumph over bad. Often they solve the problem in a relatively quick fashion. Theme? What theme?! My response isn't to tell kids not to read the books, or to explain the theme. I'll lead them in that direction but won't compel them to think about it. Instead we'll look at some of the broader themes in novel study, and we'll often go back to look at overlooked sections. But if I tell them what I think I've done the intellectual heavy lifting, making them less likely to persevere. Patience. You need it in teaching and parenting.

A Promising Start

Two of my three groups have started the CBA. I anticipate it taking until next Friday with a few extensions mixed in. For a few there will be some simplification- narrowing of topics, resources in order to help with problem solving. While a wide net allows for student choice, it does not help those students that struggle organizing information or getting started (a broad array of choices can be overwhelming).

For the two that started, so far so good. I have gone through discussing issues and possible solutions. I've had students collaborate on solutions, and discuss compromises since not all people want it solved in the same way. We got off to a slow start, but a vast majority of kids have workable issues and understand who some of the stakeholders are on each side. From there they had some freedom to search on their own prior to the guided research lesson.

Research and culling information from articles looks like it will be the most difficult piece. My experience has been that we (meaning those who are under the age of 35 +/- a few years) are not the most patient bunch. We see something and want the answer before us. What is with this writing to explain both sides stuff?! It is increasingly so the younger you get (I know, painting with a broad brush). Reading a 2 page article on recycling, particularly when I am not versed in the intricacies of the concept, is yawn inducing and difficult. Tomorrow we are going to take our issue and write it as a question, then look at keywords associated with that question:

Issue: Recycling
Question: Should people recycle more than they do?
Keywords: recycling, increase, decrease, amount, recycling program, garbage, trash, cities, people

From there I am going to model searching... We'll find an article that looks good, but doesn't work (by reading the first 2 paragraphs... then skimming for the keywords, since our search program highlights the keywords). Then we'll find one that does work (same process), and work to cull out 2-3 key sentences before bookmarking for future reading. My objective is that they can analyze sources for relevance to their topic, so it should be an interesting day of research.

Problem Solving

During the summer I like to clean out posts from my Google Reader. I tend to read more of my sports related items during the school year, opting to leave education for the occasional weekend read or for a break. Today I was cleaning out a few posts (fewer since I'd recently cleaned it out) from Weblogg-ed. A post that struck me was this one about how teachers often ask questions in order to justify inaction (in particular around technology).

I see that point of view as prevalent beyond technology. Being a first year teacher this past year, I'd often sit in trainings (with other first years, but also with veteran folks at times) where the question seemed to begging for someone to just wave a magic wand in order to solve it. "But how do I fit that in? I'm already really strapped for time." Another common one was "Well how do you do that, how do you make it all work because the kids in my room won't do that..." While some of the same questions circulated in my head, I lacked the impulse to verbalize them.

Why? Teaching takes patience in a myriad of ways. There isn't a magic wand to fix things. The reality is that your classroom will have warts, just like your practice, and just like everyone else's. You aren't alone in that. Fixing the things that aren't going well, or that you don't like, takes time. You need the time to think about what it is that is being done, how it is/isn't having the desired impact, what possible reasons for that could be, and possible solutions. Waving the white flag of "how do I do this..." may get you a short term solution. But unless you understand why you are doing it, or how you can make it work for you kids, you'll be back at the drawing board soon enough.