What happened in today's class bothers me more and more. I don't like to let things get to me, and this is certainly no different, but I think there are lessons to be learned from it.
Some people may find this post controversial, because I am using the classroom discrepancies from 649 and the Union Reform "discussion" as a learning tool for the future.
Here is exactly what I learned from it:
-When a group is presenting, I am not going to let another student interrupt their plans and drive the rest of the class away from the presentation. It is disrespectful and will not be tolerated in my classroom.
-I will instill a notion in my students that just because they have an opinion does not mean they have to voice it.
-I will push home to my students how to communicate so that they are not always on the defensive. Just because one person is voicing an opinion does NOT mean that he or she is attacking someone with a different opinion.
-LARA: Listen, Affirm, Respond, Add. This is a good method. The method of "Listen until you form your own opinion and get caught up in it and then REACT to someone else" will not be tolerated.
-When the class stops being respectful to each other, I will stop the class and give them a break and/or continue on without further discussion. Some topics do get pretty hot, and kids need time to cool off. Taking a break after a particularly heated debate to re-realize that the people around each of them are all humans too, with their own feelings and emotions, will give them a chance to gather their thoughts and regain composure.
-I will also push home the notion that the only time a real discussion can take place is when every single person lets go of their need to be right.
-When I begin to feel that a person is cutting others off, not out of excitement, but out of their complete disregard for others and their feeling that what they have to say is more important than everyone else, I will give that person a "respectful reminder card" (see below) and ask him or her to take a break in the hallway. (To clarify the excitement statement, I understand that people get really caught up in a thought and get really excited to share it. That's understandable. Most of the time we will say, "Oh, sorry for interrupting!" after the fact. But people who begin their statements with, "Sorry to interrupt," are usually not sorry at all. They really believe that their thoughts are more important to voice. Again, disrespectful.)
-Under no circumstances should a student target another person for their beliefs, opinions, lack of opinion, etc... Nor should a student target the rest of the class. It is unlikely that they will know enough about everyone else in there to make an assumption or generalization or launch an accusation at the whole class. It will not be tolerated for a kid to do that to one or all of his or her classmates. (I felt targeted today. It prompted this post.)
I obviously need to work on a lot of these things too. I often times tune out people who have bothered me with his or her attitudes and/or opinions in the past and do not show him or her the respect that he or she deserves. I promise I will work on this, but I would really appreciate if the rest of the class could work on that too. Honestly, this was the most ridiculously disrespectful class in which I have ever had to sit. If attendance hadn't been required and the group presenting hadn't been so awesome, I would have walked.
*Respectful Reminder Cards are going to be yellow cards I give to students during classroom discussion (or otherwise) when that student is treating others with disrespect. It will have some guidelines to cooling down and also for what respectful behavior should look like. After the student takes five minutes to read this and collect him or herself, he or she may return to class. If the student gets two cards in a day, it results in loss of participation points or an essay stating why his or her behavior was not acceptable and how he or she could adjust in the future. If a student receives three, it results in detention and he or she will be asked to sit in the office or disciplinary room until class is over. All of the rules of respect I have talked about in this post and the others are subject to RRCs if violated.
I'm not trying to target or offend anyone, although I am calling out the problems of the classroom today. I don't know if anyone will even read this, but at least it's off my chest now, and I've been able to document my goals as a result of these problems.
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Wow! I have no idea what happened in class today but it sounds as though you were able to take away some good lessons for your future teaching. I want to say that I like the LARA philosophy (did you make that up? I've never heard of the term before.).
ReplyDeleteGroup presentations can be very tricky to administer and it is smart to be proactive about how to handle difficulties before they arise.
I also commend you on not picking on any one person in your blog (very mindful!). Thank you.
Thanks for your feedback, Liz! The LARA method just a really useful method that Shari has been encouraging us to use since the beginning of the first day of class. Let's just say that it really fell between the cracks today...
ReplyDeleteBut my boyfriend, who acts as the voice of reason in my life, suggested that I use each of these incidents as a learning tool, because we are going to encounter these situations in class, and I need to be prepared to deal with him. So today was quite a learning experience! :-)
I think it's great that you were able to turn something that frustrated you into such a great learning experience for your future classroom.
ReplyDeleteThis is not the first incident I have felt peoples' opinions have been targeted. I've noticed eye-rolling and jump-down-your-throat-type responses that make me, for one, wary of speaking up in class.
I think it's time for all of us to take a long hard look at the way we treat each other, because if we can't model respect as teachers, how can we expect our students to do it??
I agree with you that Tuesday's presentation was not the best demonstration of respectful interaction between students. I am a little bit nervous to speak up in class because I feel that some of my ideas are still in the development process.
ReplyDeleteI want to add that while at times things can get out of hand, there have been a number of very healthy conversations from which we can benefit. To me, the best part of this program is that there are so many different people with entirely different backgrounds in it. Inevitably with such a diverse group there will be conflict.
Let's try to stick together and be positive listeners and contributors! : )
I'm there with Kendra... at times I'm not someone to speak up in such large settings because I find them often to be quite intimidating, especially when things start getting heated. Often my opinions are still being shaped and at times this environment can make it difficult to feel comfortable going out on a limb with developing ideas.
ReplyDeleteBUT, I really enjoy the sharing of so many different opinions and think that there's a lot to benefit from it, as long as things are kept respectful. I think that this is really important to keep in mind, because it seems like when people start feeling disrespected, they either tune out or feel uncomfortable, and that doesn't leave us much to gain. I personally have benefited from hearing viewpoints that I had never considered and they have been helpful in developing my own, so I hope that we can maintain a respectful environment to keep that going. :)
Damn, Crash. I like what you're saying here. I think that too often, people aren't really listening, but waiting for their turn to talk. Especially during discussions of divisive topics, where they may have strong opinions. Like let's say.......unions.
ReplyDeleteI personally have a bad impression of unions, but I took this great presentation as an opportunity to learn, not a forum to voice my admittedly biased opinions. And I am guilty of being hesitant to voice my opinions during large, group discussion. These forums offer great opportunities to hear other points of view, and hear reaction/response to your own views, which I think helps you strengthen or re-think them.
You have some fantastic ideas of how to effectively manage group discussions in your classroom. People will be "triggered", it's going to happen. I particularly like your idea of RRCs. They remind the student of methods for cooling down, and removes them if they continue to disrupt the discussion.
This is great stuff. I think that we all can be better listeners and more respectful.
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ReplyDeletei'm going to jump in here like everyone else and thank you for posting an honest post about the classroom situation; it's often difficult to voice a dissenting opinion. additionally, i appreciate that you took the time to relate your experiences in a graduate school classroom to your vision of a middle- or high-school classroom. that being said, i really take issue with your statement, "just because they have an opinion does not mean they have to voice it (bullet point #2). understandably, there are those students who do speak up in the form of an attack and this can be counterproductive. however, these agitated reactions to something someone's said (or a presentation on unions, for example) are often a result of feeling attacked, and it is difficult to ask someone in a compromised situation (even if they are the only one's feeling attacked) to quiet down. furthermore, if a student feels one perspective is being presented at the expense of another, i suggest they have the right (and sometimes obligation) to speak their piece on the matter. i respect your courage in voicing a dissenting opinion in your blog post, and hope that you would award the same respect to others.
ReplyDeleteluckily, eugenie's class has a discussion forum on ctools that is intended to mediate such comments and discussions. in the future, it would be helpful for us to voice some of these strong opinions there, particularly if we are feeling left out or attacked.
Amen... People could be more respectful in class, especially when most of us have not the experience to really understand how these things apply. Getting so worked up that we don't listen seems childish, because this is the theoretical part of our program where we learn ideas! Getting so passionate about our beliefs where we actually betray our intellectual duties as educators and forego listening should be saved for when get frustrated and jaded in the field (slight joke here), not when we are "fledglings," which most of us are.
ReplyDeleteJoking aside, you are totally right. So rarely are blog rants so rational..
I think your colleagues have articulately responded to and validated what you've tried to do here, Brittany, so I just have two quick comments.
ReplyDeleteDuring my first year with MAC, I would up having an extended exchange with one of the students about the sometimes difficult conversations we would have. Richard told me that "when it comes down to it, the program is going to be as good as the MACers want it to be, and in some ways the faculty has no control over that. If the (students) really want to challenge themselves and each other, and if they're not afraid to push each other, and call each other on things, and just be brutally honest then they're going to get so much out of it, and there are going to be so many things that they're going to get out of it that they're not even going to see for years down the road."
Brittany, it would appear that you've taken such a difficult moment and tried to locate the learning opportunities. It is apparent that your colleagues appreciate your articulateness and your courage (agree or disagree), and you may well have set the stage for the MACers to seize an important learning moment.
Thanks, Brittany.