Latinist David Maust reports in from the West Coast. The jobs that David refers to are described on the “tprs resources” page of this website:
I’ve done two days so far, and CWB is going well – although I’ve allowed myself to stop some right at first and talk in English about the rules, assign jobs, etc. Today I’m going to challenge the kids and myself to stay in TL with the introducion of the “L2 timer” kid and “annoying English alarm” kid. And I wish I had made more use of the classroom jobs before! The kids really value them and it’s great to create this feeling from the beginning of the year that we all share the work in our class – it’s not just about ME doing EVERYTHING and them just sitting there.
My comment – don’t forget the role of class chemistry. Some groups are just flat and others are not. Our jobs are to teach with CI and not worry about how many cool things we get going. Although judicious handing out of jobs can work, as David illustrates, to making a flat group more alive.
But I have to admit that yesterday I made a blunder when I was doing CWB… I had been talking about a boy, I’ll call Brian, the day before: he plays football and we established that he plays football in Jack in the Box and it was a successful little scene that we created. So yesterday I saw that a number of football players were in their jerseys so I went around involving them and repeating the structure and comparing them to Brian who also plays football. But then I noticed that Brian didn’t have a jersey and I asked him why – but I didn’t even think about him not being on the team! So he said that he wasn’t on the team and you could tell he was a little embarassed. And I felt bad and embarassed myself that I had created this embarassing moment for him, since I had this build up happening with all the other football players standing up.
My comment – yeah but that is going to happen. I am convinced that being a teenager is almost entirely about caring painfully what others think. We can’t be aware of all their feelings. When you asked him why he didn’t have a jersey, was it in L2 or L2?
I think I recovered it ok by, pausing and apologizing for putting Brian on the spot and that it’s never my intention to do that, rather to celebrate students in the class. Then I just steered the story back to Jack in the Box and said that Brian played on “Team Jack in the Box” and he played better than Tim Tebow. After we circled that, I had everyone applaud for him for letting me use him in a story and I said he did an excellent job. I told Brian after class that I was sorry if I made him feel embarassed in any way. He said it was ok but I thought that he felt a little awkward.
My comment – great move on the apology. I can see you doing that. It is a crucial quality in a teacher and many still think that they don’t have to apologize to kids. Remember our own teachers, most of them? We are breaking that model, one class at a time. And, in a way, the whole thing about Brian rather points up in a clear way the danger of high school. Kids with jerseys are somehow cooler than the others. We can use CWB to break that idea too, by taking the discussion into settings where a quiet girl who reads is a better football player than the star quarterback. Truth in humor. It’s why this approach is great, we are not teaching just language, but we are working on the social fabric of equality for all. That’s why we are American patriots at the grass roots level. We focus on the person. Just the opposite of those who would now turn the American system of education into a business model and focus on the results given by data instead of the real kid.
I think tomorrow I’ll try to start with a different card to shift attention and then when I do some comparisons about who does what, I’ll work Brian back into the mix, but really play up the stuff in the story that went well and just mention him in the context of the other players and that they all play football – NOT that he isn’t wearing a jersey like them.
I don’t know if other people have made unintentional blunders like this. I think because my brain is thinking so hard sometimes about how I’m going to direct the story or conversation that sometimes I don’t foresee that I may be setting something up that could be awkward for a student. I notice the more that I lay back and just try to enjoy conversation without trying to steer it somewhere too much, this happens less and the language that I produce is more natural.
My comment – David said: “…my brain is thinking so hard sometimes about how I’m going to direct the story or conversation that sometimes I don’t foresee that I may be setting something up that could be awkward for a student…”. This is huge. When we do that we end upn supplying all the information/cute answers for the kids. It’s like cleaning the bathroom instead of giving that job as a chore to one of your children. We tend to do everything in the CI. Then the kids get soft and stop supplying cute answers. Wait them out. Give your mind a rest in all of this. See what they come up with. I have one VERY flat class this year. I just sit there and wait. If nothing comes up, bc they really do look like a flock of sheep staring at me, I just amuse myself with a cute answer and go about the CI as if I am the only one in the room. It’s not me – all I have to do is deliver CI ask the questions. It’s not them – if they are boring that’s the way it is. All the imagination got squeezed out of them in middle school. I have another class that is just peppering me with cute stuff the whole class. They are so creative and subtle in their comments! But we can’t do all the work for them in those boring classes. More rambling.
Thanks for letting me process this!
David
My comment – I like this reporting in from the field like Bob and David and others have done. Pls. feel free to do so. Send me an email and I will publish it as an article or just put it in as a comment. We could make a category, Reports from the Field. I’ll try it. Thanks David!