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Report from the Field – Tina Hargadan
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10 thoughts on “Report from the Field – Tina Hargadan”
I totally agree with you Tina. I am teaching two first year French classes in Fresno, California. They are flying high and having fun. My level two French class had long term substitutes who never knew French. They have some bad habits. In my fourth week of school, I am still conditioning them into appropriate behavior.
The second year kids are psyched to have me is the weird thing. They’re very aware of their need to actually develop some French proficiency. I’m so glad to be there but it’s a slog each day. I have been stopping at EACH infraction walking to my class rules ( I shamelessly stole Ben’s word for word ) and stopping, smiling real big at the infractors and explaining for the seven thousandth time how this class is different and special and they must follow all the rules all the time. Then I smile at the perps and get back to the show. It’s annoying but I don’t give a rodent’s Tush.
The other kids do get annoyed but I’m counting on them to exert some subtle positive peer pressure. It’s getting better and better daily, so I think it must be working. It prolly helps that I’m going into class daily with the intention of not rushing to “get to” anything. My objective with them is to talk slowly and clearly in French. About them 100% of the time. I do what Ben suggested and I tell the class in a very serious and “confidential” time the most outrageous things about the classmates. Yesterday we talked all period about a girl who can’t go to Washington Square Mall anymore cause she and a classmate stole a pink Tesla from the Teska store. (Inside I’m all like what? We HAVE a Tesla store??). They think it’s fun so I think bit by bit they’re just forgetting their old ways. I think if I were to go in with real hard n fast objectives they’d smell that. I just pretend we are the bestest of friends and we happen to communicate in French by writing shit on the board. It’s getting better but I’m not sure what I would be doing without Ben’s amazing tips. It’s the relationships and management that I truly love about this way of teaching.
Steven and Tina I would be interested in knowing what you feel is most effective in retraining these kids. In my view a constant stopping and walking over to and pointing to the Classroom Rules and waiting and smiling – over and over in every single case of a disturbance, is necessary and I think very effective. If you do anything else that gets the job done I am sure that others here will want to know what you are doing to get those ingrained habits out of those kids so you can do your jobs with CI.
I would also be interested in knowing any retraining tricks. I am stopping, as you describe above, Ben! “…constant stopping and walking over to and pointing to the Classroom Rules and waiting and smiling – over and over in every single case of a disturbance, ” …but I am feeling like I’m losing or have lost the kids who are actually there and excited to learn Spanish with CI. I literally feel pain in these moments. They are looking to me and I am failing them over and over. There are many kids in this category. They sit there gesturing and adding details and answering every damn question. Except the ones they can’t hear because of all the noise from the others. And so I stop. Again. And again. And again. It’s really old and I am only on day 5. Its just one group. Can’t seem to suss out a ringleader. It seems pretty across the board. There is a cluster of 9th grade boys, yes. But they are not the only ones. And then it can easily fall down the vortex of “hey why are you picking on me?”
So interesting, Tina, how your first year kids are doing great. I am having the opposite experience so far. My level 2 and level 4 are playing the game well. Level 1 is a $@#% show! Really interesting, as I was most looking forward to level 1 and dreading level 4. Jokes on me!
Another thing I just thought of. I took Ben’s idea of the Three and Done spreadsheet. I make kind of a big show about slowly and deliberately marking when kids break a rule. That goes on their Interpersonal Communication mark (which is 40% of their grade). This was a job I gave to kids in all my classes (I stop and point to the spreadsheet kid then kinda subtly indicate the perp) but in eighth grade this did NOT work. Another teacher told me the spreadsheet kid was getting crap from classmates. So I do it in eighth grade second year French. But I make it pretty obvious what I’m doing. I’m not calling the kids name or anything. I just look shocked and sad then pick up the clipboard and kind of sadly and slowly mark an infraction. They see that and it’s pretty clear how consistent I’m gonna be. I think this helps a lot. Plus I told them if they get down to 80% (four marks since each is five points) I feel obligated to let their parents know by calling home. Word of those calls spreads fast too. I’ve only called a few but they know I’m serious. It’s been a slog but three weeks in things are better and I just gotta stay the course.
Hello Tina,
I’m curious to know how managing the participation grade worked for you Tina…now that it’s May. I’ve struggled keeping track, keeping up with it sometimes.
Also, a question for the group in looking at assessment for next year, is the participation grade part of the discussion?
Thank you!
Well, interesting question. I have actually learned through trial and error and a lot of coaching from this amazing community, to loosen up a little on the use of the tally marks and use them as sort of a smokescreen. Like not writing down EVERY time a kid is not focusing on my tally sheet. But using it as a tool to bring straying lambs back into the fold. Just their knowing that I do not their behaviors and it impacts grades and results in phone calls home, is enough, I guess. But my classes have mostly been very focused, in my opinion anyway, all year. I have had some struggles with one period, but those might have been due to the fact that the kids had some interpersonal conflicts that we had to work through. So maybe the early focus on the fact that I “noted everything” made an impression on them. My thinking on this, like on so much, has evolved over the year. NEXT YEAR, I will probably have the kids rate themselves on jen’s rubric (also known as ISR) periodically, maybe once a week or two, so that they can get their brains wrapped around the standard I hold them to. And I will be telling better, tighter, and untargeted stories that finish up in 25-20 minutes and that will improve management too. Kids are so much happier now that we are creating fast, light, and highly entertaining stories.
I hope this helps. This has been a real growing year for me thanks to Ben and all you guys.
Thank you Tina! Yes, this helps a lot!
What is going on in level 1 jen?