These thoughts from John written last September are very important and so I repeat them here:
Hey Ben,
Well I have only seen my students twice, so I have nothing to say about what I am doing with them in the classroom just yet. I wanted to share how un-stressed I am this year, for the first time in my 6 years teaching, and here’s why.
This is the first year in which my modus operandi has not been to prepare by accumulating. In fact, I have made a conscious effort to reduce clutter, in my briefcase, my syllablus, daily instructions for students, my desk and classroom, students’ desks, assignments, “things” for me and my students to do, be they in worksheet form or online.
This is the first year I have not felt like I was racing against the clock to get every lesson, every period ready, fighting with the copy machine or a printer that wouldn’t give me my precious handouts, without which I would feel stranded in front of my students.
Instead, I am putting all my energy into spending all of those 40 minutes interacting with my students, getting to know them, remembering their names, what they look like, what they enjoy doing, trying to get them to come out of their shells a bit with some humor, but also being very consistent in my expectations of them.
I have put no conscious effort into teaching them any Latin other than 5 or 6 words, and whatever may come up naturally. But even there I’m making sure not to bombard them with new vocab, reassuring them that I’m not going to test them on it yet, saying that they don’t have to take notes.
It is more important that I cultivate a relationship with them. This is what I need to be worrying about now, not cramming them with content or procedures during the first days. All that stuff takes care of itself if you lay the foundations.
The content can be so comforting for us because we already know it, there are no surprises. But this is not human. And, as Krashen says, robots cannot communicate.
John
www.johnpiazza.net
The Essential Marcus Aurelius
Now available in bookstores, or via John’s website.