Yesterday, Mr. W started his trigonometry class by singing. He sang “I’ll Be” by Edwin McCain acapella, in a beautiful tenor vibrato. “It’s the song I used for my American Idol audition,” he told the class.
At their best, this particular group of 11-12th graders are curious and excited about learning. At their worst, they can be cynical and complaining, and can wear a teacher down.
As Mr. W was singing, though, the students visibly melted, and smiles broke out.
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Today I visited a 9th grade Economics* class. Students were working in groups helping each other figure out a word problem.
“How do you get a good grade in this class?” I asked a group.
“Oh, it’s easy maam,” said Hassan.** “You just have to pay attention to the teacher, do your homework, and when you have a question, you can’t just sit there and be quiet, you have to ask the other kids.”
“So how do you think you’re all doing?” I asked.
Hassan looked around the room, tilting his chair back, then looked at his group. “I think everyone in this class is going to get 100,” he said confidently.
I liked Hassan’s answer. Continue reading
Yesterday, when I visited Mr. D’s English class, I didn’t notice Jose.* This is notable.
I always notice Jose. Jose is a student who normally disrupts classes, or wanders the hallways to avoid class. We have spent countless hours trying to support Jose in behaving and learning.
Yet in Mr. D’s English class, I didn’t notice Jose. Why? Because Jose was sitting at a table, quietly annotating a text. He worked throughout the period, causing no disruption. Continue reading
Classroom 325 