Teaching the humans we have in our 9th grade
classrooms this year has been challenging.
They are masters at disengaging, “forgetting” assignments, logging time
at school until their real lives start.
Failing a class is a non-event for them, to be met with a shrug of the
shoulders. A majority of our students
are satisfied with doing just enough work to pass and keep their parents and
teachers off their backs. It has been
very challenging.
We have been introducing project-based learning, and
struggling to teach the students how to participate in and contribute
effectively to groups. In geophysical
science, my co-teacher just introduced a unit on Newton’s Laws with a project
on forces in sports. Students are to
answer the question: How can we use
forces to improve an athlete’s performance in hockey, baseball, rugby (the
sport of their choice)?
On Friday, I went to the science room to help the groups as
they worked. The situation looked
promising as I walked in the room.
Students were in their groups, and there seemed to be lots of
discussion. Full disclosure here: I am an external processor. I do not know what I think until I have said
it. To me, discussion is a good sign. One group of students caught my eye: two boys were standing, and two girls were
sitting, everyone looked glum, and no one was saying a word. To me, this is not a good sign. Deep breath and approach:
How’s it going?
Ok.
What sport did you choose?
Basketball.
What is your question?
We can’t think of one.
Hmm. Do any of you play basketball?
(one student raises her hand.)
Great! So what area of your game would you like to
improve?
I don’t know.
Let’s think about all the parts of
basketball—what do you have to do to play basketball?
Dribble. Shoot.
Be fast. Be agile.
Good! So dribble, shoot, run—which would you like
to study?
(Silence.)
There are different kinds of shots
in basketball. Which is the most
interesting to you?
(Silence.)
Well, I’ve always wondered why so
many pros are bad at foul shots.
(Silence.)
Ok, so are you thinking in
there? Are you all internal
processors? Am I bothering you with my
questions? (I am related to some
internal processors, and they have shared that, at times, talking is an
annoyance. I sympathize, but cannot
empathize.)
(Silence.)
Well, I’ll let you process those
thoughts, and I’ll be back.
5 minutes later. . .No one has moved, everyone looks glum,
no one is talking.
How’s it
going?
(Silence.)
Got a question?
No.
Hmm. You could always think about equipment in
basketball. Hey, I know. I always see players rubbing their shoes
before they go on the court. Wonder why?
To get the dirt off (this is
followed by a look which says, Do you have a brain?)
Well, maybe forces play a part in
that. Can you think which ones?
(Silence.)
You might want to look at your
notes, or on-line to see what forces might be involved.
(Silence.)
Well, I’ll let you process those
thoughts, and I’ll be back.
5 minutes later. . .No one has moved, everyone looks glum, no one is talking.
How’s it going?
(Silence.)
Got a question?
No.
Hmm. Well, I was thinking about that shoe
thing. (I am getting desperate now. The project guidelines say that they must
have a question by the end of the period.)
My son played basketball in high school and college. You know, in college the team buys your shoes
for you, and one year my son was really disgusted with the shoes the coach had
picked out. No one on the team would
wear them. Can you imagine why?
(Silence.)
They said they
were too heavy! Do you think shoes could
really make a difference, like in jumping?
(Silence.)
Ok, well,
you process some more, and I’ll be back.
(Exchange worried looks with co-teacher.
We have been having similar discussions with other groups, and those
groups have been making progress. We got
nothing here.)
5 minutes later. . .three of the students haven’t moved, but
they are looking at me expectantly, and the group leader is approaching me
where I am working with another group.
She is holding a notebook, and has a look of quiet confidence. She holds the notebook up, and I read a
perfectly wonderful question about forces and the lay-up shot in
basketball. We do a high five, and I say
“well done” to the group. They smile,
and the boys finally sit down.
Here are my
take-aways.
·
Wait Time works. All those silences up there? They were big, long, empty silences. Doug Lemov (Teach Like a Champion)
includes wait time as one of the championship techniques. It can be painful, but it works. Kids need time to process—my co-teacher and I
had already been thinking about and discussing this project for some time. We were familiar with it; the students needed
time to catch up.
·
No Opt Out, another of Lemov’s techniques,
works. I kept circling back to be sure
that something was going to come out of this group. If necessary, we would have been there for
some time after class, or after school.
It wasn’t an immediate No Opt Out, but it was in play.
·
Trust the process. Project-based learning works. Struggling is part of the process and is good
for students—I almost blew it by inserting myself too much in
the process. I needed to let the students
struggle, and be patient with the struggle.
Self-esteem comes from struggling and overcoming, not from writing down
what the teacher said, however brilliant and insightful that may have been (I
thought my shoe question was both!) The
pride on the faces of this group at the end of the process was palpable.
It wouldn’t have been there if we had given them the question—either as
part of the assignment, or as they struggled to come up with their own.
·
A group of internal processors can work! Quite possibly NASA already knew this, but I
would never have thought it. If these
internal processors had been in groups with external processors, would they have gotten the chance to cogitate, ponder, wrestle, and finally succeed? Is this another grouping criteria to consider? If internal processors benefit from the space to process internally, would external processors benefit from learning how to work in a group in which everyone has to talk to think? I want to investigate more about how internal
processors work, so I can be more helpful to them. If you have suggestions about resources, or
are a self-aware internal processor willing to share, please let me know.
