My students usually always prove my "rule of 75" almost a scientific fact. You see, I would like to think my world and American history students, long after their June departure from Room 112, would remember the details of the all of the Amendments, the hajj of Mansa Musa, the great battles of Alexander the Great and Charles Martel, the spirited national debate over the Scopes Trial or Sacco & Vanzetti or even the legacy of FDR's New Deal. But the reality is that they will forget 75% of what they learned in the 180 days we have together the moment they walk out the door. I like to think that they will remember a few over-arching themes like "American Ideals" and "Empathy" and the difference between primary & secondary resources. But, as I have found over the last five years of teaching and coaching wrestling is that students have a few of my sayings wood-burned into their psyches.
On the first day of school during my syllabus/welcome/procedure spiel I tell them that all papers & assignment are due on their assigned dates. Furthermore, I tell them, even in the case of Lake Michigan tidal wave, an al-Qaeda virus that renders all Forest Hills Public Schools computers powerless, or even if their printer (wait for this...) runs out of printer ink, that when "faced with an obstacle, they are to improvise, adapt and overcome!" The students get a chuckle and I get to make a point and then use it as a refrain anytime a student gives the "my computer crashed last night, I swear" excuse. The saying is one of about five or six sayings that I think will be my legacy...Most of them are barrowed (a couple of them are actual originals) from either my dad, who taught in city schools for thirty-five years, my host teacher at Rockford High School or one of my wrestling coaches.
Every now and again however, I am forced to make the announcement to my students, "I have some bad news, the smart board is not working today so we will have to 'improvise (they chime in here), adapt & overcome!" It's nice, because they understand and I understand that things do happen and when you have thirty or more eyes on you to expose every bead of sweat and frustration over an otherwise awesome lesson plan gone awry, that you can and must move on to the infamous "Plan B".
Technology, among the many tools in my teaching tool box, is perhaps the tool that fails me most. It never ceases to amaze me that when I find a fantastic 2-minute clip about the Aztec capital city Tenochtitlan that the school district's streaming video is down. Or, I get ready to use my polyvision board (a smart board) for an interactive lesson and then it freezes up. I love technology...I host two websites (one for my wrestling team and one for my classroom), I frequently scout wrestling on a popular video site call flowrestling, I post youtube videos and I have even tinkered with online radio/podcasts, but I know that technology is best when it is treated as a luxury, not the bedrock of lesson or curriculum. We depend on an online grading system in my district and that too will fail and "go down" from time to time...It is the source of much ire in our building.
The more I teach, the more I realize something my father said when I was bragging about all the cool, new technoclassroom items I was being awarded, "The best teachers only need a chalkboard and textbook, the really good ones," he continued, "just need a stick and clear spot in the sand." And you know, he's right. My textbooks never fail me, my whiteboard and markers rarely fail me (sometimes the caps get left off by students writing greetings on my boards) and the good old college-ruled outline notes (although unpopular) never let me down. I've gone full circle, professionally, envisioning a paperless classroom full of online student learners and wise facilitator (me) directing and urging the learning all the way to saying "we're going old school--take out your map hand-outs, coloring pencils & notes packet." I have yet to find an appropriate happy medium that meets the needs of a technology centered "Entitlement Generation" while giving them a framework for basic content knowledge. I welcome technology but am always skeptical of its innate ability to fail me at the worst moment...
Technology can be a bastion of inspiration in the classroom or a source of irritation...It just depends on the day. If I were really smart, I'd find a stick and some sand.
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2 comments:
This is a well written post, Brad. I am going to enjoy reading your blog.
I was really struck by your father's observation, "The best teachers only need a chalkboard and textbook, the really good ones just need a stick and clear spot in the sand." With or without the use of technology, I think teachers sometimes forget that what they really have to offer is the ability to inspire students to learn. It's great if technology can enable teachers to engage today's learners, but it really should just be an enhancement to an already solid teaching strategy.
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