The word was published on my blackboard with definition, part of speech, and a sample sentence. To connect to what I was telling them last week about why I want them to be on a weekly word quest, rather than to simply rely on my random words to improve their vocabulary, I repeated the thinking point I introduced to them Friday. "Use what you already know to help you learn new stuff." To educators, that's simply encouraging students to use their own schema. I obviously don't talk in teacherspeak to my students but I am trying to reinforce the notion in their heads that they are not blank slates. They come to me already knowing a great deal more than I expect, but often have gaps in their knowledge where I would assume they have none.
So with gravitas, to help them wrap their minds around the word, I asked students to look at the word and seek a Halloween-appropriate word that they see in the word. Immediately kids were calling out "GRAVE!" and not without some level of ghoulish delight. I pushed further. "What do you think when you think about the word "grave?" More ghoulish replies "Death!" "Dead people!" Then I asked: "How many of you think of funeral when you think of grave?" Still a large portion of the class were raising their hands but the solemnity I knew I would engender crept across some students' faces. "Most funerals are sad and the people there are serious, right? There has to be an equally serious behavior shown by everyone at a funeral, right? Thumbs up if you're with me." Sad eyes made eye contact with me and thumbs slowly went up, barely chin high. I had hit a nerve. "Would it surprise you that if we attempted the etymology of grave and gravitas, we would find the same origin?" Many nodded indicating that would not surprise them. "It means heavy--- so, when we visit a grave we come with a heavy heart."
I am constantly checking for understanding on a base level. Just beause I shared it with them, doesn't mean they "got it." They don't have to get it on the first time through. How many of us learned how to make our bluetooth connections talk to each other on the first try without reminders, refreshers or having someone more tech savvy than us show us all over again a few times? Why do some teachers expect that just because they concocted a brilliant lesson full of bells and whistles, that kids will learn the first try through when even they don't?
I remember boldly stating my teaching philosophy to my future employer, "You can't teach them if you don't love them." That was Spring 1994. I was aware that I might be misinterpreted but I meant what I said and I couldn't put it any more directly or simply. Students know when you are just punching a timeclock and you're in it for the paycheck only. They know when they are being tolerated because you only have a couple more years to hang in there before you retire. I still believe that crazy statement nearly 20 years later.
It is the reason I subject myself to pop music, hip-hop, and rock. I need to know what music is in their heads and what messages are rolling around in there. It is the reason I spend the first two weeks of each school year working on "getting to know you" activities. To establish the message with my students--- "You matter to me." My classroom and my enjoyment of my profession are fashioned by my thoughts.
Thought one - there is no such thing as a "bad" kid, although many kids have a tendency to make a slew of lousy decisions. Thought two - if you want to reach that kid, you have to figure out why those decisions are the choice that kid finds most attractive. Thought three - when you can't reach the kid, it is more of reflection of either your failure to connect or their inability to connect because of issues outside of your classroom than it is a reflection of their quality as a person. These thoughts establish a belief system as an educator, these belief systems bolster ideals that are the foundation of a philosophy. You know mine.
At UPENN, the Graduate School of Education had a philosophy: "Each one teach one." I flipped it. "Each one lose one." To be honest, I'm still not satisfied with losing one, and when I do, that climate of my own making is angst. I just have to hope that someone else was able to help those students that would not connect with me. Defeat is a tough pill to swallow when you care about them all.
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