This week at Burrilville High School I began to notice with a greater awareness the differences between different classes of the same grade level and the need for the teacher to not only modify her lessons, instructions, and assessments but also the tone used with students. Ms. Ricci teaches three tenth grade classes(two of which my partner and I have regularly observed). Although both classes contain groups of great students, one class is way more focused and on task while the other class needs extra guidance and support. Comparing the manner in which Ms. Ricci handles these two very different classes opened my eyes to the need to take on a changing and accomodating role as a teacher.
Ms. Ricci would begin one of her tenth grade classes, who needs little support, with signing up for crucible roles and then jumping into the reading. This class will have a culminating test at the end of the unit once the reading has been completed. She makes comments to lead a class discussion that typically flow very smoothly and stay on task. While opening class for the other tenth graders she would remind them that after each act they will be given a quiz and that it is very important to take notes. She wrote up on the board what to title their notes and what section of their notebook to turn to. Additionally, when Ms. Ricci stopped to make comments and ask questions she would tell students exactly what to write in their notes and make sure that the brief portion of reading was comprehended, at least on a literal level. Many interuptions occured such as comments pertaining to, "What page are we on again?" or the teachers need to ask students to put their cell phones away. Her tone was more stern and more serious than it had been with the previous class.
It is through these observations on how the teacher handles two completely different groups of students who are covering the same content that I began to realize teachers must constantly be able to change up their plans of assessment(culminating test versus regular quizzes), method of delivery, and overall persona, depending on the aura and audience of each particualr class. This type of adaptative ability reminded me of that of a chamelian, always able to change colors that are suitable towards the situation going on around them. Thier ability to camoflauge into the colors of their environment to avoid predators is somewhat similar to a good teacher's ability to change up his/her "colors", so to say, in order to remain effective in each given environment. As I realize the extreme importance of adapting to your students I will be able to become more prepared in developing methods to deal with such variation and to recognize that I may have more than one teacher identity based on the situations I am faced with and the students I am responsible for.
Rachel, I think your observations of adaptability are so important. Despite the similarities of students or overlapping of content, each class has its own personality. As you noticed, these different personalities affect long term planning.
ReplyDeleteStill, this long term adaptability is less scary to me than those split second adaptations that teachers must make. In the moment, if a lesson is not going as planned - eyes are rolling to the backs of heads, the smell of fire is in the room from overworked brains, or if during a discussion it's so quiet that a pin drop might sound like thunder - how do I change my chameleon colors? There's no prest-o, change-o, no troubleshooting manual, or chameleon 911. I am confident that with more practice I'll be better on the fly, but right now, it makes me a little nervous.
Oh my goodness- Rachel, we're on the same page. I was actually thinking about writing about the same thing, except comparing to a contortionist. You've got to be flexible, got to fit the role you need to fill. I love it!
ReplyDeleteChameleons or contortionists...wow! Teachers do take a lot of roles.
ReplyDeleteRachel, I'm glad you are perceiving that each class has a different personality, and that, as you say, everything from delivery to assessment to personality can be shifted to accommodate those changes. One thing you will also see is that a single class can change from day to day, depending on weather, who is there and who is absent, what's going on in the school, the content, etc. In other words, a teacher can only control what happens inside her classroom,and even then, that control is limited by outside factors.