The snow brought a little too much joy at 6:30 Monday morning. Because I have no television to find out if school was actually canceled, I wasn't certain about my approach to the day. I woke and blindly trotted my way to the shower, just as I always do, and as I was running a brush through my hair, post lathering, I received a text from an old friend and fellow teacher, who might I add, also experienced far too much excitement over the snow day; the first in many years that NYC canceled school city wide. Both she and I have been on similar paths over the past three years, educating ourselves on education through our own particular programs-she a fellow, me returning to finally get certified through the state.
I've asked myself this before, but today I realized I had to reconnect with the question "What is teaching?" I don't feel that I'm teaching very much at my current school, though where I've taught before, I felt that I most certainly did. Right now I feel more like a very expensive babysitter, who every once in a while has a moment where a squitch of teaching comes through.
My first attempt at teaching this morning was defeated by three students in my sixth grade CTT class-collaborative team teaching for those of you not in the know. This is a combined class of special ed and regular students who have two teachers in the room with them at all times, making sure that all forms of learning are being addressed. I was unable to even talk, let alone conduct a discussion about the new topic we're covering. Of the three that were making the most noise, one is a new gang member and has gotten increasingly more disrespectful as the year rolls on. I have tried in vain to teach this kid, but he won't allow it. So be it. I've let it go. Or have I? I try all the time, but this morning, he had to be booted from the room. He and his cronies wouldn't stop disrupting the class, so I kicked them out. They kept at it for a while before I broke. I know I'm not supposed to do this, but my school has left me no choice. Many teachers at my school do the same, as administration doesn't seem to enforce consequences; the kids just laugh at you when you try and implement some form of repercussion. Well, not all of them, just the knuckleheads. If there were some form of consistent consequential action regarding behavior, maybe those few remaining kids in the class would be taught, maybe they would learn something.
So, what is teaching? The dictionary definition of teaching is to impart knowledge of or skill in; give instruction in. Synonyms range from to coach, inform, enlighten, indoctrinate, tutor, train, to edify, illustrate and imbue. It's already known to me that the some of the skills I'm giving them are merely how to be better people in an area that is suffering devastating poverty, virulent crime and unimaginable depression.
Where does the "real" teaching come in? Where's the juicy stuff, that's full of fact, speculation and concepts in art where decisions are made in the absence of rule? If there's a way to integrate the two, then I would be able to hit a home run. However, I'm still trying to figure that out what that magic formula is. For years, I've known that personalization is what gets to the root of learning in this environment, and that knowing your student's interests will provide an enormous amount of learning potential. Yet, even when I'm showing the sixth graders interviews of prominent African Americans, like Chris Rock, Sean Combs, Keenan Ivory Wayans, etc, of the Black List, you'd think, that for one moment, they'd stop and express a modicum of interest...One student did. She's consistently interested. Maybe I'm teaching just her. As a teacher you always hear people say "If you can reach one student a day, you're doing your job". Really? One? Screw that. I don't believe it.
On that note, I'm going to stop. I've been up since 5am and need to rest before I try again tomorrow. More later. Ciao.
No comments:
Post a Comment