Yesterday, I completed my first subbing gig in South Carolina. I worked in a middle school (MS) containing 6th, 7th and 8th graders.
Now, I am not here to denigrate this or any other school. I am also not going to put on my haughty CT education hat. What I would like to do is to discuss some observations from the time spent with this group, a group I have not “taught” in awhile, and compare them to the high schoolers (HS) I taught for many years.
“The little seed becomes the mighty oak.”
Let’s hit the lounge.
Lock Step
During passing time, the students needed to walk on the edges of the hall noted by shaded tiles. I found this a brilliant idea as the students going one way were not interfering with the traffic going the other way. It also allowed the teachers to supervise from the middle of the hall, and made passing expeditious.
The students seemed receptive to the process, although the enforcement of it was somewhat Draconian.
Navigating the halls is one of my biggest pet peeves. Pockets or lingerers and malingerers would often bring movement to a standstill. The high school where I taught had already increased passing time to 5 minutes, and still it seemed insufficient. Maybe, these shaded areas or airport people movers would serve.
Energy Transferred
Once the students were in the classroom, although a bit younger, they exhibited many of the same behaviors as my former students. My first addendum is that I saw these students by grade. The 8th graders first, 7th, then 6th. The second major point is that their schedule was split into 50-minute periods instead of the 88-minute block during my last two years.
Needless to say, the control they showed in the hallways did not translate to the classroom. I’ll admit that the assignment was not necessarily engaging, but there was ample time to complete it. The 8th graders were more focused than 7th, and so on. I will give the 7th graders a pass. Stay tuned.
The tragic part is that most of their energy was spent on everything but learning. Cheering routines, Youtube videos, grab assing and an endless carousel of bathroom trips.
I have subbed many times, and I know student mindsets switch to game mode as soon as they see one, but there was no pressure with this assignment, no imperious scolding from me.
The students needed to see value in what they were doing, respect the absent teacher’s wishes, focus, and work. They could socialize, work together, ask me questions, and check each others answers.
Some of the students worked diligently–that is the truth. Some worked a little, but it is the ones that did not even work at all that are the most troublesome. When I waste 5 minutes of my time, I feel frustrated, but these students were willing to fritter away 50 minutes to accomplish little.
This does not change. Given time to work, most students will do anything but. Everything is more important than a task given by an embodiment of a system that seems broken. A task that with no intrinsic value.
Distraction
The MS does not allow cell phones in the classroom, and the students must put them into a rack upon entering. This is a rule that I hoped would remain consistent at HS. It did not. The students also had functional Chrome Books, a learning tool, unlike the I-pad, fit more for gaming.
These students had the ability and tools to focus, but they just could not. Then, the lights went out, literally. The school lost power turning the hallways to darkened paths of liability. No communication for some time, then we evacuated the building.
I took attendance outside, and then my class dispersed to find engaging outside activities like football games, four square, and gossip. After a bit, we were instructed to go back to our classrooms and wait for further instructions.
This secure in place lasted close to an hour. Picture a first-time sub, albeit an experienced teacher, holding the attention of agitated 7th graders for an hour while their imaginations ran wild. I am pretty sure the metal detector at the front door aided in their unrest.
The power had gone out, and they could not let anyone through the halls until all the systems were functional. That was it, but these students had already determined that it was much more dire than that.
“A rumor can travel the world before the truth crosses the street.”
Double Distraction
By the time the school returned to some semblance of normalcy, one period was absorbed and the students were directed to their last period class. This slight change to routiine generated unrest for some, chaos for others. Is school so routinized and rigid that any change is catastrophic? No wonder the kids are not engaged.
Scenario: 22 6th graders with a sub, off schedule, after lunch, right before dismissal with an extra 15 minutes in the same room. Yup. Like herding long-tailed cats in a rocking chair factory. Energy high. Learning minimal.
Hope
Although I had just met these students, most of them were respectful, and most, when encouraged, tried to accomplish their work. We, as educators, must revisit schedules, curriculum and the changing world in which these students live to better serve them, or we are just beating our heads against a digital wall.
Students are adrift. They are anxious, disillusioned, and frankly, scared. Their learning is not jiving with the other aspects of their world, no matter how much we gamify learning. They lack focus, and their natural inclination is not to dig in, but to avoid. Maybe, we should have tutorials in the bathrooms.
P’s. Point of Pellucidity
I am moving off usage today, and I will explain a term of rhetoric. Rhetoric is the art of effective persuasion in writing or speech. I never took a class in rhetoric, but I have learned on the fly.
You do not have to know the terms to use them, but I will share it with you anyway.
DIACOPE
Diacope is the repetition of a phrase with a few intervening words in between. It is used to reiterate and add power to the most important phrase, and also provide juxtaposition for deeper meaning.
Example: To Be or Not To Be (Hamlet questioning his existence). In this example, the word Not is emphasizing the choice, the conundrum and his pessimistic attitude.
Pop Culture Example: Soul Asylum from Black Gold, “Nothing attracts a crowd like a crowd.” There is truth in this statement, made more compelling by the effective use of diacope.
Until next time.
Love, laughter and learning.
P.