Читать книгу Teach Like a PIRATE - Dave Burgess - Страница 11
ОглавлениеThe quote above from Sun Tzu’s The Art of War is one of the greatest behavior management quotes in history. Ultimately, we don’t want to develop techniques to win behavior management battles, we want to develop techniques that allow us to avoid the battles altogether.
I know for a fact I have many students who are a living nightmare for the other teachers on their schedule, but present me with very little difficulty. How is this possible? It certainly isn’t that I am more knowledgeable in my subject matter. It rarely has to do with me having a higher level of compassion or being more caring than my colleagues. Nor do I believe those students’ inconsistent behavior has anything to do with me having greater skill in behavior management.
So what compels these “trouble makers” to behave in my class? First and foremost, I believe it’s because they are engaged. It is my opinion and experience that an engaged student is rarely a behavior problem. Misbehavior usually indicates boredom, overwhelm, or lack of connection to the material being covered. The entire second half of this book offers an in-depth study on transforming your lessons into highly engaging presentations that draw in and hold your students’ interest like a magnet. But engagement is only one piece of the behavior puzzle. Equally important to your success in avoiding battles with students is your ability to develop deep levels of rapport.
You can’t effectively develop engaging presentations unless you spend the necessary time and effort to find out what they already find engaging. Many of the strategies I will describe later are universal in nature and designed to work for all audiences. They play off of basic human nature and can be safely and effectively used across the board. However, one of the big secrets and shortcuts to engagement is to spend less time trying to get students interested in what you are presenting and more time making connections between what you are presenting and what they are already interested in.
I start building rapport on the very first day of school with my Play-Doh lesson. I continue to try to learn as much as I can about my students as the year goes on. What are their hobbies? What sports do they play? What types of music do they listen to? What movies do they like? Which TV shows do they love to watch? If you’re paying attention to what excites them, you can connect with them almost instantly. Some of my killer hooks for lessons have come directly from picking up on conversations I overhear between students.
You can also ask students to try to find connections between your content and pop culture. Many times, students bring to my attention the relationship a currently popular song or movie has to what we are studying. You should do everything you can to encourage your students to draw these types of connections.
Similarly, try reading the paper and watching the news with your class in mind. Develop the habit of combing current events from the perspective of searching for hooks and connections to your material. You will be astonished at the gold mine that surrounds you. This habit offers the added benefit of consistently keeping your lessons fresh and more interesting for you, as well.
An additional key to developing rapport is spending informal time with your students. Use the minutes between classes, before and after school, and occasionally at lunch and break to connect with them. For example, several clubs use my room at lunchtime. I believe being available to kids says a lot to them about whether or not you are interested in them beyond your particular class. Try to interact with them during passing periods and stop and chat or say “hi” as you pass on campus during the day. As often as you can, attend extra-curricular activities your students are involved in. Building rapport is all about interacting with your students as fellow human beings, not just as subordinates. Kids can tell the difference between teachers who only seem to care about them when they are sitting in the classroom, and those who see past the “student” to the unique person who resides inside.
Rapport is also incredibly important because it helps create buy-in. When I discuss some of the things my students do, I know many teachers think to themselves, “There’s no way my kids would do that.” They might be right! My kids probably wouldn’t do it on the first day of school. They don’t know or trust me yet. But by working to create a safe and supportive environment where students feel valued, I earn their trust. You can, too.
I actively encourage teachers to develop a classroom climate where students feel like doing the outrageous; where the out of the ordinary and sometimes silly are the norm. How do I foster this environment? First, I model the behavior I want from my student. I am perfectly comfortable in my own skin and am willing to “let my hair down” in the classroom. An uptight and stiff teacher leads to an uptight and stiff class. Get playful! Allow for friendly banter. Put a premium on making your class fun and entertaining right from the start.
I have spent quite a bit of time thinking about and designing my first three days of school. You probably have your routine, and that’s fine. My goal in describing my first three days isn’t to get you to implement them instead of what you already do. I’m more concerned with demonstrating the thinking behind what I do so you can evaluate which if any of these ideas will work for you. As with the rest of this book, this is not an all or nothing situation; you may want to incorporate only a few of these ideas into what you already do. On the other hand, maybe you’ll decide you want to completely revamp your opening days. Either way, I hope these thoughts are helpful.
Nothing is more important to me than creating the proper atmosphere right from the start. No content standard matters to me until I have established the safe, supportive, and positive classroom environment I need to successfully teach my students. Any time I spend on the front end of the year to establish this environment is not time wasted. In fact, I know it will pay dividends a hundred times over before the end of the year.
DAY ONE
The first thing students see when they approach my door is a sign like you might see outside of a theme park ride, a haunted house, or some extreme sport activity. On it is my name and room number and the words:
“YOU’VE HEARD THE STORIES… ARE YOU READY FOR THE EXPERIENCE?!!”
Before my new students even enter my room, they are hit with a rather unusual and intriguing message that plays off the fact that many legendary, often exaggerated, stories circulate around the campus community about what happens in my room. Even if a student has never heard one of these stories, the sign’s message creates an interesting sense of anticipation. They immediately wonder, What in the world is this class all about?
As they enter the room, the first thing students notice is the positive, upbeat energy created by the music playing. I always use music during my passing periods to create an immediate break from the hustle, bustle, and drama of the hallways. It is an audible reminder that they are entering a different world…my world.
Next, their eyes will focus on the desks. Every desk has a paper plate with a can of Play-Doh on it. Across the board, written in giant letters, are the words, “Do NOT Open the Play-Doh!” Already, I am trying to break their pre-conceived notions about what to expect in a typical classroom. My goal is to stand out, to be different from their other classes. High school kids are not used to playing with Play-Doh, and it is certainly a pattern interrupt that breaks the monotony of the typical first day spent reading the class syllabus and reciting classroom rules and procedures. In my opinion, it is far more important to create a unique experience for them on the first day than it is to be sure they know how many bathroom passes they will have each semester and when it is OK to use the pencil sharpener!
I take care of all necessary first day administrative tasks such as taking attendance and checking their schedules to be sure they are in the right place before I “officially” greet them. Once I start, I don’t want there to be any transitions that will slow me down and impede the flow of the lesson. Eliminating and smoothing out transitions is a key element to maintaining engagement and one I will discuss further in the section on hooks.
With the boring stuff out of the way, I proceed to give them what I refer to as “Good Morning Training.” This is extremely tough to describe in writing and really must be experienced to fully understand. Basically, I stand behind my rolling table in the front of the room and draw all attention to myself as I go through a bizarre process of squaring up the papers in front of me, adjusting the angle of the table, and awkwardly straightening myself up to address the class. If done correctly, there should be a combination of a few giggles and many wondering what the heck is going on. I then look up and say, “Good Morning” in a loud, firm voice. I wait in silence until I hear a smattering of good mornings and then storm through the class ranting that their response is totally unacceptable and will not be tolerated. “Not one single time will I accept that from you! When I say ‘good morning’ to you, you say ‘good morning’ to me. Not only that, but however I say good morning to you is how you say good morning to me! If I say ‘Good Morning!’ (said with strange accent)…you say ‘Good Morning!’ (said with exact same accent). Let’s try this again, this is your first test of the year and yes…I am grading!” I then return to the front, face the class, and whisper my greeting. They should respond in kind and then I say, “Welcome to class, thank you for coming. I’m Dave Burgess and I’ll be your host on this Learning Extravaganza!!”
At this point, I am off and running. Looking out at my class, I see students looking like they have been hit by a hurricane of energy and a burst of fire. Under their breath students say things like:
“This is going to be awesome.”
“My friend said that this guy is crazy.”
“This guy is totally on drugs.”
What you don’t hear is students saying, “This looks like it is going to be a boring class.” I want them to immediately realize they have entered a space unlike any other they have ever experienced.
Next, I give them a handout titled:
WELCOME TO THE WORLD FAMOUS LEARNING EXTRAVAGANZA!
HOSTED BY: DAVE BURGESS
NOW PLAYING IN SS-9
Notice the positioning that is used in that title. It doesn’t say “U.S. History/Geo 1C.” It says “World Famous Learning Extravaganza.” It is “hosted” by me, not taught. And it is “playing in SS-9” as if they have entered a show.
It is as close to a set of rules and procedures as I will ever give them. I fly through it in a humorous fashion, but really zero in on one item. I let them know this class will be completely different than anything they have ever attended. To succeed they must suspend their pre-conceived notions about what is allowed in a classroom and get into the spirit of helping to create an outrageously fun and entertaining experience. I openly tell them I believe this will be their favorite class of all time and one that they will remember forever… but that it only works if we agree to follow one rule:
THIS IS A NO-MEANNESS ZONE!!
I let them know I will tolerate unbelievable levels of banter, playfulness, and seemingly outrageous behavior for a classroom, but I will never tolerate meanness. All of the fun will come grinding to a stop if somebody is being mean to another student or doing something that hurts another’s feelings. You just can’t teach with my style of openness without emphasizing this rule. It is critical for creating the safe and supportive kind of environment in which creativity, learning, and fun can coexist and flourish. As part of this rule, I also tell them they should feel free to let me know if I am making them feel uncomfortable by drawing unwanted attention to them through my banter and teasing. I want my students to feel perfectly at ease approaching me about any issue that is occurring in class. Creating a place of safety is a prerequisite for the successful implementation of my teaching style.
Once everyone knows the rules, I tell students to take the next ten minutes to create something with their dough that is in some way representative of themselves. They can have complete creative license to make anything they want as long as it is classroom appropriate. I explain that I will show the class their creation, ask a question or two about it, and have them tell us their name. They will not have to come to the front of the room and the whole process will take thirty seconds or less. That simple explanation of what to expect helps lower the stress some students feel about speaking in the front of the class.
When they begin to work on their artistic creation, I get a chance to do something important but rare on the first day of school. I get to walk around and informally interact with my students. I help them brainstorm ideas for what to create if they are stuck (again lowering stress levels), and I get a chance to begin to learn about my students by asking them questions about their creations. This information can later be used to help to create hooks for my material that are highly effective because they incorporate subjects in which they are already involved and engaged.
When the time is up, I make my way quickly up and down the rows talking to each student and having them introduce themselves. As I ask questions about what they created, I keep it quick, lighthearted, and filled with humorous banter. I “rescue” any student who is struggling to find something to say so that everyone leaves class feeling like they have been successful.
Throughout the class period I make a major point of going back over the names multiple times. In fact, I offer a prize to any student who can tell me the name of every student in class at the end of the activity. I will allow them to do this at any point during my first week of school. I believe it is critical for students to at least know each other’s names if we are trying to build an environment with a high level of rapport.
At the end of the class period, I thank the students for coming and then say something along the lines of, “You don’t want to miss tomorrow. Something wild and crazy is going to happen at the beginning of class. You can either be here and see it, or just have to hear stories about it when you come back.” You better believe that makes them curious enough to want to come to class the next day.
I want to pause and make a comment here about building rapport—with the students, and among the students. Several years ago, I learned the hard way that many students do not even know who is sitting in class with them. I asked three students to help me pass back papers during the last few minutes of a class period. When the bell rang they each brought me back a stack of papers. I was horrified to discover they did not return the papers, not because they ran out of time, but because they did not know who the people were. Now understand, this was about halfway through the school year. Here I was, traveling around the country speaking to audiences about subjects such as building rapport, and I had students who didn’t even know the name of the kid sitting behind them. Since that moment, I have it made it a point to emphasize names as part of what I do during the first three days. Making it into a contest helps get some buy-in.
DAY TWO
Day two begins with my opening ritual that was a part of their “Good Morning Training” from the first day. I then turn off the lights, return to the front of the room, and transform myself into an airplane. I fly full-speed around the room twice with my arms outstretched and jet motor fully audible. As I am returning to the front to finish the second lap, I apparently trip, fling myself onto the floor, and roll a couple of times. As I straighten up to my knees, I act as if I am taking in breaths and dog-paddling in water. I alternate between putting my head down under the water with gurgling noises and then catching some breaths at the surface. I motion wildly and shout that I see a life raft…and then I “swim” on the floor towards it. I pull the cord, make the noise of it inflating, and then climb in. I start pulling imaginary people into the raft, struggling with each of them until I count and have ten survivors.
I then (careful with this one!) pass out for an awkwardly long period of time. Trust me on this, on the second day of school with a teacher passed out on the floor after crashing in a plane and swimming on the carpet, an awkwardly long period of time is very short! I come to, pretend to see land, and then hand paddle to it. I pull the raft up onto the beach and discover a deserted island.
After some by-play, I make helicopter sounds, wave it down, and then simulate the wind of its landing. I become the copter pilot stepping out and tell the survivors that I have never seen this island on any map, I was blown off course and am unsure that I will be able to locate it again. My copter can only accommodate five passengers, so five will come back to safety and five will have to survive on the island. It is up to the class to decide who will be saved and who will be left behind. They are to form collaborative groups of three or four students each and come to a consensus.
I provide them with a list of the ten characters who have survived the crash. Each of these characters is designed to cause a debate as to whether they should stay or go. For example, one is a botanist who is also the single mom of two young children. Some will want to keep her on the island for her knowledge of plants and others will want to return her to her children. Another example is a convicted murderer who is on parole. Some students won’t want to give him one of the five seats home. Other students may not want to leave four people on the island with him. The whole idea is to create characters that will spark a debate and differences in opinion.
This exercise accomplishes two main goals. First, they are once again socked in the stomach with an outrageous and outside-the-box intro to the period that is not only bizarre, but highly entertaining. Secondly, I get the chance to discuss group dynamics, the collaborative process, and the procedures we use to get into groups, all in the context of a fun, engaging activity that does not have any particular right or wrong answers. The answer to who is rescued and who stays on the island doesn’t matter; it is the process that is important. I emphasize that they must not only come to a consensus, but they must be able to justify their answers.
As the groups collaborate, I circulate through the room and monitor the process. I reinforce proper dynamics, the no-meanness rule, and encourage full participation. Once finished, each group reports their answers and responds to any questions I might have about their choices. It is always interesting to see how different the answers can be and how the justifications vary from group to group and from period to period. I track the responses on a chart on the board.
After two days, every student has introduced themselves to the whole class and has participated in a collaborative group. In addition, they have yet to see anything resembling an ordinary class experience. They leave wondering what in the world is going to happen next. I’ll tell you what is going to happen next, just the single most important day of the school year…Day Three!
DAY THREE
If I were to rank all of my one hundred eighty class days in order of importance, I would probably rank day three as the single most critical of the year. This is the day I explain the method to my madness and break down all possibilities of students falling into a self-fulfilling prophecy of failure. I teach many students who have struggled in school and failed many times before they arrive at my door. I know many of them are asking an unspoken question that is absolutely critical for me to be able to answer. I visualize them sitting in front of me and asking this silent question: “Why will I be successful in your class if I’ve never been successful before?” Until, and unless, I can answer that question, I don’t believe I can effectively start my year.
Day three consists of a massive, high-energy, frenetic sales pitch designed to convince my students that my class is completely different from anything they have ever experienced in school. Most importantly, I work to sell them on the fact that they can, and absolutely will, be successful. Far too many of our students have been beaten up by school. They have been told they don’t measure up. They have been made to believe their unique gifts and talents are not valued by the educational system because they are not reflected in test scores. They don’t believe that school respects and honors their individuality but instead uses it against them as a tool to force conformity.
Every student in your class in those first few days of the semester is evaluating whether or not your room is an emotionally and psychologically safe environment. They’re wondering if it is worth their time and effort to give school a real shot. After all, it’s easier to not give your best and then blame failure on a lack of effort, than to be forced to realize you really don’t have what it takes. At least you can save face with your peers when you fail if you don’t try in the first place.
None of this is ever verbally expressed. However, if you teach the same clientele I do, you know this is what some of them are thinking. It is our job as teachers to address the unspoken thoughts rattling around in the minds of our students. The earlier we do it, the better.
My goal is to completely smash any idea my students might have about my class being more of the same for them. I will pull out all the stops to convince them it doesn’t matter if they have failed before because my class is absolutely and completely different. My class has been specially designed for them to be successful. It is based on the latest brain research and incorporates incredible mnemonics designed to help them easily learn and retain more content in less time. I explain to them how the brain works and how a positive learning environment is critical for higher-order thinking to take place.
I talk to them about learning styles. I spend a great deal of time discussing Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences. I give them compelling examples of how school systems have consistently neglected and undervalued many of these types of intelligences because they are not on “the test.” I show how special gifts and talents, like artistic and musical creativity, should be equally valued in school. I talk to the athletes and dancers about kinesthetic intelligence. I give examples of how people with interpersonal intelligence might find themselves in trouble in school but have incredible opportunities for success in the “real world.”
