I came pretty close this week to not writing a blog post because everything has been so hectic at school. The kids were crazy coming off of the 3 day Halloween weekend, and it was a struggle to get much of anything done this week. Any 3 day weekend is tough, but when you throw in copious amounts of candy it just seems impossible to get through content.
At least I wasn't alone in my struggles this week. Everyone at school was feeling the same thing that I was: disengaged kids, disruptive behaviors, disrespect, and a lack of learning. The teacher next door to me blamed it (at least partially) on the full moon. She said her farm animals are always crazy when the full moon is approaching. If she can't corral her goats and horses during a full moon, what hope is there for teaching middle school students algebra?
A funny thing happened this week, and I think it was a huge learning moment for me as a middle school teacher. In my class, just like in every single other class, the rule is that you don't talk when someone else is talking. It seems like it is the most simple rule, but you would be surprised at the number of times students need to be reminded of it. I was giving directions to my science students on a simple project we were going to do, and they needed to get out a piece of paper to write some things down. While I was giving instruction, a group of boys in the middle of the room (the usual suspects) were talking. I asked them several times to not talk while I was talking.
After I was finished giving instructions, I went over to the group to have a conversation about their behavior. I asked them if they are supposed to talk while I am in the front of the room giving directions. It went something like this:
"But I was just asking for a piece of paper!"
"But you were talking, right?"
"Yeah, but I was just asking for a piece of paper to write down the directions!"
"But you aren't supposed to talk when other people are talking. When I am giving directions, nobody should talk."
"But how am I supposed to write down the directions without a piece of paper?"
"You could wait until I am done giving directions, or you could raise your hand and ask me for some paper."
"Ohhhh!! I should wait until after you are done talking until I ask for paper."
I could almost see the lightbulb turning on above his head. It was as if this particular kid had never thought that he could wait until I was done talking to ask his question. As soon as he had a thought, he would just blurt it out. It seemed like a completely novel idea that he could wait, hold his thought, and say something when I had finished.
I think that teaching the why behind the rule is so much more important than teaching the what. I explained to the kid that if he talks while I am talking, he will miss some instructions. Not only that, his talking might cause somebody else to miss some instruction, too. He seemed receptive to this conversation, and I think he got the idea that his talking can cause problems for other people, too.
This particular kid will still have trouble talking out of turn, it's pretty much part of his personality. I'm not going to fool myself by thinking that this one conversation will fix all his behavior problems. I'm also not going to fool myself and think that explaining why we have rules will work for every kid. Another kid at the same table group continued to argue with me about the rule, even after I had this mini breakthrough with the other kid.
I know that I am going to have to reinforce the rule over and over again, but I will try to keep this little incident in mind. Most kids will behave if they understand how they are expected to behave and why they are expected to behave that way.
Teaching middle school is about so much more than teaching content. I'm trying to make these fragile, distracted, immature, wonderful little people into productive members of society. Sometimes you just need to explain the (seemingly) obvious.
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