Phase 1 — Getting Sick Of The Traditional Classroom
Post #2.1 — Getting down with the sickness.
There are many aspects of the traditional setting that I became sick of, but I would like to share the catalyst, the big bang, that sparked my evolution.
At the school that I teach, we have parent conferences just before Thanksgiving break. When I was in my “traditional” formative years, there was always one type of parent conference that I dreaded. The conference would be for a student who had no chance of passing my class. I always handled everything the best I knew how, but if I could catch a ride in Marty McFly’s DeLorean, I would go back in time and have handled these conferences better.
LET ME SET THE SCENE
This was early 2000’s and mathematics in New York State had some issues. New York math was switching from an okay curriculum to a worse curriculum. New York also implemented a scale score system that allowed students to “pass” the state exam while only earning 35% of the exam’s points. Also, my small school had just cut our math teachers down from 3 teachers to 2 teachers to cover middle school and high school math classrooms, leaving us with the inability to offer math electives that could be a more appropriate placement for the type of students described above. Unfortunately, these students were placed in the mainstream curriculum and in an environment that was just too much for them.
HOW DID I HANDLE THESE CONFERENCES?
I handled these conferences like a sellout. Don’t get me wrong, I handled them the best I knew how to at the time, but I blame my lack of experience and my narrow-minded traditional mindset for not handling them better. For these students, my gut told me that they did not have a chance at all to be successful in the course. However, their inability to complete their homework, to study, to pass quizzes and tests, provided me with all the excuses I needed to place the blame on them. I would have cliche responses for parents saying “If only they did their homework”, “If only they would have studied”, or “If only they would ask more questions in class.” Upon refection, I slowly realized that these were not valid excuses for the issues these students needed addressed. However, they were excuses I used to unconsciously defend the traditional approach of one pace for all. I sold these students out to a tradition that truly had the issues. Again, I didn’t know better at the time, I did my best. These revelations were the result of constant reflection and a humbling of myself. I was slow to accept the problems that my traditional attitude brought to my classroom. I was a major part of the problem. It was a huge pill to swallow.
LET’S PLAY WOULD HAVE, COULD HAVE, SHOULD HAVE
Time to rev up Marty’s DeLorean and play “would have, could have, should have.” Knowing what I know now, I would have provided these students with a dynamic, self-paced classroom. In doing so, I could have had the time to fill in their gaps of misunderstanding resulting from them constantly being pushed forward in the traditional setting. I should have recommended to the student and their parents that they needed to slow down, and cover what they could handle, even if that meant not covering 100% of the curriculum. The traditional mindset would argue that we need to cover 100% of the curriculum, even if a struggling student only walks away with a 50% understanding of what they covered. I vehemently argue that a struggling student should cover 50% of the curriculum and walk away with a 100% understanding of what they covered. I can’t turn back time to remedy what I did to these students, but I am in full control with how I treat these types of students now.
GETTING DOWN WITH THE SICKNESS
That was the catalyst and it did spark a rude awakening that opened my eyes to other aspects of the traditional classroom at a local and state level that just worsened the “sickness.” I am sure I will address others in future posts, but for now, if you have an unsettling feeling about your classroom, explore it. Whether we like it or not, these feelings need to be addressed. The evolution of our pedagogy depends on it. Unfortunately, this may open your eyes to other issues needing attention, but with every issue that you can remedy, your classroom becomes stronger, better, and evolves. So I encourage you to get down with your sickness.
