The Grade Nines and I jump in with both feet
I find my current Grade 9 class inspiring. I enjoy watching them work. I enjoy the energy in the class. I enjoy our three class times each week, and I look forward to them.
A question in our Senior Staff meeting today: "Is anybody else having problems with the Grade Nines and talking?"
"Yes"
"Sure are"
"They just won't stop"
These were some of the responses. I kept my thoughts to myself, because my responses may have seemed self-aggrandizing. I am not having any issues with my Grade Nines. At least, not to the point where it's frustrating me. I expect a little bit of chatter from fourteen year olds, especially ones who seem to get along so well. I guess I forgive a certain amount. So, I sat there, a little bit pleased with myself that I have created the right atmosphere in my Grade Nine class. An atmosphere in which students are respectful of each other, and of me, and what I have to say to them. An atmosphere which apparently is not present in the classrooms of some other teachers in our school.
Anyhow, what do I really want to say about today? We have just finished three and a half classes of "hot-seating", an exercise in which students have created a character, and get interviewed by the class. One by one, they enter the theatre in character, take a seat in the "hot seat" and offer off-the-cuff answers to questions that they haven't really had a chance to think about yet. The interviews last anywhere from 4 to 10 minutes. Usually by the third class of this routine, the students are antsy, anxious, wanting to move. But this class, in typical form, took the exercise in stride, and remained incredibly patient the entire time. As we finished today, about halfway through the period, they asked, almost in unison: "Can you do one Mr. Hedivan?" Now, normally, having not prepared, I would waive them off, tell them we have to move on, and then just move on. But something else clicked in me today. And before I knew what I was doing, I had agreed to create a character on-the-spot, and undergo the "hot seat".
I'm not sure how great the character ended up being, or how creative it seemed, or anything like that -but I'll tell you honestly, it was totally worth it just to realize what it did for our class dynamic (ah, there's that word again!) It was just another one of those moments where I knew that those students were on my side. And it probably helped in keeping them on my side for at least the next long while.
So, thanks again Grade Nines, for reminding me of many of the things that I love about my job.
A question in our Senior Staff meeting today: "Is anybody else having problems with the Grade Nines and talking?"
"Yes"
"Sure are"
"They just won't stop"
These were some of the responses. I kept my thoughts to myself, because my responses may have seemed self-aggrandizing. I am not having any issues with my Grade Nines. At least, not to the point where it's frustrating me. I expect a little bit of chatter from fourteen year olds, especially ones who seem to get along so well. I guess I forgive a certain amount. So, I sat there, a little bit pleased with myself that I have created the right atmosphere in my Grade Nine class. An atmosphere in which students are respectful of each other, and of me, and what I have to say to them. An atmosphere which apparently is not present in the classrooms of some other teachers in our school.
Anyhow, what do I really want to say about today? We have just finished three and a half classes of "hot-seating", an exercise in which students have created a character, and get interviewed by the class. One by one, they enter the theatre in character, take a seat in the "hot seat" and offer off-the-cuff answers to questions that they haven't really had a chance to think about yet. The interviews last anywhere from 4 to 10 minutes. Usually by the third class of this routine, the students are antsy, anxious, wanting to move. But this class, in typical form, took the exercise in stride, and remained incredibly patient the entire time. As we finished today, about halfway through the period, they asked, almost in unison: "Can you do one Mr. Hedivan?" Now, normally, having not prepared, I would waive them off, tell them we have to move on, and then just move on. But something else clicked in me today. And before I knew what I was doing, I had agreed to create a character on-the-spot, and undergo the "hot seat".
I'm not sure how great the character ended up being, or how creative it seemed, or anything like that -but I'll tell you honestly, it was totally worth it just to realize what it did for our class dynamic (ah, there's that word again!) It was just another one of those moments where I knew that those students were on my side. And it probably helped in keeping them on my side for at least the next long while.
So, thanks again Grade Nines, for reminding me of many of the things that I love about my job.
posted by Hedivan at 10:45 PM
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