- Aug 16, 2011
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Last evening, night school ended on a positive note.
Attendance is pretty hit or miss at night school. Out of five classes, only three are consistently full. The first of these is comprised of good, hard-working kids, but it is slow going. Some of these kids work more than full-time. Some are caring for children of their own. However, they show up and they try. I can respect that.
The third block of the evening is the best group. The enthusiasm and initiative they bring is amazing. Every group of people in any setting will have their own dynamic based on, among other things, the personalities of the individuals involved. This particular group really works well together. After I explain the objectives of the day's lesson and teach the mechanics of whatever language skill we are working on, I distribute exercises and/or activities to reinforce and assess. With this particular group, as soon as they have a given exercise, without prompting they form into groups and start working through the problems with enthusiasm and good humor. In most of my day classes, students will work on an exercise, then when all or almost all have completed it, we go over the answers as a class and I explain any errors or points in question. With this particular group, they work together until they have all agreed upon the answer to a given question then send an "envoy" up to my desk to see if they are correct or not. The representative will speed walk up to me and jab the paper out at me with two hands and straight arms, eyes wide in anticipation. If correct, there is much rejoicing as the student jogs back to the group for fist-bumping and pats on the back. If incorrect, there is overly dramatic agony as if missing an open-goal in a soccer match, followed by laughter and a return to the group to try again. Usually, a given group will huddle around a desk and work on a problem like surgeons planning how to work on a patient. The work I gave them yesterday evening was a step up in difficulty because I could see they were ready for a greater challenge. As a result, the groups struggled to find the right answer to several questions. Normally I would take this as a sign to stop and reinforce the lecture aspect of class wherein I explicitly addressed the details of the target language function, but they were not having it. They indicated (sometimes this necessitated brief discussions in Spanish) that they preferred to keep working on it on their own. And so they did, but there were many and repeated incorrect answers; so many in fact that it almost became an absurd practice with students from 4-5 groups dashing back and forth between their work stations and the desk I was sitting on. "No" runs back. "No" runs back. So many times that we all started laughing at the situation.
Eventually, they did get all the questions correct. It was a fun class.
My last class of the evening at night school has consistently been the most exasperating. As I said, every group has its own dynamic, and this one has been like a zombie movie. Nothing like seeing a bunch of blank stares and glassy eyes to make you feel like you're getting through to a class. With much persistence over months, I managed to get a few students in this class to buy in and really participate. It is often the case that when reticent students see one or more of their peers willing to take chances with language and put themselves out there (and that mistakes don't result in crushing humiliation), that they find the courage to do the same. With this class, the process was playing out very slowly. It was playing out however, and last evening we finally hit the tipping point where almost all the students in the class perked up and jumped in the pool. Students who had been unwaveringly silent and sullen suddenly began calling out answers and taking a shot at pronouncing some real tongue twisting words. When the last bell of the evening rang the students were still working and actively engaged. Going forward, the trick will be to build on this momentum.
I usually end a long day exhausted and with a splitting headache after a "pulling teeth" class, but last night I actually made my way to my car with a spring in my step. Even with Boston's famous traffic, the ride home didn't seem quite so bad.
Attendance is pretty hit or miss at night school. Out of five classes, only three are consistently full. The first of these is comprised of good, hard-working kids, but it is slow going. Some of these kids work more than full-time. Some are caring for children of their own. However, they show up and they try. I can respect that.
The third block of the evening is the best group. The enthusiasm and initiative they bring is amazing. Every group of people in any setting will have their own dynamic based on, among other things, the personalities of the individuals involved. This particular group really works well together. After I explain the objectives of the day's lesson and teach the mechanics of whatever language skill we are working on, I distribute exercises and/or activities to reinforce and assess. With this particular group, as soon as they have a given exercise, without prompting they form into groups and start working through the problems with enthusiasm and good humor. In most of my day classes, students will work on an exercise, then when all or almost all have completed it, we go over the answers as a class and I explain any errors or points in question. With this particular group, they work together until they have all agreed upon the answer to a given question then send an "envoy" up to my desk to see if they are correct or not. The representative will speed walk up to me and jab the paper out at me with two hands and straight arms, eyes wide in anticipation. If correct, there is much rejoicing as the student jogs back to the group for fist-bumping and pats on the back. If incorrect, there is overly dramatic agony as if missing an open-goal in a soccer match, followed by laughter and a return to the group to try again. Usually, a given group will huddle around a desk and work on a problem like surgeons planning how to work on a patient. The work I gave them yesterday evening was a step up in difficulty because I could see they were ready for a greater challenge. As a result, the groups struggled to find the right answer to several questions. Normally I would take this as a sign to stop and reinforce the lecture aspect of class wherein I explicitly addressed the details of the target language function, but they were not having it. They indicated (sometimes this necessitated brief discussions in Spanish) that they preferred to keep working on it on their own. And so they did, but there were many and repeated incorrect answers; so many in fact that it almost became an absurd practice with students from 4-5 groups dashing back and forth between their work stations and the desk I was sitting on. "No" runs back. "No" runs back. So many times that we all started laughing at the situation.
Eventually, they did get all the questions correct. It was a fun class.
My last class of the evening at night school has consistently been the most exasperating. As I said, every group has its own dynamic, and this one has been like a zombie movie. Nothing like seeing a bunch of blank stares and glassy eyes to make you feel like you're getting through to a class. With much persistence over months, I managed to get a few students in this class to buy in and really participate. It is often the case that when reticent students see one or more of their peers willing to take chances with language and put themselves out there (and that mistakes don't result in crushing humiliation), that they find the courage to do the same. With this class, the process was playing out very slowly. It was playing out however, and last evening we finally hit the tipping point where almost all the students in the class perked up and jumped in the pool. Students who had been unwaveringly silent and sullen suddenly began calling out answers and taking a shot at pronouncing some real tongue twisting words. When the last bell of the evening rang the students were still working and actively engaged. Going forward, the trick will be to build on this momentum.
I usually end a long day exhausted and with a splitting headache after a "pulling teeth" class, but last night I actually made my way to my car with a spring in my step. Even with Boston's famous traffic, the ride home didn't seem quite so bad.
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