Something's Gotta Give

One of my classes and I started off on the wrong foot this school year; in fact, let's call it a peg leg. I wasn't originally supposed to teach the class, and though I was definitely willing, the following problems quickly battered the ship:

-We had no textbooks. Since the school purchased access codes to an online version of the textbook, I was informed no more hard copies would be purchased.

-When I tried to access the online textbook from my classroom, I couldn't project it large enough for students to read and the audio function would not play loud enough for the class to hear.

-Pop-up settings in the computer lab prevented students from accessing the text during class. This same problem occurred for most students at home.

-The school is "paperless" which means no copies and no handouts (unless students print them on their own). Printing each story would have been a ridiculous amount of paper.

It seemed for a while that each time I found a way around a problem, it would only cause another to surface from under the sea foam. I was frustrated and the students were flustered. Eventually, I took to hauling 22 textbooks from an upstairs classroom down to mine (and back again!) on days students needed to interact with the text.

In addition, this particular class loves to talk. Loudly and in disregard to anything else happening in class. In no time, my classroom had a palpable animosity coming from both sides. Consequences were set and administered, parents were contacted about behavior, and I knew this was not how I wanted to teach. Never had I thought I'd have a class where the teacher and students felt pitted against each other. It's not sustainable; something had to give.

I began by catering more to student interests. For example, we created a mock outline for a compare/contrast paper about Batman vs. Superman. Slowly I was winning over individual students. But it wasn't enough. Small groups replaced the majority of whole class discussion: students would break into smaller groups where they could better hear my instruction and then each group would present their discoveries. Class was going significantly better, but it wasn't until this week when the something finally gave.

 In past units, homework was graded and that was that. This time around, students are given graded assignments back with comments and are expected to fix any errors to make up the points they missed. It didn't seem revolutionary in any way, but it pushed the ship away from rocks trying to sink it. How? Because it gave the message to students that they are expected to succeed because their teacher wants them to. Because homework is for practice not punishment. Because if they put in a little more work they will be rewarded for their efforts. Because, even though they frustrate me, I want to help them.

That's what gave. It gave way to a positive classroom environment. It gave way to students proving they can behave better than before. It gave way to more fun with activities. It gave way to palpable respect coming from both sides. And it gave this first year teacher one heck of a learning experience!