No Talk November?

The following entry was written in early October. Some changes have occurred since my original musings, including some transforming classroom dynamics and a trip to a family farm where I did in fact shoot real guns. Part II may come upon request.

I think I have finally been assigned a class I cannot handle. Are they brutes? Nope, pretty sweet group of kids. Do they pay attention? Sure, at least I think they are. Are they not turning in their homework? Sure, the only exception is the one who already has a slight case of Senioritis.

My problem: I have a quiet class.

Perhaps in a different setting, I would be singing a different tune, but I am a modern language instructor. The goal is to communicate, isn’t it? And alas, I fear I have a group of 11 students who are not just quiet, but I think they may be…introverts. Now I use the term “introvert” not in the sense of not out-going, but in the Myers-Briggs’ definition. An Introvert (an “I”), then, is someone who has the preference of processing information internally, reflecting before speaking, and then expressing themselves once and (generally) only once.

Time out! Have you met me? I’m little Miss “E” Extrovert and frankly don’t learn a blessed thing unless I have talked it out. I was “that kid” in class who felt the need to blurt out the answer before anyone else had the chance to even think about it. Sure, I found my foot in my mouth from time to time, but that’s how I learn, right? “Ready, Shoot, Aim!” is how I find myself functioning, not “wasting” time thinking about what I’m shooting at! (I know what you’re thinking: don’t let this girl loose at a shooting range…but I will go this month, I promise! Please see proof of voyage at the bottom of this entry.)

Maybe we are not on the same page yet, so I will get to the point. I feel as if I am confronted with a world-class crisis (oh, so dramatic!) for which I am wrestling to find an appropriate solution. How do we as teachers who have a strong affinity for one type of instruction, because it is a reflection of our own personality type, adapt to a class that is in the majority of a different personality type and therefore in need of a type of instruction outside our comfort zone and/or abilities?

My “crisis” looks like this: about every third lesson, I use simulation with a combination of PowerPoints to introduce and review vocabulary and grammar structures. I ask some student volunteers to act out a scenario in conjunction with my asking a series of questions to them and to the rest of the class, using the recycling method promoted in Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling (TPRS). Students who are not acting are required to respond in unison to the questions asked. Other than the student volunteers, no one is put on the spot in this situation, and all students get to practice the sentence structures and vocabulary. In both this situation and in general class work, this group of students is hesitant and even reluctant to respond. It appears that they are slow to respond not because they do not understand, but simply because they are processing. A lesson that took 25 minutes last year is taking 45 minutes this year.

Here are my reflections on the issue, but please, dear readers, let me know what you are thinking:

1)      Buck up, Mme V, every class is different. Don’t use your silly PowerPoints or your goofy simulations; it simply does not work for this class. Find a different way to teach oral proficiency.

2)      Keep at it! They are shy and it is only the beginning of the year. You need to establish this room as a safe place, and then they will get it eventually and even thank you for pushing them in this direction…maybe in French 3.

3)      Combo of reflections 1 and 2: Find a sweet spot compromise. You know they need more time to reflect, so grant them that time. Maybe you even need to do more pair or group work in order to let students process together and in potentially less embarrassing settings.

My responses to these reflections are as follows:

1)      I won’t go to a quiet room! I can’t do it! I think TPRS has a legitimate claim in language pedagogy and I’m not giving its strategies the boot. It is a great way for visual learners to see pictures and read the words during a lesson. The kinesthetic learners get to move around and blab a bunch. They sit down and take notes in all their other classes, but that will not happen in mine. Long live the active classroom! Plus, several students in this class have commented on how they enjoy this sort of presentation of information. And I quote: “Mme V, I never liked learning grammar ‘till now!”

2)      What if I am being insensitive to the learning needs of my students by pressing on? (Uh oh, for all you Typewatchers out there, did you just pick up on my “F”?) I might think that this is a great way to teach, but it might not be for this group of students. Granted, this is not how I teach every lesson, but I use it enough that it could be detrimental to the learning of most of the students. Will sticking with it do more harm than good? Will they even want to enroll in French 3?!

3)      So what is that compromise, little Miss Genius? Sure you can try to give them partner work, but the age old problem is that those strong students finish a lot sooner than others, and then when the slower students ask questions, your focus is taken away from monitoring the continued practice of the quick ones. The kids who are not confident get side-tracked because they fear judgment from their partner, and you can’t step in because frankly you can’t monitor 5 pairs at the same time. Stop whining and get better classroom management…?!

So it’s your turn. You get to pipe up and potentially transform my classroom. I need a round of first-responders, because this is, after all, a crisis of the classroom!

Bis,

Mme VD

The book my nose is in: Type Talk: The 16 Personality Types that Determine How We Live, Love, and Work by Otto Kroeger and Janet M. Thuesen (©1988). 

For more information on Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling: http://www.tprstorytelling.com/

Some sort of proof that I did in fact shoot a gun: