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Teaching Diary 4
Oct. 2nd, 2020 08:08 pmSo I’m teaching five classes, right, none of which I’ve taught before, so I’m constantly scrambling for materials. For my sophomore class, the unit we’re working on is nonfiction expository writing, and students will write an essay with a cause and effect structure. I decided to look for a themed unit so they could read and respond to articles in lit class and use the information towards their essay in writing class.
Commonlit.org is an invaluable resource for teachers. It’s a free site that has hundreds of stories, poems, essays, and other texts, and each comes with discussion and comprehension questions (and answer keys!). Many also have paired texts and related media so kiddos can get greater context. I like their themed units because I don’t have to scramble for a text set. There are many thoughtful topics already provided for me.
I decided to have my students work on a unit about conformity. For their essay, they will write about the effects of conformity. Of course, we have a huge issue in the world right now where conformity plays a role -- wearing masks in public. Belarus, like the United States, is not mandating masks, although as far as I can tell, not even shops are requiring masks the way some shops in the US do, but I also don’t read Russian, and I’ve only been to two shops so far, so there could be signs promoting masks and social distancing, but I don’t know. Our school, however, requires all people on campus wear masks at all times, if at least two people are together and cannot be two meters apart. Except for lunch time.
Anyway, one of the texts I chose to share today was a TedEd talk given by a high school student from a school in Shanghai. Two students continued to snack during the video, which was fine. I don’t mind if kiddos snack as long as they don’t make a mess. However, after they finished, they did not put their masks back on.
Just imagine, sitting in a classroom, listening to talks and reading articles about conformity and social pressure. In addition, I’d been informed that one of the students (who I just met this day as they had been absent) had a history of defiance and problematic behavior. How am I going to handle this?
I waited to see if they would put their masks back on. When they didn’t, I had a choice. Did I go in with the heavy, don’t smile for the first month attitude (this was an Actual Thing I was taught in college and the very first thing I threw out when I started teaching). In the end, I decided to ask, “Do you need a mask? I brought plenty of extras I’d be happy to share.” They took their masks out, put them on, and got to work.
Then, not five minutes later, one of the other students sneezed, and to a person, the rest of the class said, “Bless you!” So we had a little chuckle about conformity and habits and got on with class.
I don’t have any grand revelations here. I just thought it was funny. I wonder if this is something the kids will think about someday.
Commonlit.org is an invaluable resource for teachers. It’s a free site that has hundreds of stories, poems, essays, and other texts, and each comes with discussion and comprehension questions (and answer keys!). Many also have paired texts and related media so kiddos can get greater context. I like their themed units because I don’t have to scramble for a text set. There are many thoughtful topics already provided for me.
I decided to have my students work on a unit about conformity. For their essay, they will write about the effects of conformity. Of course, we have a huge issue in the world right now where conformity plays a role -- wearing masks in public. Belarus, like the United States, is not mandating masks, although as far as I can tell, not even shops are requiring masks the way some shops in the US do, but I also don’t read Russian, and I’ve only been to two shops so far, so there could be signs promoting masks and social distancing, but I don’t know. Our school, however, requires all people on campus wear masks at all times, if at least two people are together and cannot be two meters apart. Except for lunch time.
Anyway, one of the texts I chose to share today was a TedEd talk given by a high school student from a school in Shanghai. Two students continued to snack during the video, which was fine. I don’t mind if kiddos snack as long as they don’t make a mess. However, after they finished, they did not put their masks back on.
Just imagine, sitting in a classroom, listening to talks and reading articles about conformity and social pressure. In addition, I’d been informed that one of the students (who I just met this day as they had been absent) had a history of defiance and problematic behavior. How am I going to handle this?
I waited to see if they would put their masks back on. When they didn’t, I had a choice. Did I go in with the heavy, don’t smile for the first month attitude (this was an Actual Thing I was taught in college and the very first thing I threw out when I started teaching). In the end, I decided to ask, “Do you need a mask? I brought plenty of extras I’d be happy to share.” They took their masks out, put them on, and got to work.
Then, not five minutes later, one of the other students sneezed, and to a person, the rest of the class said, “Bless you!” So we had a little chuckle about conformity and habits and got on with class.
I don’t have any grand revelations here. I just thought it was funny. I wonder if this is something the kids will think about someday.
