Today, my students entered the cafeteria and were told immediately they were on silent lunch from an older Teacher Assistent that had replaced our recently quit Lunch Monitor. My students' responses were perfect: Why are we being punished? Did we do something wrong?
I teach my students to question the rules they're told. After all, the people who changed history didn't do so by following the rules. Clearly, I model how to question rules in a respectful way. So, I was stuck was a stubborn TA who was desperately trying to have control over the cafeteria, not trying to steal her power, and respond to a class that, rightfully so, felt this mandate was unfair.
After trying to reason with her twice, I gave up frustrated.
Even though I was playing damage control most of my lunch, I am proud of my students' ability to critically think about what's happening and stick up for themselves. They weren't being obedient at first, and I don't blame them. There was a time when I valued obedience in my classroom because, well, it was easier. Following directions, while important, is not the greatest skill in life. Obedient children make teaching, in this moment, easier. But what about the future? I don't believe emphasizing the celebrated Following Directions skill will help my students impact the world. I want them to think about what people are asking them to do, and WHY they're being asked to do it.
This morning, I followed my students to their reading class (I teach them math, science and social studies) to invest them in a writing competition called "The One Pager." They had completely written it off to the Literacy Teacher as useless and boring. We had about a 10 minute talk about how doing this activity will help improve their drowning writing skills and the ways that writing shows up in an adult's life. There was pushback about it being boring (things can be important and boring at the same time) or not needing it (everyone could use some improvement). I'm sure I didn't invest every kid in the class. However, I know I got the wheels turning in everyone's brains. And, no matter what, my students know that when they improve their academic skills, they are making their lives better.
I teach my students to question the rules they're told. After all, the people who changed history didn't do so by following the rules. Clearly, I model how to question rules in a respectful way. So, I was stuck was a stubborn TA who was desperately trying to have control over the cafeteria, not trying to steal her power, and respond to a class that, rightfully so, felt this mandate was unfair.
After trying to reason with her twice, I gave up frustrated.
Even though I was playing damage control most of my lunch, I am proud of my students' ability to critically think about what's happening and stick up for themselves. They weren't being obedient at first, and I don't blame them. There was a time when I valued obedience in my classroom because, well, it was easier. Following directions, while important, is not the greatest skill in life. Obedient children make teaching, in this moment, easier. But what about the future? I don't believe emphasizing the celebrated Following Directions skill will help my students impact the world. I want them to think about what people are asking them to do, and WHY they're being asked to do it.
This morning, I followed my students to their reading class (I teach them math, science and social studies) to invest them in a writing competition called "The One Pager." They had completely written it off to the Literacy Teacher as useless and boring. We had about a 10 minute talk about how doing this activity will help improve their drowning writing skills and the ways that writing shows up in an adult's life. There was pushback about it being boring (things can be important and boring at the same time) or not needing it (everyone could use some improvement). I'm sure I didn't invest every kid in the class. However, I know I got the wheels turning in everyone's brains. And, no matter what, my students know that when they improve their academic skills, they are making their lives better.
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