I am in my ninth week of teaching. Because I teach in three-week cycles, I am coming to the end of my third cycle and my third lesson with students. As I have surely mentioned in past postings, I meet with 39 different classes. Perhaps an outsider will say "duh" to this, but it is becoming more clear to me with each class I teach that who is teaching the class really makes a significant difference.
The students have only been in class for about three months so on the one hand, I think, how much difference can their teacher make when these students are coming from all different backgrounds, have different majors, varying past experiences with the English language but I can tell you that each of my 39 classes has its own personality and that more than anything I have to say that their teacher plays a really important role in shaping this class personality or classroom culture.
I teach the same lesson to the 39 classes over the three week period. I start with a week of level 3 students, then a week of level 2 students and finally a long week with the level 1 students. The last week is long because I have the most classes - about four per day - during my week with the level 1 students. It's exhausting (but still fun)! While in general the 3's are better than the 2's and the 2's are better than the 1's, there are plenty of overlap with the students and their individual abilities. I'm not completely sure how they end up in these levels, if it's through testing or simply by taking a year of each level. Anyway, this is not the point I'm trying to make. I bring it up because I've observed that despite the level of class I'm teaching, the differences in abilities, willingness to participate and performance in activities is subtle between the three levels.
What I notice more is kind of the overall attitude of the class, I called it "personality" before. For instance, yesterday I was with a class that got into their groups quickly and quietly and worked almost in silence for the 20 minutes they had for group work. The teacher has them work in groups often, she tells me, and she herself seems to be a quiet and diligent teacher. Another teacher is controlling and is the only one who really pushes me to adjust my lesson plans to conform to what she feels is appropriate. None of the other teachers do that. She's also the one that from the beginning asked me to "follow the book," meaning the text book the students use day to day. Basically that would just make me like a once-in-awhile substitute teacher for her. Lucky for me my faculty adviser does not support this and so I can teach my own lessons. I do make adjustments for this teacher because I want to cooperate and I want her to see me as an asset in the classroom. What I have noticed in this teacher's classroom is dramatically different from other classrooms. These students struggle the most with my lessons. In the last cycle, the students weren't able to answer a question asking the students opinion - even in Spanish! What?
There are teachers who support me in my lessons and encourage the students to participate. The best teachers, in my opinion, are working with groups on one side of the room as I work with groups on the other. These classes tend be noisy (in a good way!!) and active during group work. Their presentations are interesting, fun to listen to, and show a lot of thought. There are other teachers who are more hands-off during my lessons and they stay in the room, usually grading papers or doing other work while I teach. These students work pretty well. Maybe it's that they've been taught to be independent.
There's one teacher that I like, but she kind of barks out orders to her students when they seem shy. I ask for volunteers and she yells threats that if someone doesn't volunteer she's going to start calling out names. These students are like children whose parents say, "I'm going to count to five and if you don't..." and the child doesn't do what the parent wants until they reach number 4 in their count.
If I were to have the same classes everyday I would not be able to observe this. I am really grateful to have the chance to observe how much a teacher's style affects a class of students. It makes me think a lot about what I want from my classes. I want them to be active, independent thinkers who work well with others, who aren't afraid to give wrong answers and who, most of all, aren't hesitant to ask questions. So far that is my favorite thing as a teacher: answering questions! To me it shows a level of trust and interest on the part of the students and it's far too rare for my taste. There is one night class, I think it's in my level 3 group, that asks questions. The teacher for that class is one of my favorites. She's open, relaxed, approachable and happy. No wonder her class feels comfortable asking questions. There's one student who tries to ask provoking questions like after I talked about the origins of Thanksgiving he asked if it wasn't true that the Europeans later slaughtered the American Indians and stole their lands. Great question! Seriously, I get so few questions that I'll take what I can get, even the provoking one. And it really is a good question.
This is not meant to be a criticism of the teachers I work with at the University. I admit that my experience is limited since I've only been with the classes of each teacher a handful of times. I am only aware on the surface of the conditions under which the teachers work. I only write about my impressions and I know in general teaching is a really hard job. We do what we know to do and how we teach is based on our past experiences. I truly think that the teachers are doing what they think is best for their students. My observations are leading me to look more closely at who I am as a teacher and think more deeply about who I want to become as a teacher to do the best job I possibly can to teach my students.
I have only two classes today, both of these teachers are more of the "hands off" variety. It should be a relatively easy afternoon. Chao for now!
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