Weekly Blog #2: Prom Date of Destiny

“Lucille, God gave me a gift. I shovel well. I shovel very well.” – The Shoveller

            The highlight of the past week was being invited/asked to chaperone the Senior Prom. First of all, it was a pretty big honor for the student council putting it together to think of me as part of the staff and the overall learning community, and secondly it was an even better feeling for the staff members who help arrange it to think that I deserved to be involved in such an important event for the school seniors. On another, less important note, the prom turned out very well. Everything looked nice, the kids had a ton of fun, and there were very few incidents of note, making the whole night an all around success.

            This same event also made me think differently of both the teachers and the students. First of all, it was a totally different environment to be around teachers in, the usual stature of professionalism was dropped ever so slightly, probably to make sure that kids felt able to have a good time. Especially in the clean up time after the prom it was interesting to see teachers acting like, well, people, joking around, teasing each other, and generally celebrating the success of such a stressful and time consuming night. It also made me think a lot differently about the students. I am not sure what I expected, but having been a child of too many movies was something far more wild and crazy, like an 80’s high school movie. The students took it in a new direction, incredibly respectful and able to have a good time without causing any major problems. In retrospect, they are such a good bunch of kids that I can’t figure why I ever thought there would be any major problems with the students.

            I also sat in on a class not taught by the teachers I have been working with and found one practice that I hope to bring to my own classroom (should I ever have one). One of the teachers found a way to not only give great lectures, but managed to find a way to keep the kids focused through the whole thing, using only simple cues. Instead of droning on and on about the beginnings of World War I, this teacher opted to try and make the things they were discussing relevant. Putting students in real life scenarios accomplished this; making it so that they could understand consistently through the lecture to help them wrap their heads around the topic. Another small technique he used was to say student’s names before statements or questions, keeping them constantly on their toes of getting called on. Using this technique, he was not only able to keep students on their toes, but subtly redirect students who were off task without interrupting his lecturing style. This technique kept the class disciplined and focused during even a long block period and is something I hope to someday master.