I gave him about 10 seconds to have his fun, after which I firmly reminded him to keep it locked down in his hand. We've had this conversation many times; it's a work in progress.
It got me to thinking about how distractible my middle school students can be. If the pencil isn't in the air, it's on the floor or in a neighbor's lap. Chairs scrape noisily on the ground, materials slam on the table, zippers unzip and zip again, pens endlessly click, and if somebody has something they really want to say they grunt as their hand goes up, as if the visual cue wasn't enough.
Does this mean the students are bored? Maybe... But there's no lack of discussion in my room. At every pause there is some sort of response. Tommy has to nudge his buddy Jack and tell a 2 second story in what he thinks is a whisper but definitely is not. That's not a problem necessarily, but Jack has to respond for 2 seconds and Tommy has to finish his thought after that. In the meantime, they've lost track of the larger discussion and distracted Charlene and Maria across the way who have missed their cue to respond to the teacher's question. The noises continue, and as I look around to see whose low, recently "changed" adolescent voice is rumbling continuously in the distance, the classroom has been thrown into a random series of separate conversations. I've been teaching for 15 years and I still struggle with keeping the environment fun while maintaining control.
Is there a lack of engagement? No! In fact, I think it proves the students are excited about their learning; but it does show a lack of respect for the rules of the classroom, which is why a clear management system is necessary. Once all systems are go, it's the classroom teacher's task to harness that middle school, or elementary, or even high school, energy.
Does traditional teaching work? There are teachers who would tell you it does, but I'm torn. I want students to be disciplined. I believe there is character to be gained by sitting quietly and listening to somebody speak, teach, lecture, what have you. Just because students' attention spans may not be what they used to be doesn't mean we should throw out lectures when frontal teaching is the best option. Students still need to receive information sometimes. I also want students to figure things out for themselves, to solve problems without the teacher's solutions, to discover information. I want them to come up with new ideas and create things I couldn't predict for them.
Tap into the students' energy. In my experience, students (especially middle schoolers) are up for anything. If they have a tough time sitting still, get them out of their seats into groups and put a challenge in front of them. They're not shy, particularly when they can lean on their peers for support.
This is the first year we've tried to use iPads in the classrooms. In our middle school, we share an iPad cart for check out. We've discussed security, privacy, policy. We've tried to be careful in the technology integration. When we finally got the iPads the way we wanted with the right procedures and the right apps, and when we felt the students had been prepared enough, we put the iPads in the students' hands. And do you know what they did?
They dove in. Without inhibition.
They were craving the discovery.
Yes, students need some structure. But they also need some freedom. Freedom to explore, to create...to learn. To get on the wall to look out at their world. And sometimes they need to do this on their own terms.
Listen. You've got some pretty intelligent little humans in your class. Ask them what they'd like to do, how they'd like to learn. With a little feedback from your colleagues on site, your PLN, and your students, you could design some amazing lessons using the technology at your fingertips...ahem...your students' fingertips. Ask them what tech they use, with which apps they've been successful, what's fun, what's boring...you get the picture. You'll have those rambunctious little rascals eating out of your hand in no time.
Fail. My biggest fear going into the classroom 15 years ago was failure. My biggest fear 15 years later is still failure, but I'm finally learning to take risks, especially when integrating technology into my classroom. There are days when the tech doesn't work and we have to try Plan B or Plan C. My students don't look at me and decide the period was worthless. They know we'll try again another day. What a terrific way to model problem solving and perseverance, ingenuity and innovative thinking. Take the risk. What did Thomas Edison say? "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work."
I tell the kids almost every day that I'm easily distractible. They probably don't care, and yes, they continue to distract me and others. I learned a long time ago that mini-lessons are best. Take that first part of class to explain what's going to happen, to teach content and to show students what it is to sit quietly and listen, but don't drag on too long like I do. As soon as you can, get the students physically involved, whether they're moving around the room, working on a particular assignment, making a poster, targeting a certain project or problem to solve, or manipulating the iPad or some other tech tool.
Let them loose.
Let them fail, and see what they discover about the content and themselves.
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