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If Kids Aren’t Participating, They Aren’t Learning

By Bill PagecloseAuthor: Bill Page Name: Bill Page
Site: http://www.teacherteacher.com/
About: About Bill Page ... Bill Page, a farm boy, graduated from a one-room school. He forged a career in the classroom teaching middle school “troublemakers.” For the past 26 years, in addition to his classroom duties, he has taught teachers across the nation to teach the lowest achieving students successfully with his proven premise, “Failure is the choice and fault of schools, not the students.” Bill Page is a classroom teacher. For 46 years, he has patrolled the halls, responded to the bells, and struggled with innovations. He has had his share of lunchroom duty, bus duty, and playground duty. For the past four years, Bill, who is now in his 50th year as a teacher, is also a full time writer. His book, At-Risk Students is available on Abebooks, Amazon, R.D. Dunn Publishing, and on Bill’s web site: http://www.teacherteacher.com/ In At-Risk Students, Page discusses problems facing failing students, “who can’t, don’t and won’t learn or cooperate.” “The solution,” he states, “is for teachers to recognize and accept student misbehavior as defense mechanisms used to hide embarrassment and incompetence, and to deal with causes rather than symptoms. By entering into a democratic, participatory relationship, where students assume responsibility for their own learning.” Through 30 vignettes, the book helps teachers see failing students through his eyes as a fellow teacher, whose classroom success with at-risk students made him a premier teacher-speaker in school districts across America.See Authors Posts (56)

A professional worker does not think in terms of a big bag of tricks; s/he focuses on the objectives and chooses the best ideas – or even gimmicks – for reaching those objectives.

Bill’s response to a request for creative math ideas

www.BillPageTeacher.Com

Dear Michelle: I am pleased to respond to your request for creative techniques for your 8^th grade, 7^th grade, and pre-algebra math students.  I am impressed with what you tell me you have learned thus far as a first year teacher: 1.) That your training is inadequate, 2.) That learning what not to do is of little value, and 3.) That creative ideas are hard to come by.  I have three off-setting suggestions for ways to get the kids responsible for ideas and approaches coming up with their own ideas for their own involvement as part of the quest for your teaching procedures and goals.

It’s Not Teaching; It’s Interacting

First, the teaching-learning process is interactive and is based on teacher-student relationships.  It is an incredibly complex interaction of intellectual, emotional, and attitudinal elements that defy creative gimmicks or usual definitions, applications, and explanations.  Never think of what you do as teaching. Teaching can be done in an empty room or done to a brick wall—sometimes with better results than you get teaching kids.

An attempt to reduce the complicated teaching-learning process to teaching daily lessons, unit objectives, student skills, teaching methodology, and practice strategies is not possible. And when coupled with the usual contexts in which the teaching-learning process occurs and in which the necessary individualization is required, it is inconceivable.

Other Teachers Have Their Own Techniques

Second, teachers are very private and secretive regarding their teaching.  They have their kids; they close their doors; they do their thing.  What goes on in any classroom is comprehensive, personal, and idiosyncratic.  Other teachers’ methods are essentially a total integrated package, uniquely theirs—and involve subtle and non-verbal communication. Their methods are not amenable to separation into parts that can be used by others.  Many teachers, even your close colleagues, cannot offer anything but gimmicks, superficial help, and ideas based on their personal philosophy and beliefs. So, don’t expect meaningful help there.

You Have to Build a Relationship

Third, there are some procedures you might use for acquiring the hands-on, creative, non-preaching, non-teaching, non-performance approach which you need and for which you ask.  The key to the acquisition of efficacious procedures lies in the active and interactive involvement of each of your students in each of your classes.  Those procedures require genuine participation, a reciprocal, equal, and mutual teacher student-relationship.  You can’t “get” that relationship; it must be built or created together—there’s no other way.

If the Kids Are Not Participating; They’re Not Learning

 Any student who is not participating or is not involved cannot be learning. If they are not involved in your class activities, you can be sure they are involved in “something else.” Kids have a problem focusing on one thing at one time.  The only way anyone can do two things at a time is if one of them is an automatic or routine function.  You can be sure that if a kid is not attentive to the lesson; s/he is being attentive to something else.  The brain is always engaged—in something.  It does not wait for an invitation, a demand, or a lull.

Your first goal should be to involve your students in the class goals and in their ideas for learning algebra and math (e.g. working together, games and competition, practice strategies, custom made dice, manipulative items in lieu of working on paper).  Building student involvement begins with student involvement. (How’s that for bit of sound, logical, reasoning?) That involvement arises out of a mutual relationship, a kind of respect and caring, with your students and with each other.  I can suggest the following approaches to developing your own and your students’ own creative ideas.

Involve the Kids from the Get-Go

Following are starting points for student involvement and inviting them to become a part of their own learning. Hint: If you attempt to think ideas out for yourself, there will be nothing for the kids to contribute.  Participation can usually be required and coerced—involvement cannot. However convenient it would be to “have student involvement” you can begin only by initiating and building the experiences by which they become involved. And, that necessitates a genuine process, not a phony one.  Here are some approaches:

Approach #1.

Have a class meeting with each class.  Form a circle with you as a part (move your teacher desk out or out of the way).  The emphasis is on dialogue not on listening to your messages. Further discussion in pairs, small groups, goal-oriented groups, groups of discussers and observers, etc, would likely take a week or more.  But at this point in the school year time spent this way is worth it.  I would want alternatives to pushing stuff down their throats rather than better (creative ways) to push or use the reward and punishment intimidation methods.

The initial discussion can get kids input and get them thinking about algebra and about your concerns about the importance of hands on, individualized, participative, and interactive involvement in everything from the entry point, diagnosis, assignments, activities, materials, and feedback.  Share your thoughts about individual differences in their backgrounds, interests, abilities, and entering point and prerequisite information for learning math and algebra.  Suggest some experiments for diagnostic and analytical concerns for approaching, dissecting, practicing, and learning the initial content.

Let the Kids Do the Thinking; You Keep Them on Track

Subsequent discussions would include the ideas I will suggest below.  Students probably need to be reminded of the sequential nature of math goals and to have the expectation that each student needs to start at the appropriate place for him/her, not all at the same place.  And they probably they need to be reminded of the importance of accuracy and peer feedback.

Students have probably been taught to accept an 80% in subtraction as a C instead of learning that the 80% means there is 20% of the subtraction process they haven’t learned. Since one error in subtraction in one step of one long division problem means the answer will be wrong, which 20% is it acceptable for them not to know? If students do not see the need for this approach, it can’t work.  If they see the need, they can participate in the learning decisions.  Use the meeting to plan future, regular meetings for continued development and further feedback.

Approach #2

Introduce the pair-share or study buddy idea.  Ideally, every kid in every class is either sharing, presenting, or listening.  (Go to my website: www.billpageteacher.com for a free down load of a paper that has a full description of pair-share, or Google Pair-Share.) It is the singular most powerful gimmick I know, but it has to be used in conjunction with the kinds of goals I am suggesting here.

Approach #3

Individualization is absolutely essential.  Groups do not learn.  Teachers do not teach classes; they teach individuals—in groups.  No group has ever learned anything; only individuals learn.  The only possibility I have ever found as a basis for individualization is for each student to take responsibility for his/her own learning.

For the teacher to individualize by knowing where each kid is in the learning process is impossible in single class settings.  If s/he checks each kid’s knowledge and it takes a minute, it would take 30 minutes of the period for 30 kids and nothing would have been accomplished.  But if each kid diagnosed him/herself, in one minute it could all be done. (except for the three who can’t or won’t—they can be yours to “pair” with.)

 Kids Have to Do Their Part

As each kid takes responsibility for him/herself s/he can proceed at learning using the teacher and other kids as resources.  Kids strive for their own goals and their own best achievement.  They worry less about the “class” and grades. As most students accept their responsibility, it will permit you to zero in on the two or three who need your specific help.

Approach #4

Kids eagerly learn to make their own materials from diagnostic “check sheets” to exercises, practice sheets, and non-threatening tests of many kinds.  Once kids know the goal (e.g. to change a decimal to fraction), they can learn to do a task analysis and help determine the sequence of steps and necessary knowledge.

Working together and using each other as resources, plus using textbooks, and standard tests, kids can make units on everything from word problems to grade level sequences and goals.  If kids understand the goals and sequences, they can take a great portion of responsibility for helping one another and checking their progress and achievement

Approach #5

Grades become useless, but since tradition and bureaucracy (and stupidity) demand them.  I teach the kids there are two kinds of grades (neither of which have to do with homework, missed assignments, quizzes or tests.)  One type of grade (progress checks) can be used while in the process of working toward a goal.  They are diagnostic and temporary check points to see if you are on course or need help.

The other grade reflects the accomplishment of reaching the goal.  Attaining a 100% mark, negates continuing the grade or evaluations used in the process of achieving the goal.  The two types of grades cannot be averaged together or used to determining the final goal grade.  What good would all the pole vaulting practices do if you can’t eventually get over the bar—except maybe to show you wasted your time or to settle for a side effect?

I hope this helps.  I can send you some further explanation of the preceding ideas.  I will be glad to do that, if you will let me know your concerns and keep in touch.

With joy in sharing,

billpage@bellsouth.net

Bill Page’s book, At-Risk Students; Feeling Their Pain is available through his web site www.billpageteacher.com,  or through Amazon for $24.95.

However…here’s a special offer for Teachers.Net readers:

Bill is making copies of his book available directly from his supply, for only $10 total each (FREE shipping). Send a school or personal check for $10 per book to: Bill Page, 222 Wheeler Ave, Nashville, TN 37211. (Also available for quantity orders for study groups. Hurry because he just filled an order for 100 copies for a NJ teachers’ study group, so the supply is limited!)