“I am a teacher. I’ve been studying English for years. I have knowledge. I know where commas go… I think. I am young, but still have an authority. These kids will love AND respect me. I am a teacher. I can do this.” This was the beginning of my pep talk as I get ready for the first day of school. I was ready. My dress was very professional, my shoes were comfortable, my hair looked good, and I didn’t look like a student (or so I told myself).
“I am not nervous, I already have one semester under my belt. I’ve already learned so much. They’re just kids, who are almost as ready to graduate as you are.” This was going to be a fantastic semester.
1st block was a joy, they were talkative, and weren’t afraid to pose questions. They weren’t quiet and awkward like most classes on the first day. They would be my favorite for sure.
2nd block was an even bigger joy… planning (JK).
3rd block was my focus class. They were pretty quiet, but they had some big personalities. It had the biggest roster for the entire day and I knew they would come around.
4th block was going to be a huge challenge, but I was ready. Well I thought I was ready anyway.
Get ready for numbers (which is a terrible thing to hear coming from an English major, but it’s simple math I promise)Let’s say we have 24 students in our class. We as in me, and the THREE OTHER ADULTS IN THE CLASS. Yes, I will be teaching alongside not only my Collaborating teacher, but also our Co -Teacher, and Sign Language Interpreter…
So that was a little intimidating to hear, but again… I was ready for a challenge. Well the challenge was in the roster… 8 general education, 8 deaf or hard of hearing, and 8 who fall on the special education roster due to their IEPs.
It would be interesting, but do – able. I began thinking of ways I could make my lessons more accessible to the students. I made sure that all my videos had closed captions, I made sure that I built in extra time into the schedule for extended class time, remediation and review. I made sure that I had a model or example for assignments. My directions have gotten clearer in explanation, and my classroom management skills had improved as well. YEAH, GO TEACHER STUFF. WOOO.
Well, I thought everything was clear, especially my directions until Tyler turned in his personal analysis of a story. This story was read aloud in class, and every question I asked them to answer had been discussed as we read. I gave them the tools to succeed.
Everything on Tyler’s paper was perfect, he had great explanations and textual evidence to support his thoughts… until I got to Point of View.
The directions asked for the following: “Please specify the Point of View, and pronouns used in the short story.”
Tyler’s answer: “1st person, and yes, there were pronouns used.”
Okay Tyler… that’s true. You’re not wrong. I couldn’t help but laugh a little to myself. This is like one of those posts you see on Facebook where students answer the question “What ended in 1881?” with the response “1880.”
**Disclaimer: This child is a sweet angel. He is a complete joy. He is smart, and polite and has never been sarcastic towards me. So I knew that he wasn’t trying to make a joke. He wasn’t trying to be funny, I knew that something went wrong in my explanation of the directions. **
Now if I got this answer from Shane or TJ… nevermind.
I asked my Co-Teacher what went wrong, she explained to me that students who are deaf or hard of hearing process things differently. They are very logical, and straight forward, so abstract thinking and figurative language takes them a little longer to grasp. So, I needed to make my directions even clearer… But I thought they were clear enough…
So Tyler taught me something that ONLY Tyler could teach me. There are even more learners in the classroom than I thought. I had to learn to alter my directions in a way that left absolutely no gray area. If I thought there was even once question in my head, that means the kids had 12 more. So my directions slowly began improving even more.
**Update: 4th block is my favorite class. They are a challenge, but I get to see tiny little light bulbs go off everyday. I learn a new way to reach them, and teach them in every lesson. I couldn’t be more thankful for this group of kids. They make me smile, and they are so smart. These are the kids I want for the rest of my career.
Teaching as Storytelling 