Dharana

=**ESSAY #2 (narrative essay)**=


 * Setting:** a CTJ classroom (at Lago Sul)


 * Main Characters:** 17 loud students and I.


 * Plot:** we had already had some classes, but some of them didn't want to cooperate. I constantly left the classroom feeling disrespected and frustrated.


 * Climax:** last week I went to class wearing "the teacher's hat". it consisted of a plastic headband with a hat on it. my students were really curious and wanted to know why I was wearing it. I was just wearing it for fun, but I told them it was a special hat that gave me special teacher powers. then, there was silence for the first time in 3 weeks. I made a decision on the spot to throw my lesson plan out the window and take that opportunity to make my expectations clear to them (without preaching or giving them pep talk).


 * Ending:** things are now much smoother. we were able to connect at a more personal level and they are now much more cooperative.

Peer's Outlining
Yes. The plot is unclear. I understood the idea you passed but maybe there some confusion between classes and students.
 * 1. Is there any aspect of the outline that looks unclear to you? **

I think the Plot needs more details. I am curious to know how old your 17 students are and why you felt constantly frustrated after the classes. For instance, you could give more information about your students' behavior in class. You also could tell us how you used to plan your classes.
 * 2. Can you think of an area in the outline that needs more development? Do you have any specific suggestions? **

I loved the climax. Your strategy to make the students respect you was great. I imaged them, as children, talking about the power of your hat. Please, keep writing about it on your essay.
 * 3. If you have any other ideas or suggestions, write them here. **


 * Wilsimara **

**How becoming a super hero in class changed my perception of the teacher’s role in the 2.0 classroom** I must admit that, before this happened, I didn’t give enough thought to logistics constraints such as the physical sitting arrangement of the classroom, where each student would sit, how other types of interaction would physically take place or even how I would entertain those students who finish before everybody else. Maybe I skipped this stage of planning because I just thought everything was so simple and there was no way things could go wrong.

Thus, I always found myself lost, without everyone’s attention, trying to get my message across by means of speaking louder than them, always running around trying to put out fires here and there … Can you picture the scene?

I’m currently teaching a group of 17 rowdy 11-year-old students, who used to come to class just to speak to their friends in Portuguese, tell jokes and make fun of other people in their class. Nobody listened to me or to their peers, nobody paid attention and there was constant chaos in my lessons with this group. There was no silence and the boys were rude to each other as well as very disruptive. They couldn’t go five minutes without making a joke that would throw the whole class off track for another ten.

 I used to leave the classroom exhausted because lessons were extremely tiring for me. I also felt disrespected and extremely frustrated because nobody respected me or each other; their attitude was their way of saying “we couldn’t care less about you or this class”. They behaved like this for the first few classes and even after giving them some pep talk countless times, half the group was still unwilling to cooperate. This situation caused me a lot of stress, I felt like the worst teacher that had ever walked on this Earth. I was exhausted, voiceless, hopeless and on the brink of giving up.

Suddenly and out of the blue, everything changed a few weeks ago week. We had just come back from Carnival break and I had some props left over, so I went to class wearing a $1.99 plastic headband with a cardboard hat attached to it just for fun. I called it "The teacher's hat". When I entered the classroom, everyone immediately stopped what they were doing and looked at me in silence. “Is this a miracle?” I thought to myself. When they asked me why I was wearing that hat, I said “This is a special teacher’s hat that gives me special Super Teacher powers” without hesitating. They were curious and kept asking about what type of powers these were. I was amazed with the fact that they bought that idea, instead of calling me dumb or something like that.

 At that moment, to my own surprise, I decided to throw my lesson plan out the window and take that opportunity to be an educator. I was about to make my expectations clear to them without preaching or giving them pep talk. “Hm… Well”, I said mysteriously. “They are my Super Teacher powers, but it’s your decision!”. Then, after chatting about some super heroes, what made them cool and what their powers were, we carried out a brainstorming session in groups. Their task was to decide which good and evil powers the Super Teacher would have. At the end, volunteers wrote what their group had come up with on the board and later we discussed it as a class.

The results were as unexpected as the super hero intervention itself. Both the way they expressed their thoughts and what they said shocked me when it came to the evil powers. They said things like “the Super Teacher has the power to kill, bully, fuck, and kick students’ ass”. Besides being shocked with the language, I was puzzled because I found this both ironic and strange. On one hand they perceived the teacher as a dictator (A.K.A the enemy), but on the other hand, they didn’t give the teacher (A.K.A. me) any respect. After the brainstorming session was over, I told them that I liked having fun and interacting with them, that it’s a pleasure to be there and that I wasn’t the enemy. I explained that it was in my best interest that everyone shared that feeling but that it took discipline for us to be able have fun as a class. In addition, I took that opportunity to make my expectations clear to them and said that fowl language wouldn’t be tolerated, given that I knew they were gentlemen and gentlemen must behave as gentlemen.

Regarding the good powers, they suggested that the super teacher could have the power of “multiplication” and “morphing”, so we decided that there would be a few assistants in class (i.e., multiplication) and a student was going to be the teacher for ten minutes (i.e., morphing). These suggestions made me realize I had too much to do, besides being constantly busy doing too many things at once. This deprived me of my ability of thinking straight and led me to feel overwhelmed. It also showed me that they were willing to participate and get involved, despite what the situation might look like to me.

Two things deeply moved me and filled me with hope. They said the super teacher should put up with them and never give up. I was so surprised with what I read I could barely believe it. How could this be their expectations toward me if they behaved so badly all the time?

 Fortunately, everything is now much better. Due to the improvement of classroom management routines, there is more respect in class and we are now able to connect at a more personal level and they are also much more cooperative. In addition, lessons are ever less teacher-centered and peer teaching is highly encouraged. The former trouble makers are now engaged assistants, who are helpful and eager to cooperate. Being busy all the time definitely prevents them from feeling bored and getting off track.

They know I’m not willing to give up but I expect them to be at their best behavior in our classes. Respect is increasingly becoming commonplace and because the environment is much quieter and soothing, I feel that I can think properly during classes instead of feeling dizzy and panicky. That makes a lot of difference in my lessons. Sometimes it takes doing something unexpected to get surprisingly unexpected results. I’m glad I went with my gut.

This experience showed me that teenagers, despite putting their teachers to the ultimate test, are willing to cooperate if they feel they are being given consistent fair firm limits. Consistency, fairness, firmness and warmth are central for the teacher’s success in dealing with them.

Furthermore, delegating tasks keeps them busy, engaged and involved at the same time that it enables me to be fully present and monitor students more effectively. It gives me time to think quietly about what’s going on in the lesson and everything that implies like sudden changes to the lesson plan, timing activities, observing their behavior toward other classmates etc.

It’s amazing how awareness changed my perception of the world around me. Before these insights dawned on me, I used to get anxious (and secretly panic) because of misbehaviors in the classroom. I used to feel so hurt and disrespected that I never managed to call students’ attention effectively. I see that I used to give up easily.

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">However, these insights made me connect to my inner well of self confidence and I am now capable of dealing with disruptions on the spot, calmly and ever more firmly. I realized it’s not about being authoritative; at the end of the day it’s about being a facilitator of respect in the classroom. I have changed a lot since this happened. I’m focusing much more on planning the logistics of the lesson as if I were a stage manager working on a play. The role of the 2.0 teacher is to gather tools and dive into a journey toward student-centered instruction. **//QUESTIONS TO THE REVIEWER//** // 1) // // Do you think you need any supporting details to understand the story? // // 2) // // Are the transitions between ideas smooth enough? // // 3) // // Is it too informal? //  // 4) // // Should any paragraphs be split? // // 5) // // Is it too repetitive regarding my choice of words? //  // 6) // // Did you find it interesting to read? // // 7) // // Is my conclusion about the teacher’s role clear? //  // 8) // // Do you have any additional comments to make? //

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">**For those who are curious...**

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Well, first I asked them about their favorite super hero, what powers they had and why they were cool. Later, the students, in groups, brainstormed what good and evil powers the SUPER TEACHER could have. Then, volunteers wrote their suggestions on the board. Next, I gave my impressions on what they had come up with and we edited the list together. <span style="color: #800080; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">A student took a picture of the board and sent it to my email (I wanted to keep a souvenir of this lesson because right at the end of it I already felt nostalgic). <span style="color: #800080; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Remember that I let them write whatever came to their minds, write it on the board and only after that did I comment on it, OK? Don't be shocked with what you're going to see. <span style="color: #800080; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">I regret not having a picture of the final version =(





--->>> Hey guys, check out this TED talk: <span style="color: #7735b3; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">At TEDxDubai, longtime English teacher Patricia Ryan asks a provocative question: Is the world's focus on English preventing the spread of great ideas in other languages? (For instance: what if Einstein had to pass the TOEFL?) It's a passionate defense of translating and sharing ideas. <span style="color: #7735b3; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Patricia Ryan has spent the past three-plus decades teaching English in Arabic countries -- where she has seen vast cultural (and linguistic) change.

= **[|Is the world's focus on English preventing the spread of great ideas in other languages?]** =

<span style="color: #7735b3; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">>>> Hm... is it cheating to resort to my favorite companion? I love the OWL. Check it out! =**[|The Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL)]**=

=__**<span style="color: #7735b3; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Voicethread assignment **__=

media type="custom" key="11558972" __**<span style="color: #7735b3; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">voicethread assingment **__