Day Twenty-Nine

For those of you just tuning in, "This Guy is Falling" follows the educational exploits of Mr. Birds-Eye, a teacher in his third year of teaching, traditionally the make or break year in the profession. Fearing that he had finally reached his wits end, Birds-Eye decided to write a blog in hopes that he could reboot his year by focusing on the positives of the profession.


And I'm glad to report that it's been working.


Had my juniors write short paragraphs (a topic sentence, one concrete detail, and some commentary that backs up their assertion).

Giving these types of assignments can be risky. More times than not what you get is a bunch of half baked, poorly written papers  that are just a grade above toilet paper.

In short, the kids don't care about the assignment, and their papers reflect that.

But I'm of the belief that they can do better.

See that's positive!

Since they really don't care what I think. I make them read their papers in front of the class to an audience that they do care about-- they're peers!

Guess what? Nine times out of ten, their papers are leaps and bounds better than what they would have turned into me if they thought I was the only one reading them.

Now some people might say, "That's cruel! These kids must be scared out of their minds!"

Yeah, some of them are. And guess what? They're going to have to get over it. Let's face it folks, when they get out in the real world-- it's sink or swim time. And they're going to have to learn how to present themselves in front of people. Be it in a corporate boardroom or from behind a cash register, asking "Can I take your order?"

Now invariably they make mistakes, but isn't that what they're in school for? Making mistakes is a key component of learning.

Excuse me, while I step off my soapbox....

Now don't worry. Before they begin their presentations I reassure them that there is nothing wrong with making mistakes. And when they really look at it making a grammatical mistake in front of the class really isn't that bad.

I mean, no one is going to call them out a party and say, "He doesn't know how to properly execute a subordinate clause!"

And if someone does, you're at the wrong party, kid.

This always gets a laugh and then we begin.

While they're reading their essays, I critique them and ask them to fix their mistakes on the spot.

Here's an excerpt from today:

INT. CLASSROOM - DAY

A Student READS his PAPER in front of the Class.

Student - The students that talked to Bernard...

Teacher - The students who talked to Bernard...Can you please correct that?

Student - I don't have a pen.

Girl - I have one.

She begins to THROW a PEN to the Student.

Teacher - Don't throw a sharp object at him.

Girl - Sorry.

The Girl CLICKS the Pen and TOSSES it to the Student.

Everyone, including the Teacher, LAUGHS!

END SCENE

And that in a nutshell is why I still like teaching.

Signing off.

Birds-Eye