That Darn Yankee and the Almost Mistake

Now, teaching about the Civil War in Virginia as a New Yorker is daunting. But teaching the Civil War for my CT who is an expert and has written books about it, is scarier. In my public school education up North, we spent maybe a week on the entire war. We are spending four weeks on it now. I’m in a whole new ball game.

Before Spring Break, I was teaching the differences between Northerners and Southerners in the Civil War. I came up with a way to creatively teach this in my own unique way. Since my CT was a true Virginian and I am a born and bred New Yorker, we decided to role play a Union and Confederate soldier. As Johnny Reb, my CT put on a confederate costume and talked about missing the plantation and his lack of education on his father’s tenant farm. As Billy Yank, I talked about how my father was an Irish immigrant and my sister worked in the Lowell textile mill. We both refined our accents and spoke in the true regional style.

By the fourth period doing this, my CT and I had this act down pat. I was comfortable with my old “non-teacher Sara speech,” relishing in the fact that my students were getting to see a new side of me. However, I got way too comfortable and turned off my teacher sensor. Somewhere in our act during fourth period, I began to say, “Us New Yorkers like to read magazines, newspapers, and all that other shi… stuff.” I almost cursed in front of the sixth graders. I almost died. I quickly pretended nothing happened and my CT and I continued with the act; on with the show.

I say this was an almost mistake, but really I am horrified that some of the students may have caught on. Luckily, no one said a word and we never heard from a parent. This was one of my biggest lessons that week. I learned that I must always assume the role model position and realized how easy it may be to slip out of it.

The Station Sensation -- Sara

Last Friday, I taught my first lesson using stations. We had a lesson on the Underground Railroad and the Abolitionist Reform Movement. I divided the classroom into 7 stations. At these stations, students were analyzing images and abolitionist propaganda, taking a Underground Railroad adventure on a National Geographic website, holding and analyzing artifacts that resemble life as a slave, and listening to a speech made by Frederick Douglass. I even had them read an excerpt from the slave narrative of Harriet Jacobs and created a simulation using a few blankets and a table where students had to crawl into and pretend they would hide there for seven years.

Although the preparation and the administration were exhausting, it was the best lesson I have taught yet. I recommend teaching stations because the students can focus on many different skills during one day. It is also a great way to accommodate for students with disabilities. There was a very limited amount of reading and writing. While working in cooperative groups, they were able to interact at the same pace with their peers.

Working in stations also got my students excited about learning the topic. They have never worked in stations in my CT’s classroom before. They were eager to identify with the historical persons we studied and asked many questions that showed they were thinking critically about the material. They were so excited after their class, they told other teachers about the lesson. Word spread around the school. By my fourth lesson, I had the librarian and media specialist taking pictures for the school newsletter, and four other Social Studies teachers came to check it out. One teacher even requested a copy of the lesson plan so they could use it next year! All my hard work had paid off.

Here are some recommendations I have for using stations in the classroom. Some are ideas I thought of, and others were hard lessons learned!

· Assign cooperative groups ahead of time. I was lucky to have thought of this before the lesson. As one person, it is hard to run around to seven stations discussing content, as well as worrying about discipline problems.
· Invite volunteer parents or other teachers into the classroom. I had one station where the students were so excited that they got a little silly. I was told after my lesson, that there is a volunteer list made of parents who are eager to come in and help. Our librarian also came in to help and she was delighted to be working in the classroom.
· Have something to do if students finish their station task early. I kept a list of discussion questions at the table that were relevant to the station content. This encouraged their learning and identification with the material, as well as kept them from finding something else to do for themselves (which is usually off task or bad behavior!).

Está Sobre La Magia - -Sara

On my first Friday of student teaching, we have an assembly to promote the student’s participation in the PTA fundraiser. They are going to sell magazines! There is a guest speaker from the company who is showing the students a bunch of different laser beams and stuffed pigs that walk around and oink which they can win for prizes. However, the ultimate prize is that if the students sell at least three magazine subscriptions they get to attend a magic show!

I am sitting next to a student during this assembly who is originally from the Dominican Republic. He and his mother moved to the United States just two years ago. The guest speaker plays a clip showing the magician throw a playing card that slices a carrot. Amidst all of the oohs and ahs of the student crowd, the boy sitting next to me grabs my arm. His eyes are wide open and a smile stretches from cheek to cheek! “A magic show!” he exclaims. “I have never been to a magic show!” He is so excited, and it seems like his dream has come true.

On the way back to the classroom, I see my Dominican student softly crying. I ask him what is wrong. He replies, “Last year, I couldn’t do the fundraiser because my Mom did not know what to do. I won’t get to the go to the magic show.” I did not have to ask that she would not know what to do because the directions are in English. She only speaks Spanish. It broke my heart to see his good spirits fall as he moped like a lost puppy down the hall. During my lunch break, I wrote out directions for his Mom in my best Spanish. I sought him out in the hallway and gave them to him. He was so happy and the light filled his eyes again! This magic show meant the world to him.

This experience was my own personal magic show. In school we learn about curriculum, instruction, and assessment as essential parts of a good instruction. I got so caught up in the important technicalities of teaching that I forgot why I wanted to become a teacher in the first place. It is the wonder and fascination that light up a student’s eyes that thrill me. It is moments like these that remind me why I wanted to be a teacher.

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