The team just came from an intense two-conference in a day of back-to-back exhibits for the BC Math and Science teachers last month. I had planned for this article to go one way, but after experiencing the scarcitement, thrill, and nerves that the months-long preparation brought, I found myself with a bad sore throat that I knew I had to perform through. I was mindful of staying kind to myself when I needed, and was very grateful for my colleague, June Shi, for allowing me to nap and check out the other exhibits to get my body and spirits up.
As I was driving home from the BCScTA conference that afternoon, I realized that the exhaustion I felt must be what teachers experience each day! The excitement in the preparations, the thrill of engagement with the students, the community of educators–depending on the type of teacher you are, the end of the class day may bring that adrenaline crash that’s been carrying you through. I hear this especially when teachers still come in sick because they feel they can’t afford to take a leave, even for the day.
So before I get into the 3 physical things teachers can do to manage their classroom and keep their students engaged, I just wanted to commend every kind of teacher: the homeschooler, the tutor, the sub, the teacher assistant, the teacher, the parent providing support to their child, and any other I may have missed. Whatever effort you bring to the classroom, I tip my proverbial hat to you. Thank you from all of us at Scintillant because you are the reason we keep doing what we do!
In a recent interview of a First Peoples teacher, I learned about how due to the oral nature of their language, they will teach it through movement. I had been concerned with grammar, vocabulary, reading comprehension, and writing, but his response reminded me of the challenges in the Philippines of teaching Tagalog, or any of our other dialects because we, too, have an oral language and culture. Cast against both of these backstories, I offer to you, teachers, a few ways you can try when you see your class getting antsy, distracted, or just not gelling as you had hoped.
Some of you may wonder what age these apply to. I learned of these techniques from my university mentor at his talk on engaging students in the classroom for the K to 12 curriculum so you can tweak each of these depending on the subject. The first one is self-explanatory, but you can demonstrate it when you introduce yourself on the first day of class, or when you are subbing, etc. Then once students have introduced themselves, ask someone if they remember another classmate's name and see if it’s because of their movement.
The second can easily be done when you are teaching a story so whether you are introducing a new math or science lesson by providing a brief history or even creating a tableau of what boredom looks like, grouping your students and asking them to create a scene helps them get out of their desks, move, and engage with others. For LA or Socials, you can even have them act out the scene until you tell them to freeze and ask the class what a particular character’s movement communicates about what’s going on.
For the third one, I learned the hard way that you will need a hat or bowl where students can put the questions they have on pieces of paper, crumpling them, and then putting them in before you mix them up and another student may randomly pick one up for you or even they can answer, should the student know.
I hope these help you in your classrooms, dear teachers. From one former educator (who forever sees herself as an educator, whether to my children or to others in general, in terms of leading hopefully by a good example) to another, cheers to you for showing up for others. We hope our products take the load off your shoulders so you show up for yourself first.