Words Matter: Teacher Language and Student Learning by Glazer Susan Mandel Ed.D

Author:Glazer, Susan Mandel, Ed.D [University, Susan Mandel Glazer Rider]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Published: 2014-01-07T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Four

Sharing Control with Children: On the Way to a Student-Centered Classroom

It is with a word as with an arrow—once let it loose and it does not return.

—Abdelkader, Algerian religious and military leader (1807–1883)

“Be quiet and stop running around,” shouted the third-grade teacher, as she and her class waited for the doors of the Rose Planetarium to open. This teacher, twenty-seven students, and four parent escorts had already spent three hours touring the Museum of Natural History. The planetarium was their final stop at this New York City cultural center. The children, already tired from walking and listening to tour guides, had had enough. They were restless, hungry, and, like the adults, needed a break. They had been told not to do the following:

• sit on the floor

• break the line (they were lined up like slats in a picket fence)

• talk to each other

• yawn

• jitter in their seats

In other words, they were not to be human children. Even worse, this teacher directed the youngsters not to do all of these things while she was doing them herself! Although she did not sit on the floor, she broke the line, talked to parents and other teachers, yawned out loud, and got up and down from the bench several times, remarking, “I’m tired from waiting so long, and I have to walk around because I’m restless.” When the children did some of the same things, she reminded them, “Remember how we are supposed to behave!”

Ask yourself if you would be able to sit still, stay in line, keep quiet, and be wide awake after three hours in a museum. Telling children to do what you don’t expect of yourself is hypocrisy, and nothing less. One very bright child who couldn’t sit still had the courage to ask the teacher why they had to stay in line when there were so many seats. “Because it’s not polite,” she responded. Children model their behaviors after those to whom they are entrusted. It’s a sure bet that these youngsters will say, very loudly at a propitious moment, “Be quiet!”

FOCUSING ON THE NEGATIVE

Society seems to pay more attention when negative events are shared. This is so well demonstrated by our tastes. More newspapers sell when headlines reveal “Woman Murdered While Taking Out the Garbage” or “Multiple Sclerosis Finally Did Her In.” Opposition seems to coerce more people to read the paper than when a headline announces “Vaccine Discovered That Prevents the Common Cold!”

Shel Silverstein is probably one of the most popular poets in the world. Most of his poetry focuses on abuse, the unfortunate, trivial failures, being alone, and more. He thrives on the negative. I’ve written the following poem in Silverstein’s style:

A Bouquet of Flowers to Celebrate

The flowers could be pretty,

The flowers could be dull,

The flowers could be man-eating,

You know how you can tell?

Put your finger in the middle

And If you feel a sting,

You know that you have lost them,

Your finger and your ring.

Many of you probably reacted by thinking, “Cute.” Is it,

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