The Twilight Zone

Do you feel that sometimes you’re living in another dimension that’s not of this world? I have been for the past couple of weeks. No, I haven’t been captured by aliens, and they’re not controlling my mind. (I was born this weird!) Let’s rewind the film and start from the beginning.

It was a typical, blistering-hot Texas summer day. August 17, 2010, to be exact. I wasn’t at the pool, relaxing with a nice cold beverage and a steamy, hot romance novel. Instead there I sat, in an uncomfortable, hard chair in the middle of a cold lecture room, pretending to listen to the now forgotten speaker. I noticed some teachers texting on their iPhones. Several were doodling or day-dreaming. I swear a coach was taking a siesta while sitting upright with eyes wide open! In our defense, the presentation was running into its second hour, without a break in sight. We were like shaken up bottles of Coke, bubbling underneath, ready to explode at any moment. I made a promise to myself right then and there that I would try my best not to subject my students to such torture.

In my mind, I have always been able to logically reason out why group work was the more effective pedagogy for learning and retaining information. Sadly my heart didn’t believe in it. I didn’t have faith. I had been scarred by bad experiences: Below par grade based on the work, or lack thereof, from slacking group members, wasted time that didn’t contribute to the students’ intellectual growth or well-being. In short, a classroom management nightmare.

However, this year I bit the bullet and dived right in to group work. To my very pleasant surprise, it went without a hitch. Student stayed on task, encouraging and supporting one another. Learning from each other. I was most proud of my 7th period pre-algebra class. I used a collaborative method referred to as ‘the jigsaw’ where each table studied a specific algebraic property. The groups would rotate from station to station, leaving one member from each group behind to stay at their initial table, thus becoming the “expert” while the other group members traveled to the other tables to learn about the rest of the properties. At the end, these travelers returned to home base and were charged with teaching the expert the properties he/she missed out on.

One of my students, let’s call him “Danny”, blew my socks away! He’s your typical passive student who won’t cause trouble, but won’t participate or turn in any assignments either. On this particular day, Danny was the expert on the Multiplicative Property of Zero. He knew it backwards and forwards, could recite it in his dreams, and was able to perfectly articulate its defining attributes. I saw a sparkle in his eyes that wasn’t there before. Danny has since starting sitting up with pride and has even occasionally turned in an assignment or two. (Old habits are hard to break.)

That same day Becky emailed me and asked how my classes were going. Bursting with enthusiasm, I told Becky all about the day’s little treasures. As soon as I pressed the SEND button to my email reply, I immediately feared that the day’s events were all a fluke, something too good to be true. I didn’t tell another soul about my miraculous experience, not even my husband. A few days later, my Pre-Algebra classes participated in yet another collaborative group effort. Again, it played out as I had envisioned it. My confidence was slowly building.

My Algebra students were starting to get jealous that they didn’t have as many hands-on, out-of-your seat activities. Noticing the supplies neatly laid out, “Jerry” excitedly bounced into class and asked if they were for today’s lesson. I had to burst his bubble and tell him that they were for the Pre-Algebra classes. I am now more mindful to try to set up more discovery lessons for all my courses. Today the Algebra students did a gallery walk where each group contributed to solving consecutive integer word problems. I am happy to report that “Jerry” was pleased.

As for Danny, he chose to write his essay last Friday on the Multiplicative Property of Zero. He continues to amaze me. I can’t wait to see what he has to offer next.

I don’t know if this is all real, whether I’m going to wake-up soon and realize that it’s been a dream. Whatever the case may be, I’m going to enjoy the show while it lasts!