Thursday, April 23, 2009
THE QUESTION BOX
I put a question box on one of my classroom walls because students won't ask me questions with their mouths. I thought that the box would be a less intimidating way for people to unconfuse themselves. So far I'm wrong. Are teens intimidated in class and in athletics? Is that why they don't ask questions? Are they afraid of coaches and teachers or do they just think the coaches and teachers are imbeciles? I met a kid in the gym the other day with a "stupid stroke" (nice jumpshot). What a kid. He kept asking me questions the whole game. How do I guard one-on-one and not get beaten, how do I shoot the jumper from a full-speed dribble and on and on. Everyone should be so inquisitive. Maybe he's one of the few who actually want to improve in this world.
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2 comments:
Sometimes you just have to be there for your students. Turn yourself into a bridge, and invite them to cross. Sometimes they will, sometimes they wont!
Great teachers realize that what they have to offer isn't their grasp of the subject matter or their impressive credentials. It's themselves. Great teachers move from the object matter "out there" to the subject matter "in here." Great teachers don't pile information on their students. They get to their students. They get inside their students. . . Great teaching is always revelatory; it is soulwork; transformational more than informational.
Point taken and I agree. The ultimate objectives of teaching aren't content area stuff. It's the "soulwork" as you say for sure. But another challenge is making the classroom a safe place where students can ask questions about content and connections they make to it. School can be a hostile place just like the practice field, pool or court. Bleed in the water and the sharks (students or teachers) will devour. With questioning comes discovery so I'll take your tutelage to heart.
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