So Much For That

We’ve been reading this novel in language arts, and today my students were supposed to pull out one significant thing from the story and explain why it’s important in the book and how it relates to their own lives. I explained that they could pick something one of the characters said in the book (quote), something one of the characters actually did in the book (action), or something that happened to the characters (event). My first class seemed to struggle with what to choose, so I went further and told them to think about the stuff that I made a big deal about while we were reading the book together. I figured this was a good way to work in a little self-depracation while jogging their memories, and it worked. One of my students raised his hand and said, “You mean like when you stop the reading to ask a bunch of questions about what just happened?” This was exactly what I meant, and the rest of the class started volunteering things that I had apparently pointed out during the reading.

This worked so well that I used the same explanation again in my other two classes. My second class did well, like the first, and came up with several ideas. It was my last class that presented the problem. I went through my explanation, and when they gave me the usual blank looks, I used the same line about ideas from the book that I made a big deal of when we were reading. As I looked out at my class, I could see that there were no light bulbs going on, no “ah has” happening. So I used what the student in my first class had said to try to help them – “You know, when I stop the reading to ask you a bunch of questions about what just happened?” I could see some recognition in a few faces, and I thought maybe they were finally getting it. Then the student who typically sits closest to me during class said, in a loud and soul-crushing manner, “Wait… You mean we were supposed to be paying attention to you when you do that?”

*Before posting this, I went back and read my previous post in which my students actually remembered things I'd taught them. Argh... It makes this post even more aggravating (hence the title).