Once the 3rd graders (age 16) at my middle school completed their final exams back in the fall, their focus shifted to applying for high schools. I had the frustrating experience of teaching these understandably unmotivated students after their final exams. But with the COVID-19 situation, they shifted to online study and I hadn't seen them since late November.
The 3rd graders were back at school for their final week of middle school. They received their admissions to high school and were just wrapping up a few things before the graduation ceremony on Friday. Several classes were cancelled for special events but I did have to teach 3 classes this week.
I was really excited to see these students again after several months away but I struggled to decide what to teach them. On the one hand, it's been so long since we've had class together, I thought I should do a proper lesson so they could finally have some face-to-face education. Also, I thought, maybe I should do something memorable and nice for the last class so they would leave the school on a high note. On the other hand, I knew that the students would be unmotivated, so perhaps I shouldn't expect anything from my last classes.
I had a lesson prepared from earlier in the term that I thought was pretty fun. It was a song-based lesson. We would learn the lyrics and the meaning of the song "Ain't that a Shame" by Fats Domino. The class concludes with a group sing-along. The lesson was successful with my boys classes. So, I made a few modifications to the lesson and was satisfied that I was prepared for my final class with the 3rd graders this week.
I like to have my lessons prepared well in advance of the lesson, but the night before my class I wasn't feeling right about teaching a song. I was concerned the lesson called for too much participation from the students. I suspected that their motivation would be at an all-time low, especially my first class which was scheduled for the first period of the day.
I decided to scrap the song idea and just try to play a game with the students. I did a little warm-up by asking the students some basic questions like "Are you excited for high school?" Then we played a game called Three Kingdoms. Essentially students needed to move through the map to catch all three kingdoms. If they wanted a space on the board occupied by another team, they challenged them to Rock, Paper, Scissors, and the winner took the space.
When I played this game at the boys school, the students were incredibly competitive and passionate about the game. This time, it was excruciating trying to get students to play, but after a while, they seemed to get the hang of it and at least the game had a good flow and was somewhat entertaining. I'm glad that I decided to change my lesson plan.
If nothing else this year, I learned to become more comfortable as a teacher when facing the wall of silence from my students. It's incredibly awkward and frustrating being in front of a non-participatory group of students, but now I know I can handle it.
What I will miss most about these 3rd graders is that while it was often difficult to elicit their participation, their English speaking abilities were the highest of my students this year. So, when I had a chance to speak with them more casually in the hallways during lunch, we had a really nice connection. The COVID-19 pandemic really hamstrung my efforts to get to know the students, but when that opportunity was available, it was a real highlight of my year.
Year one is in the books and many lessons have been learned. I'll apply these lessons in year two and hope for the best.
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