My Favorite Thing About Learning

I bet you did not see that coming from a teacher did you?!

Okay, so growing up, pizza parties or any class celebration was a great goal. Even now, free food in the staff workroom? Yes, please!

What do lunch, parties, and staff workrooms have in common? (Besides food; that one is too obvious) People!

My favorite thing about learning is the people. In school growing up, I was able to talk and work with friends. We built off of each other’s ideas, and it helped me work out my energy as a chatterbox. I did still get in trouble for talking too much or too loud though :).

Now as a teacher, I ask my fellow teachers to clarify or back me up on tough handwriting when grading an assignment, get new ideas for activities, learn new tech shortcuts (or help others with shortcuts I use all the time), and I learn from my students, too!

Every year is different because I have new students, typically I have a new course load or ratio of 3 Algebra classes this time instead of 2, etc. The students ask different questions and think differently every year. I have to adjust my teaching instruction to go faster, slower, introduce new questions, rephrase concepts, use new graphics to demonstrate the concept, find new resources online that are being created every day, and the list can go on and on! Students also show me new tricks or ways they remember things. I learned the “fancy staple” my first year teaching from a student, and I use it every year.*

Before we hit on the student side, let’s think about online classes, too. I completed my Masters in Mathematics all online. Granted, I went through my alma mater from my undergraduate degree, so I knew the professors already. I did NOT know most of my fellow students though. In higher level math courses, study groups are essential. Most classes encourage them and allow rotating scribes who write out the final draft of your homework for the group. See? Even in COLLEGE, people are learning from each other and growing with each other.

Now we will apply that to your own K-12 school.

Do you have a class or two with a good friend? Or even a semi-friend (I had a lot of those in high school when everyone had a job and no time to hang out after school)? Do you think you learn more in those classes or less?

Do you have classes where there is that one student who always gets everyone off task? Or seems to ask useless questions? Do you think you learn more in those classes or less?

I can think of several classes that fit all of these requirements, and I can see some students being more successful in one than the other and vice versa. Everyone is in a different situation and thinks differently. I had a student who asked such advanced questions in Algebra 1, that he technically got us off task, but he was also respectful and was okay when I hinted to why we are learning this basic concept and moved on. Other classes, a student will ask a question that was already answered three times and earn multiple disbelieving glances from their peers before we continue back on task. Friends are awesome in a class together when at least one understands the lesson super well and can teach it in a different way to their friends, but they can also be distractions where no one else can learn.

What can you do if you are in a class that seems stuck because of those friends and other relationships?

- Email your teacher or stay after class to talk about your concerns

- Ask for a new seat

- Ask those scholars to be silent or remind them to focus (I used a silent hand signal to do this and encouraged students to use it on their peers as a reminder to refocus)

- Think about something positive about yourself. You ARE intelligent! You ARE strong enough to ask a question (raising your hand or emailing later or asking your parents at home). You ARE kind enough to think of others first and help someone who needs it. What else makes you valuable to your school and family?

- Challenge: What if YOU asked another question that got the class back on task? What if YOU worked ahead on the questions (as applicable) or reading and could answer the next question to get class moving faster and on track?What if YOU formed a study group outside of school to review strategies and thoughts on homework (not copying word for word, but discussing ideas together and doing your OWN work)?

What other ways can you help create the classroom you want? What things have you learned from people in your classes? Email me to let me know at punnymathteacher@gmail.com.

*The “fancy staple” is really just a paper staple, but you take your pieces of paper (not the ones coated in plastic), dog ear fold the top corner down about an inch. Then, tear two tears down that fold about ½” down and ½” apart from each other. You should now have a tab that you can fold down to keep the papers together without needing a traditional stapler!