Crickets and Chaos

It seems as I venture into the common core and mathematical practices I am running up against moments that I call crickets and others that are chaos. These are probably obvious names, and probably things many of you have experienced in your own classrooms. Crickets, those times when you pose a question and the room is so silent you can hear your own heart beating. And chaos, those times when the room is so boisterous you can't hear your own thoughts.

Now, I'm not promoting either of these as negatives, per se. I'm merely noticing and wondering more about my own teaching practice as I ask students to notice and wonder about math. Crickets can be uncomfortable. For me I find them a little challenging, particularly because I'm a talker... and I don't like awkward silences. I am running into crickets more often now because when asking students to think deeper about the math a number of things happen.

First, it takes time to think critically. It takes effort, energy and at least a brief moment to synthesize new information (and maybe more than a brief moment). But it is necessary, so the pause is necessary. You cannot expect students to be critical thinkers without allowing them time to think. This is where I struggle. I must maintain a closed mouth position and give students the time they need to process what I've asked, because I am asking "meatier" questions than I have in years past.

Second, the students have been accustomed to waiting for the answer. For some it is a waiting game in which they know if they hold out long enough the answer will be provided. You may even get the "can't you just tell us?". They were trained that the teacher knows everything and they must wait, mouths agape, to take in the knowledge that is being imparted. As the common core has highlighted, this is not the way learning happens. There is some retraining that must take place. This takes patience. Patience on the part of the teacher, as I wait for the students to realize a question still lingers unanswered in the ether of my room. We must wait for students to snap out of the Stepford behaviors of years past, and learn to engage with the material in a new and often challenging way.

As for the chaos, I have come to realize that learning is loud. This is not always the case, but it takes discussion. Sometimes students have quiet "a-ha" moments. But in a group setting there is bound to be noise. When you ask students to work together, wonder, notice and share these things don't happen quietly. I'd like to believe I have a controlled chaos occurring in my classroom, but is the nature of chaos, it is unpredictable. It goes in places I can't anticipate and classroom management becomes a challenge. I struggle to improve my management skills to prevent a full blown classroom breakdown (of course, I'm exaggerating). However, there is a new set of skills that must be learned on the part of the teacher and the student in order to have the chaos be controlled.

I must be able to plan and set up an activity in a way that the flow and tasks are engaging. But as any classroom teacher knows, engaging activities only gets you so far. You can lead a horse to water but you cannot make him drink is an old expression but an apt one. At some point students must also learn that they have to engage with the material and not just expect to be entertained every 90 minutes. There is a give and take in learning that they have yet to experience in quite the same way. I am not looking for compliance in my classroom in terms of sitting up straight, facing the board and taking notes. I am looking for willingness to be a part of a learning experience