Mr. P's Pedagogical Workbench

First, make sure you pee. If anything else, don’t neglect your bladder. What you think you can hold at the beginning of a read-aloud could change three...no two paragraphs in.             After that’s taken care of, make sure you confer with your MT.             What? Read? Oh! Yeah. No problem.             Remember those last two words: No problem .             Remember them when you walk—slightly hungover—to the front of the class, a book in hand that you haven’t even opened once this semester. Although, don’t worry. They don’t know that. Look at them. They probably think you worship the works of this author. Whoever it is. Shakespeare? Turn the book around. Oh, Faulkner. Breathe.             Wipe the sw...

My class just finished reading the novel Lord of the Flies (1954) by William Golding. As a proverbial cherry on top for the unit, my MT (Mentor Teacher) and I decided to show them the film adaptation. You know, the black and white arthouse flick from the 60s? Yeah, that one. Anyways, we decided to show them the film because we both felt that the students had a somewhat hard time engaging with the text. Retrospectively, we felt there was a missing sense that the students were being deprived of: we realized that students had a hard time connecting to Golding’s images. Wanting to adhere to notions of dual-coding (that is delivering information in visual and verbal formats) we decided to allow real images (i.e. the film) to help build their understanding of the novel, the setting, the characters, etc. Reading through a pedagogical text, I was surprised to see this notion supported: “[films, video, etc.] serve as parallel texts that lay thematic content alongside the writer’s ideas in pri...

For attending my first ever Kansas Association of Teachers of English (KATE) Conference, all I can say is what a blast I had. It was truly amazing to learn from an eclectic band of teachers, educators, and authors. All of their insights seemed to broach old topics I’ve reflected on in a new way. For example, who would have guessed to implement a serialized podcast as a substitute for a whole-class read to further engagement? I didn’t, and with that notion all I can say is that the KATE Conference surprised me session after session. Before divulging into the sessions I attended, I want to make a few notes about the conference’s aesthetic and professionalism. The overall structure of the conference was calm, elegant, and concise. Due to a wonderfully paced agenda, time never felt wasted or prolonged: the sessions all started and ended according to plan. In regards to the professionalism, everybody I met at the conference welcomed my questions and appearance with open, warm, and cons...

Walking into my second lesson for my unit over Lord of The Flies (1954), by William Golding, I couldn’t have been more excited. Riding off a pedagogical high of excitement and energy from my last lesson, I expected this one to keep that same momentum. The morning started off great. Students still had my last lesson resonating in their heads as we conferred, and some were ready to jump right into the text— their eyes feasting on the island . However, as I situated the class dynamic for the reading of this novel, a whole-class read, I slowly realized an error in my instruction. Now, sitting by my laptop days later, and having my “teacher of the year” mug glower at me, I realize that I made a boring lesson.             Yeah, that’s right. It was a boring lesson. Essentially, I made all of the students follow along with the help of an audiobook as I had them sit in their small, compartmentalized desks. Going into the class, I figur...

The night is young, and I don’t know where to begin. The stacks of papers and files on my desk, provided by my MT, infiltrate my mind like an army, each soldier stepping on some part of my brain with steel-toed boots. Sitting by my desk, I try to solve the case of what I’m going to do for my first lesson. Being a rookie, and having the baby face to prove it, I’ve never tackled something like this before; I’ve never led my own investigation. Thumbing through my MT’s papers, struggling to make sense of them, I realize I will never get the answers I’m looking for if I keep working my brain into the ground. Standing up from the clutter— my clutter —I grab my trench coat and head for the door. My MT, working hard on her own investigation, asks me where I’m going.             “Need some fresh air, boss. Be back in a few,” I say.             Focused, like always, she waves m...

Before any project can truly begin, you have to look at the blue print . You have to look at the anatomy of what you’re building— fostering —and see if that’s conducive to your purpose. As for the educator, just like the architect or builder, they have to be intentional when it comes to the design and layout of their classroom.             For many years, and even in my earlier education courses, I always thought the classroom construction activity to be arbitrary in relation to effective teaching. However, it wasn’t until I started to take notes in my CT’s (Cooperating Teacher’s) class— which I encourage every prospective educator to do so —that I began to notice something of spatial importance. Just from my observations alone, my CT was able to get to who she needed quick, effectively model ( like Cheryl Urbanski encourages us all to to ), and allow space for fewer distractions in the class. Seeing all of this, and really fe...

The creaky door opens, the light-switch turns on, and the few hesitant steps towards the workbench begin. Standing there, you look at all the instruments on the wall feeling overwhelmed. All shiny, they stare at you—awaiting there implementation. However, before you can reach out and grab the instruments, you have to plan your project right…you have to goal set.               My first three goals for this upcoming school year center upon the ideas of growth and consistency . My first goal for this year is to enrich my interpersonal skills when working with students. Being an AVID Tutor in the schools for a while, I am used to being in classrooms with students as an auxiliary means of help, and not necessarily a main figure of educating. As I cross that bridge into becoming a “main educator,” I want to apply myself in listening to student problems and being able to adapt and troubleshoot complications that arise in their ...