Scene 1: New teacher faced with a room full of ninth graders none too keen on a boring punctuation unit. Students look at her askance, suspicious. New teacher smells mutiny in the air.
Scene 2, later that night: New teacher toils into the wee hours, researching teaching techniques. Eureka! moment arrives at 3am.
Scene 3: Bleary-eyed new teacher introduces the Punctuation Olympics, a week-long team competition incorporating art, drama, creative writing, collaborative learning, lessons taught by students, and a flurry of handouts and instructions. Oh, and some punctuation. Students are at once stunned, delighted, and horrified.
And well they should have been. Horrified, that is. Although my intentions were good, I made more than a few rookie mistakes, and in the end, I learned more about teaching and how students learn than the students learned about punctuation.
Just so you know it wasn’t a total loss, the unit did result in a few wonderful creations, including:
- a perfectly metered ballad of the dastardly duel at dawn between a colon and a semi-colon
- an oil painting homage to the misunderstood comma and all its (mis)uses
- a dramatic performance, complete with props and costumes, of the sword fight scene from Romeo and Juliet in which Mercutio and Tybalt were replaced by double and single quotation marks, with the apostrophe playing the part of Paris. The genius of this one brought tears to my eyes.
And somewhere amid the chaos, the unit also gave students some other valuable multisensory learning experiences, including:
- creative writing
- artistic interpretation of concepts
- public speaking
- critical thinking
- group problem solving
The only thing the Punctuation Olympics didn’t teach well was punctuation. Though the unit was no doubt memorable, I’m pretty sure that the students retained little, if any, of the information about commas and semicolons.
But does that mean learning can’t be fun? Not at all! Let’s take a look at the three major mistakes I made and see how I could have modified them to ensure that students retained the information I wanted them to learn.
Rookie Mistake #1: Too much information in too short a time
- In six 40-minute lessons, I attempted to cover the rules and uses of six punctuation marks, including all the nuances of the comma.
- Students were bombarded each day with new rules for a new punctuation mark.
- Material was presented by student groups (each responsible for one concept) rather than by the authoritative voice of the teacher, resulting in noisy and disorganized lessons.
The Fix: Present one concept at a time in incremental lessons
- Since there was no pressing need to teach all punctuation marks at the same time, I could have easily spread the unit out over the semester, or even the entire year.
- Focusing on one concept at a time would allow students to absorb and practice the new rules before moving on to a new concept.
Rookie Mistake #2: Sensory overload
- At any given time, different groups of students were drawing, writing, performing, and teaching. While the activities themselves were useful, there were simply too many going on at one time, resulting in a chaotic learning environment.
- The unit, which was based on collaborative learning, did not take into consideration the learning style of students who work best alone.
The Fix: Chill out!
- I would keep all of the activities, but use them more judiciously and in a more organized way.
- Add a good helping of individual study and activities.
Rookie Mistake #3: No review!
- After a week of hard work, much of it enthusiastic if confused, we ended the Punctuation Olympics with a final “review” session in the form of a few high-spirited rounds of Punctuation Jeopardy. And then we never spoke of it again.
- What was I thinking?!
The Fix: Continual review of past concepts
- Spreading the lessons out over a longer period would have given me plenty of time to work in short review lessons and activities for each concept.
- Continual review would have ensured that the information entered the student’s long-term memory–instead of just going in one ear and out the other!
If, on that long ago night when I typed my fingers raw on the unit handouts, I had been able to speak to my future self and give her this advice, I’m sure my students would have ended the year remembering how to use commas instead of how to draw them.
Luckily, ninth graders are some of the sweetest people on the planet, and they willingly forgave me for the punctuation fiasco. I just hope their tenth-grade teachers did, too.
About Renée LaTulippe
This made me laugh and also brought to mind several times when I have done that with my own children in our homeschool, thankfully for me, I can just go back and recover what they don’t remember.
Though I have to say – the moments when my own teachers did things like you did in your example are what made me love them and in spite of what you might think they probably learned more valuable lessons then how to appropriately use punctuation. Plus I am sure you made up for it in subsequent lessons.
Blessings
Sharon
I can relate to this so well. I am a bit of a planning over acheiver. I want to do and teach everything, I want to have done it yesterday, meaning I always feel behind and like I need to pile it on faster today. It has been a work in progress to break me of that habit and focus on little bits more often, and to realize that less is more much of the time. Thank you for the laugh and the reminder of what not to do :)
The more we teach, the less students have to learn. We need to have 3 points to every lesson: 1) teach for the concept/skill/information, 2) teach the emotional/spiritual intelligence component, and 3) teach the students how to learn & investigate for themselves — they’re not going to have us by their sides the rest of their lives.
I have been there, done that, many times. The good news is that we (hopefully) learn from our mistakes. Truthfully, they should have learned about the comma just about every year of school, so they may not have been as “damaged” by you and you’d think! LOL
I can relate, I am an education student and in my lessons always trying to think outside the box and get away from the traditional. Most often I get too far out into left field and end up with something like you just described! Thanks!
I believe teaching isn’t all about “getting it in” all at once but catching my attention enough to be willing to build on what has been learnt…alone…when no teacher…or parent is pushing.
I remember the fun from my fun teachers. Your teaching technique will bring punctuation all alive as i read every page of my novel, textbook, magazine, no, no, no i can’t miss them!! The comers, question marks, exclamation marks…. yes, the smile lights up my face as i master and learn daily “the apropriate use” of my punctuations which i designed in your class!!
I personally want to see your lesson plans for the punctuation Olympics!!! Granted that activities need to be spread out over a longer period, it still sounds like a lot of fun ways to get the kids involved. I am always on the lookout for new and different ways to teach the Dewey Decimal system and this sounds like it might have some possibilities.
Oh, I’m guilty of this–information overload–when I teach my daughter. But you had such a creative idea!
easy mistake – I got my degree in elem. ed. years ago and to take all they teach you is great teaching and try to apply it – well. . . Nice ideas but lets put it in the real world. Sometimes simple is really the best. I was very glad to be working as a teacher’s aid for a freshly graduated teacher. I got to learn from all her mistakes. And she was “doing all we had learned”.
Oh so guilty of this, too! I can tell my son is on overload when his eyes go buggy, lol! Thanks for the reminder… and “Puncutation Olymics” sounds fun!
Thanks for the suggestion! Hmm…I may just dig those lesson plans out of the dusty corner they’re in and do something with them! I think the Olympics model could be used for all sorts of content, but it does take a LOT of planning and classroom organization. And of course, all things in moderation, as I learned. :)
We’ve been using really “simple” science experiments in our homeschool group and I’ve been amazed at how much my kids are learning. I thought they needed all flash and glitter but really; simple is better.
Mistake #2 Sensory overload. It just ran through my mind that sensory overload is happening in my homeschool with having 9 different aged kids in the house. Thanks for the thought. I will have to ponder how to correct that.
I think I have issues with the sensory overload mistake! I try to add all sorts of things that I think will make the learning fun, but end up going overboard. Simpler may be better!
I think I went the other extreme when I was a new teacher teaching grammar and writing to middle school students. We drilled and did all sorts of worksheets and writing activities. There wasn’t much creativity or multi-sensory activity going on. Looking back, there should definitely be a balance!
While you saw that as a disaster, your students probably will look back at it as one of their favorite activities in HS:) I incorporate as much art, speaking and competition as possible in our homeschooling adventure. There have been a lot of flops, but the fact remains that we keep on keeping on. Thanks for your candid- and fun-article!
I agree, I have found if I teach a little at a time, it “sticks” better. Thx
I have so been there. I was a classroom teacher for 15 years before homeschooling. Now I’m trying to get the classroom mentality out of homeschooling; there is a significant difference between the two. I tend to embellish and I appreciate the reminder to simplify and give more of myself to my kids. The advantage to teaching at home is there is no district mandate to meet…just mastery at my child’s own pace!
Good reminder!
I get so excited about all the things I want to teach my kids that this happens to me sometimes :) They respond better to simple things! I guess this concept is true whether you’re teaching a whole classroom, or just your own kids in your own home!
I too have been guilty of too much, too soon, without enough review. I have learned that when I slow down, and cover a concept more than once, my kids retain the information far better!
This is so funny. I was an education major and spent hours trying to make learning fun. It took a wise professor my senior year to point out the error of my ways. I remember specifically preparing a unit on bears for kindergarten that really had nothing to do with learning about bears. It was simply a hook to hang counting and snack ideas on. I am now so happy homeschooling my kids. If we want to learn about bears, we read and go to the zoo. :)
I tend to try to include too much to keep it interesting (maybe for me?) and to try to reach my son in every way possible. It is a good reminder that if 9th graders need to take one thing at a time and need much review, then how much more so for my special needs son? Thanks for sharing your mistakes as well as your fixes!
You’re so right, “Less is more.”
I would like to see this group specialize in inductive lesson organization instead of the old, archaic deductive lesson model. There is almost no teaching of the inductive process in the teacher colleges, and a complete lack of the training in professional development programs. This Venus would be a perfect place to light the fuse on inductive teaching.
I have read other blogs that encourage this sort of thing, but I found it too also be overwhelming for both my kids and myself. Thank you for bringing light to this technique and helping keep things simple. When will AAS write an All About Grammar?
That’s so funny! I can’t even count the number of times that I’ve been surprised by how much better my simplest, shortest ideas work out. I need to get “less is more” tattooed on my forehead. ;-)
LOL! As a homeschool mom, I am often tempted by trying to make lessons “fun”. And it is so easy to go overboard! Thanks for sharing.
This post really reminds me of myself. I have done many of those mistakes, this first year of homeschooling, and I really appreciate the fixes you posted!
I love this! I am guilty of similar things. But love the ideas and suggestions that you gave!
I’m also guilty of overload. We’ve taking it slowly these days and doing lots of reviews with games. Thanks for the suggestions.
Review is so valuable!
yes, I relate to some of these rookie mistakes…
This post is so funny!!! I have a teaching degree and spent a few years teaching before getting married, having children and now Homeschooling. My philosophy of Education has changed drastically in the last two years of teaching my own daughter. I often think back to things I did and thought as a new teacher and wonder why anyone trusted their childs education to me!!! I can’t tell you how many times I had such a great spring board that I totally lost my students on the concept I was trying to teach. LOL!!! I hope my former students will forgive me too!!!
I agree also. It is better to move slowly through material and little bits at a time to form mastery rather them just memorize rules for a test. If information is jammed in things will be memorized rather then learned and soon forgotten once the test is over. I have seen my daughter go from memorizing to actually learning since we began homeschooling.
Thanks for sharing! I’ve made plenty of Rookie Teacher mistakes, but all my stories are boring!
This is why I love AAS. I can add in lots of multisensory games and fun activities but we can’t get off track or overloaded because the review is built into each lesson.
My 5 year old was going happily along, playing on a reading program on the computer. I wanted it to be more productive, so I added in the additional supplemental worksheets. He ran! And will not even go near the online reading program he once loved. Lesson Learned. Less is More.
Less is most definitely more thanks for the reminder. Maybe one of these days I won’t be a rookie LOL
Always keep some of the rookie in you. I started teaching 50 years ago this month, and I still consider myself a rookie. Keep finding things that are new. Don’t ever think you really know what you’re doing. Resist becoming stagnant.
Thanks Dr. Mike for the sage comments! I appreciate your humility and the spurring on towards growth rather than stagnation. These are lessons we need to be reminded of. Do we ever arrive?
This was very helpful! I am in the process of becoming a teacher and I can EASILY see myself doing something like this. Except I probably would have never actually executed the plan because I tend to think of these overly elaborate ideas that become far to big to actually complete. Ha! I’ll have to remember to CHILL OUT!
I loved this post! Actually, I am not guilty of this method of teaching. I feel guilty that I keep it too simple and I don’t make more of an effort to make it fun and make it cross various subjects. I guess there is a balance between the two.
I can relate to this. I have had to learn the hard way to think outside the box with a struggling learner. Now, he’s more independent and is catching on quickly….it does pay off to do your own homework!
Found this post very humorous and easy to relate to! I can’t wait to share this with my teacher friends!
I’ve done something like this before. Great”horse and pony show” for the observation day with your principal! You’re right, though, it doesn’t teach much. Great blog!
Thank you for such insight!!
I look back at my first year teaching and cringe.
I look back at my first year homeschooling and cringe.
I look back at last week and cringe as well.
Thank goodness my little students are so forgiving, and that I’m passionate enough about it to keep learning!
I loved this! I am really big on projects and centers in my math classroom and can think of examples of the issues you listed! haha. My poor first year kids!
Oh my! This brings back memories of my first year. When it was time for my principal to do observations, I did this wonderful felt board lesson with student input…creative, interactive, hands-on…and an absolute TON of teacher time that didn’t yield much student understanding.
I should print this out as a reminder before the next hypercreative impulse strikes now that we’re learning to homeschool. It’s a really good summary of how to keep the lesson effective instead of just flashy. Love it!
I can remember that feeling as a new teacher, wanting to make lessons exciting and fun, not dull and boring. This post reminds me that meaningful, worthy lessons don’t have to be either. “Engaging” isn’t the same as exciting and fun, but works wonders. Dull and boring come along when the kids aren’t “engaged.” I’ve found one of the best parts of homeschooling is that I’m able to engage both of my students, and I don’t have a classroom full of others who might not also be engaged if I’m not teaching to their style.
I’m also guilty of overload. We’ve taking it slowly these days and doing lots of reviews with games. Thanks for the suggestions.
so helpful!
I love this post. I am teaching World History this year to middle to highschoolers and I feel like I completely blew it. I have learned a lot about teaching this year and I hope I continue to grow.
I have found these things to be so true. Little bites followed by discussion and hands on reinforcement with review on following days is working really well for us this year.
There are some great tips here! I a guilty of trying to cram too much into a week.
Well, the Olympics certainly were a very creative idea! I got a chuckle from this post, as I can see myself doing something like this. Great article!
What a great and funny post!!! I’ve been guilty of creating a unit on a particular “subject” and have later realized that the students didn’t really get the whole idea….but in the end they did have tonnes of fun, and I as well! Sometimes it’s fun just to let go and see what comes of it {even though time is a major factor in eduation… so many things to do in such little time}.
Thank you for sharing this story. I love the use of creativity in teaching. I also agree that too many times kids are bombarded with the regulatory lessons, and they are rushed through a topic before they can really grasp it. It would be nice to have less regulation where a teacher can use a variety of teaching methods in a longer timespan, in order to make sure the kids understand the topic.
Oh, from an over-planning, high expectation-filled teacher and parent – this post speaks the truth! Simple sometimes is best, even if it’s not the most exciting. Finding the balance is difficult, but it sounds like your class had fun and everyone (you, too) learned something useful!
What a wonderful post! It was a nice little reminder of what I habitually do in my home. I have one child who needs constant stimulation to absorb information and another that needs absolute stillness and quiet. What a mess!!!!!!
I often feel like my head is going to explode at the sheer volume of what needs to be taught but this post reminded me to slow down and take one thing at a time. I just need to remember to plan the fun around the task not the task around the fun. : )
I can related to this. I get so excited about subjects and just go too far and then get frustrated when they can’t remember. Review is something that I do poorly with – I really need to find a good way to accomplish this (and to figure out what all to review).
I do this to my kids sometimes! I get so excited about a new topic or area of study, I feel like we need to do everything possible to cover it. We end up so bogged down in the busyness, they miss the whole point! I try to remember KISS – “Keep It Simple Silly”!
Brandi,
I too am guilty of getting excited about a topic and pulling everything possible into it. I’ve developed a ‘menu’ that I follow, though – and only one ‘meal’ from a topic each day.
Ex: Human Body (6 and 8 year old)
Bible Verse: I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. Psalm 139:14 Recite daily, copy work for handwriting and front page of notebook
Each day: Organ (and part of system) i.e. Brain, Heart, Liver, Kidneys, Endocrine (Pancreas, gall bladder, testes), digestive, bones and muscles, skin – Learn about one, write two sentences, color the organ(s) and glue them on the boy sized tracing. Review what’s been done so far.
You should see my husband’s jaw drop when the six year old starts detailing now how the lungs put air in the blood and the heart pumps it out and the kidneys and liver clean it.. it’s funny. :)
Now we’re learning the names of some bones, because they’re interested – but we go over our bodies and our memory verse at least every other day.
I’m a nurse, a former math and science teacher – so I could get into science in a bad way, and I could do A&P all day long. Instead, I picked out a few different things they could pick from, and they choose. I talk for 15 minutes and they work for 45 (or less), and science is done for the day. We’ll stay on the human body until they’re not really interested any more, I’ll test them on it, we will note book it, and then we’ll go on to Dinosaurs.. then Astronomy and Geology (which will be our official curriculum this year).
Great post!! I’ve been guilty of that same kind of thing w/my kiddos! Like another said in a comment, I am glad that I can just reteach as needed!! Thank you for your transparency!!
Thanks for your insight! I will have to make sure to keep all of this in mind as I start my daughter on her lessons!
I am so guilty of this. I am really trying to tone down my teaching in my homeschool. Sometimes less really is more.
Thank you so much for this post!!! I am glad I am not the only one that has made mistakes like this. I also appreciate the honesty, and I hope this helps me avoid any mishaps! Love AAS and AAR!
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