Opinion
Data Teacher Leaders Network

Those Who Teach, Don’t Need to Talk

By Heather Wolpert-Gawron — November 04, 2009 3 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

It’s a semi-annual teaching tradition. I’ve lost my voice. Now, I’m not talking about still being able to whisper. I’m talking about a totally stripped, honk-when-I-try-to-produce-sound lost voice. It happens to me several times a year, and I’m starting to think it’s related to the air conditioner in my Southern California classroom. But I digress.

This article isn’t about lemons. It’s about lemonade.

On those days when I’ve totally lost my voice, I still teach. Yes, it’s true that it feels like someone has taken the hammer from my toolbox and then asked me to pound in a nail. But there are ways around losing your hammer.

In fact, the infrequent days when I’m on mute can be really fun and rigorous for the students. First off, it forces me to get creative.

When students walked into my class on Thursday, there was a large sign outside my door asking them to do the following:

1. Line up at the door

2. Take out your Hook Card, fold it, and put it in the Golden Line Jar. [This is an index card with an attention-grabbing “Golden Line” they’ve selected from their current reading book; see my related blog post]

3. If you don’t have your card, write your name on the clipboard.

I stood by the door like Julie McCoy, your Love Boat cruise director, pointing loudly with my eyebrows. The kids, normally a rambunctious “I got here first!” kinda group, quietly filed in and took their seats. Homework collected: check.

In the front of the room, using a combination of dramatic mime and sign language hastily remembered from some bygone day camp activity (but quite useful in such situations as this), I spelled out who should get the journals and Works In Progress folders from the cabinets. It went something like this:

I put up three fingers. Some kids noticed and the “shushes” began. Then a student caught on. “W!” she yelled. Now the kids were in on the game. I held two fingers upside down and crossed them with another (a sign I learned from Helen Hunt and a chimp in the movie Project X). “A!” another kid screamed. I signed “T,” and it too was yelled out. It didn’t take long for a kid to call out “Watson!” All the students who belong to my “Watson” table group stood up and got the materials. (See my blog post on table grouping.)

I then sat quietly in the front of the room with great drama and flourish and proceeded to type on my computer, which was hooked up to my LCD projector so that everyone could see what I wrote. I typed things like…

OK, I’ve lost my voice. But this does not mean this is a recess period. Please take out Rough Drafts of your latest Narrative. Stick out your tongue if you’ve read this direction.

It is the funniest thing to watch kids read intently, only to be caught off guard. Within seconds, I have an entire class of middle schoolers sticking out their tongues at me.

If the person next to you has yet to read these directions, kick them gently under the table.

This is generally followed by one or two yelps, a “dude!,” and the corresponding, “Read the directions, man!”

From this point forward, the class pretty much unfolded as it would on any day. I typed directions, they followed them. I’m still monitoring and demonstrating to them that I have a firm grip on classroom management. They are actually very focused and can’t wait to see what I might type next. For instance:

OK, some authors are inspired to write by a character they want to create. We’ll work on that next week. Some authors are inspired by themes, a moral, a message that they need, must, just HAVE TO get out there to their readers. But some are inspired by Hooks. Jose, go throw that gum out please. As I was saying, let’s pull out a professional writer’s Hook from our jar and begin a narrative using that Hook. …

Teaching doesn’t require volume. Classroom management doesn’t require yelling. Being in control is about humor, it’s about having your antennae up, and it’s about being creative enough to make every moment valuable.

Events

Ed-Tech Policy Webinar Artificial Intelligence in Practice: Building a Roadmap for AI Use in Schools
AI in education: game-changer or classroom chaos? Join our webinar & learn how to navigate this evolving tech responsibly.
Education Webinar Developing and Executing Impactful Research Campaigns to Fuel Your Ed Marketing Strategy 
Develop impactful research campaigns to fuel your marketing. Join the EdWeek Research Center for a webinar with actionable take-aways for companies who sell to K-12 districts.
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Privacy & Security Webinar
Navigating Cybersecurity: Securing District Documents and Data
Learn how K-12 districts are addressing the challenges of maintaining a secure tech environment, managing documents and data, automating critical processes, and doing it all with limited resources.
Content provided by Softdocs

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Data What the Research Says What Does 'Evidence-Based' Mean? A Study Finds Wide Variation.
Fewer than 1 in 3 education interventions get consistent judgments on their evidence base from reviewers.
5 min read
photograph of a magnifying glass on an open book
Valiantsin Suprunovich/iStock
Data 'Hidden Homeless': A Key Measure of Homelessness Excludes Most Students
Federal agencies differ in how they measure homelessness—and many vulnerable students are left out.
3 min read
Photograph of a low angle view of children with backpacks climbing the school staircase.
E+/Getty
Data Spotlight Spotlight on Leveraging Data for Student Success
This Spotlight will help you learn how data can help schools target resources, explore how to improve instruction with data, and more.
Data What Superintendents Say They Need More of to Help Them Manage Districts
98% of those surveyed said better data would make them more comfortable making decisions.
2 min read
Image of a data dashboard.
Suppachok Nuthep/iStock/Getty