Energizing the Classroom With New Language: Five Steps to Dynamic Change Even in an Era of Testing

By Page, Marilyn

Key words: language, learning plan, preservice teachers

For almost twenty years, I have been working with preservice teachers in teacher education programs. Most of these teachers come to believe in and support active learning propositions that propose when students investigate, discover, and figure out for themselves, their learning is longer lasting, more comprehensive, and in greater depth than learning that occurs in a traditional, teacher-driven classroom (Marlowe and Page 2005). These teachers begin their internships or student teaching practicums fired up about what they can accomplish and how they will do it. However, very often the realities and rigidity of either the school systems in which they work, the cooperating teachers or mentors with whom they work, or the most recent new governmental mandate (most recently standardized testing and requirements of No Child Left Behind) prevent the teachers from reaching their goals. At least that is how the teachers come to understand their lack of progress. However, hundreds, perhaps thousands, of observations later, I propose a different theory: that many of the problems these teachers have in transitioning from old and timeworn processes to forwardmoving and energized classroom environments relate to their use of old language.

Besides working with preservice teachers, I have worked for several years with public school teachers in school districts interested in reforming their classroom approaches or requesting particular workshops. Even for these teachers who know their systems and their colleagues well, the change process is difficult and the teachers often conclude that it is the system/colleague dynamic or the nasty, and often unsupported, mandates that get in the way of positive change. As with the preservice teachers, however, it appears to be, at least in part, the teachers’ use of old language that creates the obstacles.

Recognizing the value of shifting, and trying to shift, to an active learning environment but having less than expected results can be very frustrating. The language teachers use can play a critical role in developing an energized classroom. What most teachers use is the language they know and have known and that is the language they experienced themselves as students. That language has its origin in an antiquated and tired system which more often than not defines learning as acquiring, accumulating, and memorizing information rather than understanding in depth, developing and solving problems, and raising and investigating questions (Darling- Hammond 2000; Kohn 2004; Marlowe and Page 2005; Solomon 2003). That old language hinders the creating and sustaining of dynamic, student- involved, student-successful classrooms. What language can teachers change in their classrooms to allow for more positive results-to create the firecracker, the dynamite, the empowered learning environments they desire?

The following are five words or phrases which not only can lead to more positive and lasting classroom changes, but will force the emphasis where it belongs: on the learner and learning, rather than on the teacher and teaching.

Change “Teaching” to “Learning”

Force yourself to rephrase every sentence, question, and thought in which you use a form of the words teach, teaching, or teacher to use a form of the words learn, learning, or learner. For example, instead of asking yourself how you can teach Johnnie to do long division, change the question to: “What is the best way for Johnnie to learn long division?” This forces a shift in thinking and puts the focus on Johnnie and his abilities, talents, and limitations. This simple, yet not so simple, word substitution will generate further questioning and thinking by you and will be more apt to lead to a different approach to the situation. Consider this: You can teach students anything, but it does not mean they have learned a thing.

Change Your “Lesson Plan” to a “Student Learning Plan”

Here again the idea is to shift the focus from you to the students, from teaching to learning. To change your written plans, especially if you are a new teacher, you may need to create two plans. One will become your agenda-the list of things you will do during the class or day. The other becomes the students’ learning plan. It could look something like this:

Student Learning Plan

Topic: Causes of the Civil War

Student Learning Objective: Students will demonstrate understanding of the causes of the Civil War.

Learning Activity: Students will work in pairs. Each student in a pair will conduct specific and different research related to the causes of the Civil War; for example, Susie will review newspaper reports of the time period and draw conclusions about the causes of the Civil War; her partner Sandy will conduct research on the Internet to determine different viewpoints on the causes of the War. Similarly, other pairs will define their research. The more different the research assignments are in the different pairs, the more thorough the learning for the whole class will be.

Student Demonstration of Understanding: To demonstrate understanding of the causes of the Civil War, students will participate in a debate.

Or

Students will create a documentary (or skit) which analyzes different perspectives of the causes.

Or

Students will be involved in . . . (any other activity which allows you to discern student understanding, not simply recall).

This kind of student learning plan will move you into further dimensions of active learning. Not only will you be focusing on the learner and learning, but you will be concentrating on a core proposition of learning-that is, that learning means understanding and being able to demonstrate that understanding (Marlowe and Page 2005). That is the key phrase”demonstrate understanding.” Repeating information, as is often the norm in a class, does not demonstrate understanding or learning; it simply demonstrates ability to repeat information.

Change “Cover” to “Discover” or “Uncover”

Of all the traditional classroom language preservice and inservice teachers use, this is the deadliest. As long as you cover curriculum, you will not be able to establish an active, energized learning environment. It is not that content is not important; it is very important. But in an empowered classroom, a teacher does not stand and deliver all or even much of the content; rather, students uncover, discover, and reflect on content through inquiry, investigation, research, and analysis in the context of a problem, critical question, issue, or theme (Kreisber 1992). How many times have you heard another teacher or even yourself saying something like the following:

“I have to cover World War II by the end of May.”

“I covered fractions last week. “

“Next week we will cover grammar techniques.”

“We have the departmental exam in February, so I have to cover half the textbook by then.”

“I need to cover the multiplication tables by Friday.”

Heed the advice and warning of an experienced teacher:

Covering content or curriculum is like putting a lid on a pot. We shouldn’t be putting a lid on the pot; students should be taking the lid off the pot and figuring out what’s in it and why. (White quoted in Page 1992, 212)

This teacher has captured the essence of another core principle of learning: it is through active questioning, searching, discovering, interpreting, and reflecting that a student creates her or his own knowledge and meaning and becomes an empowered learner (Kohn 2004; Kreisberg 1992; Marlowe and Page 2005; Toffler 1991).

Change “Unit” to “Investigation” or “Exploration”

Can you think of a more boring or inactive word than unit? Who could possibly get excited or energized by that word or concept? If you are trying to energize your classroom, you need to get rid of that word and find an action word to take its place. It needs to be a word that conveys in some way the central learning activity. I have suggested investigation or exploration. You can think of others. The trick is to pay attention to when you are using unit and force yourself to make the change. If you put the two words side by side (Unit. . . Investigation), what happens in your mind? What would happen in students’ minds? Which word suggests critical thinking? Which word naturally leads to action? Which word makes you think of questioning and problem solving? Which word makes you want to do something? Which word makes you want to go to sleep?

Change “Presentations” to “Interactive Learning Experiences”

This one is difficult, but very possible. Let us assume you want your students to become active learners who investigate, question, analyze, and problem solve. Let us also assume that your students decided to conduct an investigation, carried it out successfully, synthesized and analyzed the material, and developed conclusions. Those activities would constitute an active learning exercise. If you then ask the students to make presentations on what they discovered and learned, you will be putting the class into the position of being receivers of information just as they would be if you were giving the information. So, although the investigators have had an energizing and active experience, the presentation becomes exactly what you are trying to avoid and leadsto a passive classroom.

How boring can student presentations be? Very, very boring! However, students can learn, just as most educators can, that there are ways to get students involved that will allow them to learn actively. As long as you call an activity a presentation, that is what you will get-a presentation: someone presenting and someone receiving. Instead, you can explain to students that they are now the experts in the topic and their job is to think of an activity that they can conduct with the rest of the class that will allow the class members to be actively involved in learning about the topic. This will be quite a struggle and very awkward at first, but you will be amazed at how creative the students will become when they figure out the intent and the goal.

The age of your students will make some difference here, but I have seen student teachers do this successfully with fourth graders, as well as with high school students. One way to develop this is to ask for the students’ ideas on how this could happen. Another is to reflect on components of active learning experiences you develop for the class and figure out how students can learn to use those same components and processes as they develop interactive learning experiences for the class.

Using new language will not cure all the problems of making the shift from an exhausted and dreary classroom to an awake and alive one, but it will allow and force you to refocus your thinking, which in turn will change your actions, your students’ actions, and eventually your classroom ethos.

REFERENCES

Darling-Hammond, L. 2000. Greater expectations for student learning: The missing connections. Liberal Education 86 (2): 6-13.

Kohn, A. 2000. The schools our children deserve: Moving beyond traditional classrooms and tougher standards. Boston: Mariner.

_____. 2004. What does it mean to be well-educated: And more essays on standards, grading and other follies. Boston: Beacon.

Kreisberg, S. 1992. Transforming power: Domination, empowerment, and education. Albany: State University of New York Press.

Marlowe, B., and M. Page. 2005. Creating and sustaining the constructivist classroom. 2nd ed. CA: Corwin.

Page, M. 1992. National History Day: An ethnohistorical case study. PhD diss., University of Massachusetts.

Solomon, G. 2003. Project based learning: A primer. Technology and Learning 23 (6): 20-22, 24, 26, 28, 30.

Toffler, A. 1991. Powershift. New York: William Morrow.

Marilyn Page is an assistant professor in curriculum and instruction and is part of the graduate faculty in social studies education at Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania.

Copyright HELDREF PUBLICATIONS Jul/Aug 2005