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Principal: Are you using worksheets today?
Teacher: Yes, but they're not too hot. The instructions aren't too clear, so I end up re-explaining everything to the students. I'm even a little confused about it myself sometimes; I'm not always sure what answer is being asked for. And you know worksheets. They're a little on the dry side, boring—with a capital "B." And then on a few questions, I tell the students to omit them, because we haven't covered the material—it's over things I don't think we need to cover.
Principal: Then why do you use those worksheets?
Teacher: Well, they came with the text … I admit it. I fell asleep while evaluating a history teacher. Here I am, a principal, and someone who prides himself on being a professional's professional, and yet I am confessing that I fell asleep in the back of a bright blue-and-white classroom brimming with 32 students. Why did this happen? I lost in the battle of boredom. As Teaching for Excellence explains it: "Our senses tire of the same stimulation if it is rerun over and over in the same manner. Even the most avid football fanatic would soon grow tired of watching the Super Bowl if it were played day after day." Let me reassure you: nothing close to a Super Bowl was going on that autumn morning in Mr. Lester's room. What was happening was that Mr. Lester read aloud a paragraph from his worn out, two-ton history book; paraphrased what he had just read; and then dove into the next paragraph. No emotion came forth, no gestures, no movement. The students were breathing, but that was about all I observed in them. And even now, two years later, I recall how excited I became in that classroom when an office aide walked in to deliver a message. I silently gave thanks to her for breaking the monotony. It was after Mr. Lester resumed his reading and summarizing that I nodded off. That afternoon, he and I visited in my office. Is your classroom boring or interesting? In 1993, Better Teaching reported that students seem to distinguish interesting classes from boring ones on the basis of the process rather than the contents of teaching. I have been a secondary school administrator for 10 years, and during that time have witnessed terrified novices, collect-the-paycheck veterans, and master teachers in the classrooms. From my vantage point, either during official evaluations or casual observations, I have at times applauded or winced, rejoiced or struggled to sit still for 45 minutes. After any of the negative experiences, visits in my office always follow in an attempt to convince the teacher to use a student-centered, teacher-facilitated approach. I remind the teacher this does not mean turning the classroom over to students, then sitting in a corner of the room cleaning out a stuffed filing cabinet. What I want my teachers to do is turn over to the students a great deal of the thinking—the figuring out. The discovery method comes into play, as do the inquiry model and cooperative learning, and most of the time, much peer interaction. If the students are the ballplayers, then the teacher is everyone else at the game: the supportive parent, the rooting cheerleader, the helpful coach, and the decisive umpire. I am anything but alarmed if I walk into a room and see students moving from activity to activity, sitting on the floor in groups, writing on the board, standing at the podium, coloring, cutting and pasting, rapping, and so forth. Six symptoms of a boring teacher are (1) maintaining a monotone voice and using infrequent eye contact; ( 2) day-in, day-out lecturing using notes on the board as the sole visual aid; (3) reading the text and paraphrasing what was read; (4) passing out worksheets on a daily basis; (5) regularly instructing students to read the chapter and answer the questions at the end of it; and (6) standing behind the podium, never moving, and expecting students to be seated, never moving. Five symptoms of bored students are (1) watching the clock; (2) restlessness; (3) slouching or sleeping; (4) plodding through work with dull awareness; and (5) not paying attention/misbehavior. It is simple to become frustrated and even angry with students who do not pay attention. Each of us needs variety, and even though sufficient repetition is needed to infuse new learning, too much repetition can lead to boredom and lowered performance. I tell teachers to be innovative—to bring their lessons to life. To invigorate their classroom—to actually get that lesson across—teachers must keep in mind that it is their delivery method, not the content, that arouses intellectual delight in students. Regardless of the course name, poor methods and manners by the teacher are a sure way to kill curiosity in the subject. Author and educator Merrill Harmin suggests activities that, quite simply put, inspire involvement. High-involvement lessons are exactly what the name implies and can be achieved by using four basic strategies:
Face it: Pacing is important. Slowing the pace until every student has mastered every bit of material in a given day drags the lesson and the flow of it, and the students realize it. Don't worry that the students are missing out on grasping new ideas; there can be multiple opportunities to master the material. Restless students much prefer the quick pace. Return to that topic again and again, but from a new angle. Consider cooperative learning to keep that brisk pace going, to energize your charges, and to lay responsibility for learning on the students. Cooperative learning may seem faddish to some, but ask any businessperson what they seek from new employees. Time and again, those in business are reminding the schools that bosses can teach employees new skills, new ins-and-outs of the trade, but they do not have the time to teach employees how to interact. They have repeatedly asked the schools to emphasize teamwork, appropriate socialization skills, and even peer mediation. Research shows that each of the outcomes of cooperative efforts—achievement, quality of relationships, and psychological health—influences the others. The outcomes of cooperative efforts are truly a package treasured by employers. I like teachers employing what Thomas Armstrong (1994) termed "MI resources." In his book, Multiple Intelligences in the Classroom, Armstrong notes that the theory of multiple intelligences is an especially good model for looking at teaching strengths and weaknesses. While teachers need not be a master in all seven intelligences—linguistic, logical-mathematical, spatial, bodily- kinesthetic, musical, interpersonal, and intrapersonal—they should know how to tap resources in all seven. From journal writing, Socratic questioning, and sketching, to chants, and hands-on thinking, use of multiple intelligences opens the door to a wide variety of strategies that can be implemented easily in the classroom. Whereas the debate will never end as to whether teaching is an art, a science, or a combination of both, there is no debate that there are definite wrong turns in the classroom. Taking the students on the road to boredom is a definite wrong. So in addition to encouraging teacher autonomy in the classroom, I empower teachers to use innovation. They need to try new teaching techniques, new materials, new programs. They must not fear a principal's criticism for risk taking. They must realize that when something goes wrong (it will), the trashed lesson plan will be regarded as a learning experience, not chalked up as a teacher blunder. In Empowering Teachers: What Successful Principals Do, Joseph Blase and Jo Roberts Blase noted that data indicate that creating a nonthreatening environment free from fear, criticism, and reprisals for failure is especially important. Adding spice to the classroom conjures up many possibilities. Individual teachers must decide what is appropriate, taking into account their own personalities. However, one thing I dismiss with a wave of the hand are the teachers who cry out that they are not able to be creative. There are just too many available sources: colleagues, workshops, seminars, school instructional leaders, and reference materials. Over the years, I have kept a log of the instructional strategies that I have observed and have lumped them into a notebook for teacher perusal. However, when I close the door to my office to chat with the boring Mr. Lesters that I run into, before I slide the strategies book across my desk toward them, I am inclined to suggest five immediate changes:
What happened to Mr. Lester? Did he become a sparkling artist in the classroom? Were students clamoring for more and more of his off-the-wall instructional strategies that piqued their interests, stimulated their senses, and aroused their curiosity? What did happen was this: Mr. Lester was whisked away the following year by a nearby school district to fill the position of assistant principal. Whether or not he is just as boring in his new role escapes me. As to the other Mr. Lesters, most have improved. Some realize their own inadequacies; others have had them pointed out to them. Most of the boring teachers I have dealt with resolve to rewrite lesson plans during their time off in the summer after stopping in at several workshops. By the start of school in the fall, they are loaded with new resources, materials, game plans, and are usually determined that the upcoming semesters will prove to be the turn around time in their careers. But during the previous year—when they are still not exciting their students, when it seems that everyone is nodding off except the designated note taker—they still make an effort to wander around the room, to release the textbook from their hands at least as long as a baby can go without a pacifier. They might even learn that students can sleep soundly at night without having filled in seven worksheets during the day. Let's move toward a fully inspirational classroom. Make it your goal to grab every single student's attention. And while you're at it, make sure to grab the attention of that principal in the back of the room. There might not be an office aide lurking in the background to rescue him. —John White and Carolyn White John White is the Principal at Knappa High School in Columbia School District (Oregon). Caroline White is the Media Specialist at Knappa High School and a doctoral candidate in curriculum and instruction. References Armstrong, T. (1994). Multiple Intelligences in the Classroom. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Blase, J. & Blase, J.R. (1994). Empowering Teachers: What Successful Principals Do. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press. Harmin, M. (1994). Inspiring Active Learning: A Handbook for Teachers. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Johnson, D., Johnson, R.T., & Holubec, E.J. (1994). The New Circles of Learning: Cooperation in the Classroom and School. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. The Teacher Institute. (1993, June). Better Teaching: Tips and Techniques to Improve Student Learning. Alexandria, VA: Author. The Teacher Institute. (1995, May). Better Teaching: Tips and Techniques to Improve Student Learning. Alexandria, Virginia: Author. Teaching for Excellence. (1994). Teaching Practices That Pay Off: Practical Suggestions for the Busy Teacher. Spartanburg, SC: Author
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