What I did when students didn't feel comfortable in my room!

Hola hola hola:

Teaching is hard. Last week was one of the roughest weeks in my career as a teacher aside from my first year. There were so many emotions in our building from staff and students, and it was just so hard to not get discouraged.

I had one class in particular that was giving me a hard time—not because they were bad but because I could NOT get them to answer any of my questions.

They did the work that I asked them to do; they were very very compliant. But I don't want compliant learners. I am not okay with that in my classroom. I want my students to always go above and beyond.

WHAT WAS HAPPENING?
Well, as I said, they were not answering my questions. Some might think, "Oh, perhaps they are not understanding the Spanish." NOPE. They were not answering my questions in English most of the time either! I tried to convince myself that they are all just shy kids, but I have had plenty of shy kids in the past, so I didn't have myself convinced.

THE REALITY: 

I talked to an amazing teacher, Toni Ciaccia, at my school, and she told me the honest truth. She said, "well, when kids aren't answering my questions, it usually means that they don't feel safe to answer the questions." This hit me like a BOMB! Not because I couldn't believe it, but because I realized in that moment that Toni was right; I had not created a safe enough environment for this class.

WHAT I DID NEXT:

You all know me, and I love research-based practices, so I did some research on creating a safe environment. A lot of the stuff I had already been doing: lots of brain breaks, lots of games, etc. 

So what WASN'T I doing? Well, I wasn't being patient enough; when they weren't answering my questions, I was getting visibly annoyed that they weren't answering me, and that (obviously) just was making matters worse. 

I came up with some strategies that have worked wonders for me so far. First and foremost, I wanted to give the students a voice. I always tell them on the first day of school that I want them to call me out if I am being unreasonable, but 6th graders are just not comfortable doing that. 

So, I gave the students a survey that included a few questions: 

1. Do you feel nervous to speak Spanish in class?
2. Is there someone in class who makes you feel nervous to participate? 
3. Do you feel unsafe answering questions because you don't know your classmates well enough?
4. Do I make you feel unsafe or uncomfortable? 
5. What can I do to make you feel more comfortable? 
6. Is there something I could be better at? 
7. Is there something else that you want me to know?

These questions helped so much because the feedback was way more positive than I thought it would be, but it showed the students that I am willing to admit my imperfections and address problems head on. 

THE SIGNALS: 

Two students said in the survey that they felt like I was a little impatient with them (which is something I told them that I was working on), so I created a signal for them when they feel like I am impatient and one for when they do not understand.

When the students do not understand something I say, I asked them to wiggle their fingers on their shoulders. I NEED them to do this because it's impossible to acquire a language if they cannot focus on the meaning, so this is my way of getting them to express to me that they do not understand. But here's the important aspect: I asked every student in the class to wiggle their fingers on their shoulders any time they see someone else doing it. This way, the whole class is doing it, so no one really knows who started it. It's just a signal for me to know that someone in the class needs more guidance. 

I also created a signal for when they think I am being unreasonable (they stomp their feet). This is a way for me to check myself, but I am hoping that they never have to use this signal! I think that this is important because I do think that it's necessary for students to learn that it's okay to question authority when appropriate. I am not a dictator, and I am not right all the time, so I need them to feel comfortable expressing their concerns to me. 

TURN AND TALKS: 

This is basically teaching 101, but I needed a reminder of its power. In my classes—especially the class that wasn't answering my questions—I am trying to give them more opportunities to turn and talk to a classmate about their answers before calling on students. This way, they get a little more practice and reassurance before having to speak in front of other students.

SEAT CHANGES: 

Since this class was struggling with energy, I decided to give them new seats. I told them that I wasn't doing it because I thought they deserved it, but rather because they NEEDED it. I was honest and said that I am looking for waaaaaay more energy from them, and this change also made a HUGE difference!

I am really happy so far with how things worked out; I hope it just gets better and better throughout the year.

Timothy