Dec 21, 2006

Beyond the Classroom

Recently, I had a student email me for telling me how much he enjoyed the lesson I taught. He said he really enjoyed it and he wished me a fun day. How many times do we as teachers get something so nice as that?

The teacher in me wanted to know what I did well so that the student would go to great lengths to thank me in an email. But before I elaborate it is important to contextualize the lesson.

I had been teaching them Elie Wiesel’s powerful gripping account of his experience living at the extermination camps in Buchenwald and Buna in Night. (Recently, this book made headlines with Ophra’s Book club. I highly recommend reading this book.) We have been reading this book aloud, chapter by chapter, page by page. We reached the part when Elie’s father dies after months of survival. One student was reading aloud. I urged him to continue. I said that I couldn’t. I told him that the experience was too emotional for me and could he please read?

His friend looked on. (Later, this student would email me) Up until then I had intuitively stopped and asked questions randomly both open and closed questions. We had discussions about various topics but it was the tender yet bitter-sweet father-son relationship that I most identified with. My purpose was to make them think but also to feel. Students wildly answered my questions during that last lesson. Questions were being answered as quickly as I fired them.

Asking questions beyond the simple level of a text for comprehension opens up a text and possibilities for a teacher. I realize that these are vey open and general.

Some questions could be:

1. How did you feel after reading this section?

2. What questions still linger in your mind?

3. How is this moment representative of the book's theme(s)?

The ability to feel in literature is a very powerful thing. Teaching the Holocaust has been nothing short of an emotional experience for me. Students need to be sensory stimulated. Literature is wonderful for helping students achieve this.

As a student who grew up in a school environment that emphasized grades more than the process of learning, I learned that in order to succeed I needed to get an A. But learning is not only about tests; it's about being stimulated emotionally, intellectually and cognitively. And it is when you are most passionate about something, your teaching (and your attitude to teaching) begin to change and it becomes easier to personalize the lesson. Of course you need to know your students to be most effective and all aspects of teaching that demand sure and consistent growth come over a long period of time.

I sincerely hope that I challenged this student who thanked me for this past lesson.