Category: Classroom Environment

Is Lilliput the “New Normal”?

matthewpiercyClassroom Environment

What might we expect for the 2020-21 school year?  With the endless possibilities, stringent measures, and unavoidable conservative changes being considered, one word encapsulates what I am feeling.  An omnipotent word that wakes me up at night and during the daylight hours, blinds my mind’s eye.  Lilluput. A fictional island of Gulliver’s Travels, Johnathan Swift’s timeless satirical classic. Lilliputians, symbolic of the excessive hubris we humans often exhibit.  A pride that in effect shrinks our very existence.  Where structure and bureaucracy become too thick to even wade through. Impossible 10-point plans schools hurriedly are designing, so learning can be brought from on-line to in-person once again.

Opening Back Up
The motivation to open schools back up is driven largely by a a desire to allow students human connection.  Some schools even consider an in-person finish to the 2019-20 school year, even if for one or two weeks.  A risk some declare is worth taking, if this means children (families and teachers too!) might feel good about the world again.  Safety of course driving any decisions being made.  There are considerations of student numbers on campus, possibly just 50%.  Question whether or not to utilize cafeterias.  Hands on learning, but only if items are manipulated by single individuals and also disinfected at night.  What type of masks are best?  On-site COVID-19 testing, data protection and self-declaration forms.   Of course, agreed upon social distancing requirements too.  The list goes on.
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Is this how classrooms are going to look?
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Confronting the Pervasive Uncertainty
One cannot help but wonder what this might not only look like, but what it will feel like? Though for many the motivation is to recover their pre-COVID life, a clear recognition of a changed world is imperative.  One that we MUST embrace.  No matter how strange it might feel for a teacher to keep her distance from a pupil, or try to read facial expressions covered a mask. So much is out of our control.  Yet, what is, is how we might respond.  Determinedly, as teachers we have a moral obligation to confront the pervasive uncertainty.  To run full speed ahead in vulnerability.  Trusting leadership.
Next Steps
Lemuel Gulliver, the “gullible” narrator, had several redeeming qualities.  I would argue that chief amongst these was that he expected others to be honest.  Amidst the current pandemic, we might benefit from a similar mindset.   Further, we might add fuel to the fire, by simply envisaging the irony all around us.  Gulliver was a prisoner to men no larger than six inches tall.  What imprisons us?  And, can we move beyond this and positively put our energy to use?  Possibly, even to pursue levity?  An upturned grin?  A chuckle?  No doubt, the world could certainly use a lot more laughter right now!

 

 

 

 

3-2-1 (Take-Aways, Questions, and a Reflection) on Virtual Learning

matthewpiercyClassroom Environment

3 Virtual Learning Take-Aways:

  1. It takes time to develop a classroom culture.  Moving into the 9th week, the learning curve has been a little steep but I have come to realize that one of the roles I do not need to fulfill is that of “cheerleader.”  It’s counterproductive and actually a lie to act as if everything is “normal.”  Beginning Zoom sessions with a rah, rah, rah…”Good morning everyone!” has taken a backseat to a more invitational approach.  “I’m unmuting your microphones so you can all say ‘hello’ to each other.”
  2. Be okay with breakout rooms sometimes resembling a space for students to watch paint dry on a wall.  Sometimes they will be flat, especially if time isn’t taken to carefully craft the right “mix” of students in a breakout room.
  3. Come to peace with an unfamiliar quiet.  Maybe even appreciate how this hiatus provides students with an opportunity to improve listening skills.

2 Big Questions

  1. How do ethnic and home cultures of a student impact what they “bring to the table” in a virtual setting?
  2. What creative strategies might I be able to employ in effort to better “read the air.”

1 Reflection

  1. I’m absorbed in Erin Meyer’s, “The Culture Map.” What really grabbed my attention early in the book is the difference between low and high context cultures.

“Low-Context:  Good communication is precise, simple, and clear.  Messages are expressed and understood at face value.  Repetition is appreciated if it helps clarify the communication.

High-Context:  Good communication is sophisticated, nuanced, and layered.  Messages are both spoken and read between the lines.  Messages are often implied but not plainly expressed.”

Meyer’s continues by sharing how different countries fit on this sort of low/high context continuum.  An island nation, such as Japan, more likely to be insular and steeped in thousands of years of shared culture. Furthermore, its homogeneity also adding to a greater degree of nuance and layering of language.  How very different than the United States, the country I call home.

This has me reflecting on the nature of communication in our classrooms, especially if this is a skill we assess. Additionally, in our current Zoom classrooms, there are countless factors to consider that may be effecting, shaping, bending, and possibly blasting the classroom cultures we attempt to create.  Who would have thought about the role of distracting avatars and virtual backgrounds, or the need to mute student microphones because of the clanging of dish washing as life goes on in the houses of our students?