In training, training, training

Since I had the summer off without income I went to as many paid trainings as I could.  All in all I participated in three multi-day trainings:

1.  Teaching reading to students who were many years behind grade level.  I went to this with three colleagues from YOKA.  One day covered a very elaborate system of teaching phonics (fawniks? phaunicks? fonix?).  The other days reviewed many techniques and activities for remediating students reading abilities.  I think these techniques will be useful, although they hardly ever mentioned writing which I think should be part of improving reading skills.

2.  Project Based Learning.  Seven of us from YOKA attended this five-day training held at my son’s alma mater, Miguel Contreras Learning Complex.  We were given some basic guidance in designing projects and lots of time to work together to plan projects.  This was like heaven for teachers--paid time to collaborate on lesson planning.  A couple of other teachers and I took the time to plan a project for advisory called “High School Here I Come.”  The goal of the project is to prepare our eighth grade advisory students for high school through various kinds of research and group work.  Later I worked on a project for the first writing domain--a narrative anthology done by small groups.  And I got to know some of my colleagues!  Five days well spent.

3.  Scholastic’s “Read 180” reading program.  This is the District’s big bold and beautiful remedial reading program (the latest in a looooooong line of such programs).  It required a three day training downtown in the big house, with an appetizer day devoted to “Reducing disruptive behavior.”  (More on that later.)  Read 180 is a comprehensive, thorough, multifaceted program.  It provides a wealth of materials--novels, workbooks, posters, cds, dvds--and a detailed prescription of how to structure class time and student work.  (And I do mean DETAILED!)  The trainers were experienced classroom teachers with extensive experience teaching reading using this program.  The program was better than I expected, although again writing was sadly neglected.  I’m not even sure I’ll be teaching reading, but it was interesting to see what the district is using to try to meet the needs of students who have fallen behind in reading. 

I also learned something very important about stopping disruptive behavior.  There are plenty of studies showing that behavior acknowledged by the teacher will be repeated more often.  In one study, for example, some teachers responded immediately to students who interrupted the lesson while others continued the lesson.  In the classes where the teacher responded immediately to the disruptive behavior, that same behavior became more frequent.   In the classes where the teacher ignored the behavior, it diminished. 

The lesson is:  DON’T ACKNOWLEDGE THE DISRUPTIVE BEHAVIOR.  Instead, when a student disrupts the lesson, the teacher should somehow acknowledge the correct behavior that most students are exhibiting and only indirectly indicate to the disruptor that he should stop.  Later, privately, the teacher can speak directly to the disruptor. 

This makes sense to me, although it’s going to be hard to ignore disruptions.  The natural impulse is to tell the student to sit down or be quiet or put down the pencil or whatever.  The correct action, however, is to say something positive to the students who are listening or reading or otherwise doing what you asked them to do, thus implying to the misbehaving student that he should cut it out.  The basic premise is thus:  Don’t let anything short of an earthquake interrupt your instruction!

That’s good advice, and it fits with the intensive planning I’m doing in preparation for the start of school.  More on that in coming posts.

Also coming up:  A wonderful teacher story, inspiring to all of us in the profession.

Musical Marathon, parts 3 & 4: Charles Dickens meets the Ice Princess

Monday, July 18

On Saturday I saw the musical “Twist” at the Pasadena Playhouse.  It’s a jazzy retelling of the Oliver Twist story set in depression-era New Orleans.  It was a very enjoyable evening with lots of wonderful singing and dancing by the mostly Black cast.  The story of course is touching and the songs were catchy and plentiful.  It wasn’t the life-affirming apotheosis triggered by Bob Dylan the night before, or the thrilling inspiration of Les Miserables the night before that, but it was a thoroughly enjoyable evening of theater in my favorite venue, the Pasadena Playhouse.

Then on Sunday I went to the Hollywood Bowl for a concert performance of Puccini’s last opera, “Turandot.”  Our own wunderkind Gustavo Dudamel was conducting and the cast included Christine Brewer and Hei Kyung Hong.  I love this opera, which was unfinished when Puccini died suddenly of throat cancer.  The title role is known as a voice-killer for its high tessitura and dramatic power.  Turandot is a Chinese princess who dares her suitors to answer three riddles and then beheads them when they can’t.  Great Turandot’s have included Maria Callas, Birgit Nilsson, and Joan Sutherland.  The other soprano part, Liu, is a slave girl in love with the tenor Calaf, who is smitten by the icy princess and risks his life to woo her.  Liu’s singing is tender and poignant.  Calaf's is ringing and heroic.  His most famous part is the aria “Nessun Dorma” made famous by Pavarotti.

I enjoyed the performance very much.  Dudamel is a thrilling conductor, and he drew every bit of high drama from Puccini’s lush score.  Christine Brewer is a vivid singing actress with the vocal chops to survive Puccini’s challenges, and Hei Kyung Hong has a beautiful lyric voice filled with pathos.  The tenor was energetic if not very memorable.  All in all it was a fitting conclusion to my July musical marathon.