A Change is Gonna Come

Today in 3B, we kicked off our unit on change.

The central idea:  Change is inevitable and happening all around us.
The provocation:  Spend an afternoon modeling an old-fashioned classroom.

Today, my students walked up to the classroom after art class, giggling and goofing around like they usually do, expecting to walk in, be welcomed by Ms. Hudkins, and prepare for mindfulness.  Instead, they were greeted at the door by a stern Ms. Hudkins.  "Please walk in silently, find your seat, and wait quietly for the lesson to begin."

The children entered to find their classroom transformed.  The desks that usually sit in clusters of 4 or 5 were in neat rows, each with a cursive name tag.  They were seated in alphabetical order.  There was no writing on the whiteboard.  A desk for the teacher was moved to the front of the classroom.  They even observed a few changes I made to my own appearance:  hair pulled back, pencil skirt, and heels.  It didn't take long for them to figure out I was serious - anytime sometime talked or whispered to a friend about their surprise, I loudly reminded them that silence was expected inside the classroom.

Then, the lesson began.  I explained that we would be learning cursive writing today.  Each child would practice writing her or his own name, then move on to a series of worksheets in increasing complexity.  I instructed them to raise their hand if they needed anything or finished their work.  They were to work in complete silence.  While they worked, I sat at my desk, grading papers with a red pen and getting up to address students' questions.  If students stood up to blow their nose or get a pencil without permission, they were asked to return to their seats and raise their hands.

After about 35 minutes of silent practice, I had a student collect the worksheets while I began drilling times tables.  We went in order around the classroom from 1x1 to 10x10.  Having finished that, I couldn't handle it anymore, and broke into a smile.  I explained that I had made some changes for the afternoon to help introduce our new unit, and it was time to discuss.  Before I introduced discussion questions, several people burst out with "You were scary!"  One student even told me that he thought Ms. Hudkins had been kidnapped and replaced by an alien or a robot.  I apologized for scaring them, and told them it was really hard for me to be "Mean Ms. Hudkins!"

In pairs and then as a whole group, students discussed the changes they noticed in the classroom, why they thought the changes were made, and whether they liked them.  They made some fantastic observations about the lesson, the classroom, the expected behavior, and so on.  Many of them hated it, but several children did note that it was easier for them to focus on their work in that atmosphere.  The students correctly concluded that this lesson was an example of how classrooms used to be, and it was intended to help them experience change.

Finally, I answered several questions they had.  They included:
"Are we going to keep learning cursive writing?"
"Can we keep the name tags?"
"Where did you put the books that used to be in front of the classroom?"
"Did Mr. Harnish [my co-teacher, who was absent today] know you were going to do this?"
And, my personal favourite, "How did you keep a strict face for so long?"

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Currently reading:  Invisible Monsters by Chuck Palahniuk
Current high:  off to celebrate a friend's birthday tonight!
Current low:  super sleepy, coming back from vacation is kicking my butt