be flexible

This summer, I was a teacher's aide in a 4th-7th grade migrant summer school classroom. It was an incredible experience, and no two days were the same. We had diversity in every sense of the word; several different age groups, maturity levels, language ability levels, and behavior. It was such a good learning experience for me. More than anything else, I think I learned about discipline. I found it challenging to figure out if I was supposed to be their friend, their mentor, or just a disciplinarian in terms of how to approach them about their behavior. Obviously, it was really none of those three but rather a combination and something in between, depending on the situation, the student, the other happenings of the day, and so on... so many variables!

Now, this really has very little to do with the articles we read for class today except for that this is what came to mind when I was reading. In his state-of-the-art essay, following his description of trends in TESOL theory/pedagogy/etc., Kuma states, on pages 68-69:

"language learning and teaching needs, wants, and situations are unpredictably numerous, and therefore, we cannot prepare teachers to tackle so many unpredictable needs, wants, and situations, we can only help them develop a capacity to generate varied and situation-specific ideas within a general framework that makes sense in terms of current pedagogical and theoretical knowledge".

It's almost as if he resigns himself to the fact that, yes, we have all these methods - but ultimately the best teaching strategies develop over time and within a specific context. Kuma is, of course, referring to methods here, but the same concept applies to what I learned this summer: you cannot teach someone how to discipline. Never, in any of my C&I classes, has any instructor attempted to teach us specifically how to handle student misbehavior. They have offered suggestions and general principles, and through my teaching experiences I have learned a few things about how to approach student behavior, but no one has ever taught me "how to discipline". And I'm glad. Because discipline can't be taught. It's acquired through experience, learned through trial and error. I made a lot of errors this summer. But the longer it went on, the more I learned and some days were better than others!

In Marianne Celce-Murcia's article, "Language Teaching Approaches: An Overview", her thoughts parallel those of Kuma in this quotation. At the end of her article, she explains that despite the presence of all these methods, a teacher ultimately must assess student needs, examine instructional constraints, and determine what he/she will do with this combination of needs. And finally she presents the adage, "adapt, don't adopt". We must adapt to student needs rather than just pulling a method out of thin air and attempting to graft it into a classroom setting that rejects the method.

All that to say, both Kuma and Celce-Murcia have very interesting points. There is no way that any instructor can possibly impart to me/us the exact way to do everything with our students - whether in terms of discipline or methods. Some of it is left up to us. What will we do with it?

Aside from discipline, I learned to be flexible this summer. If I had a whole lesson plan that failed, I would try something new the next time. If I planned to do something with my students and the teacher wanted me to do something else, I had to do something else. If time constraints required us to cut out some things or teach them differently, then so be it. We are to be flexible, constantly adapting... and humble! I was very humbled this summer as I found myself trying, trying, and trying again, sometimes with success and sometimes not. I was so thankful to have a wonderful teacher to work with. But ultimately, no two days will be the same in a language classroom. I just need to be flexible!