AMild Case of Fisheye

cultofpedagogy.com/fisheye/ JenniferGonzalezSeptember25,2013

Thinkallofyourstudentsareparticipatinginclass?Takeanotherlook.

Gretajusthadanamazingdiscussionwithherfifthperiodhistoryclass.They’vebeenstudyingtheHolocaust, andintoday’sclass,theyjustnailedit.Shehadoriginallyplannedforabouttenminutesofdiscussion,butthings weregoingsowell,sheletitgoforthewholeperiod.Dayslikethisrock.

Exceptforthestuffshedidn’tnotice.LikeHaley.

HaleyisinGreta’sfifthperiod.Shehadalotofquestionstoday,butneverfoundtherightmomenttoaskthem.She doesn’tliketointerrupt.Afewtimes,shealmostputherhandup,butsomeoneelsewouldstarttalkingbeforeshe evermanagedtoliftit.

Robertisinthatclasstoo.Hefeltlikeanidiotthewholeperiod–thatonekidkeptmentioningtheThirdReich,andRobertwasn’t100percentsurewhatthatwas.Hedefinitelydidn’twanttoask.

Nadiathoughtthediscussionwasdumb–peoplereallyoversimplifiedthewholetragedy.Butshedidn’twanttostart anytrouble,soshesaidnothing.

AndBeckyandKyle?Thesupershyones?Naturally,theyalsostayedquiet.Oh,andthreeotherstudentssecretly textedthewholetime.Infact,inGreta’sclassof28students,onlynineofthemactuallycontributedtothatdiscussion:Fourofthosewerereallyintoit,fivecommentedonce.Theothernineteenjustsatthere.Thewhole time.Really.

Gretadoesn’trealizethatsheissufferingfromFisheyeTeaching.It’saconditionthatimpactsourperception,asif we’relookingthroughafisheyelens–thekindtheyuseinpeepholes.Tothoseafflictedwithfisheye,somestudents appear“larger”thanothers.Theytakeupmoreenergyandgrabmoreofourattention,makingtheothersfadeinto theperiphery.Wehaveavaguesensethattheothersarethere,andwenagourselvestoincludethem,butthose magnifiedstudentsarejusttoohardtoresist.

NotYou!

Maybeyou’rethinkingthisdoesn’tapplytoyou,especiallyifyou’reusedtohavinganimateddebateswithyour students.Unlikesomeclassrooms,wherestudentsareasleepmostofthetime,yoursisinteractiveandengaging, right?Here’stheweirdthing:Thefactthatyourclassseemssolivelymightactuallybeastrongerindicationthat you’reoperatingbehindthefisheyelens.

I’vebeenguiltyoffisheyeteaching.Alot.Recently,even.AndI’veseenmanyotherteachers,goodteachers,doit too.

Idon’tthinkanyofusdoitonpurpose.Wedoitoutofhabit,andbecauseit’ssofreakin’ gratifying:Youposea question,andoneofyoursharp,verbalkidspipesuprightawaywithananswer.It’sagoodanswer,onethattakes theclassinthedirectionyouwerehopingthey’dgo,demonstratingasolidgraspofthematerial.Wow,youthink, they’rereallylearning! (…and,ifwe’rebeinghonest:Youlikeme!Youreallylikeme!)Thenithappenswithanother student,anotherextrovert,andthenonemore.Thingsarehoppingnow,abonafide“class”discussion,butreally, you’rejustvolleyingwiththreeorfourstudents.Mostoftheothershavealreadycheckedout.Wedon’trealizeit becausewe’rehighonthewholething,thenicerhythmwe’vegotgoingwiththosethreeorfour,thatwelieto ourselvesjustalittle.

Soevenifyouhavethetiniestsuspicionthatyoumightbeafflicted,dosomeinvestigating.Thebestwayisto videotapeafewofyourclasses.Theonlyproblemis,onceyoubecomeawareoftheimbalanceinparticipation, you’remorelikelytotryandcorrectitwhilevideotaping.Notnecessarilyabadthing,unlessyouovercorrectforthe recording,thengobacktooldhabitsandneverrecognizethepresenceofthefisheye.Anotherdiagnostictoolisa laminatedseatingchart:Usingadry-erasemarker,putamarkineachstudent’splaceonthecharteverytimeheor shecontributestotheclass.Innotimeyou’llhaveavisualonwhoistalkingandwhoisn’t.

Whetheryouthinkthisisanissueinyourteachingornot,mygoalhereisjusttoputthebuginyourear.Toraise yourawareness.Tomorrow,whenyouinteractwithyourstudents,moveyourvisiontotheperipheryandask yourselfifthosestudentsareasinvolvedastheycouldbe.

WhyEquitableParticipationMatters

Sure,there’sanelementof“noduh”here:Obviously,increasingstudentparticipationisagoodthing.Butapartfrom makingschoolamoreinterestingplacetobe,whyisitimportanttogetallofourstudentsinvolvedindiscussions? Can’tastudentgetjustasmuchfromlisteningastheywouldfromactivelyparticipating?

Discussionequalsformativeassessment.

Classroomdiscussionisoneofthesimplest,quickest,andmosteffectivemeansofformativeassessmentwehave. Byaskingourstudentsgoodquestions,wecandeterminewhattheyknowandhowwelltheyknowitinseconds. But whenweallowapatterntoemergewhereonlyourmostconfidentandverbalkidsrespond,wemissthe opportunitytoassessthethinkingoftheothers,andwemayverywellbefoolingourselvesintothinkingthey’reall gettingit,whenreally,they’renot.

ThequietonesMUSTlearntospeak.

Everyyear,theNationalAssociationofCollegesandEmployerssurveysemployersabouttheskillstheymostwant inpotentialemployees.In2013,the‘abilitytoverballycommunicatewithpersonsinsideandoutsidetheorganization’wasnearthetopofthelist.Ifourtaskistohelpstudentsbecomecollege-andcareer-ready,weare responsibleforhelpingthemgrowastalkers.Allofourstudents—especiallythequietones—mustlearnhowto presenttheirideaseffectively,andnoamountoflisteningcomparestothecognitiveandsocialchallengeofactually havingtoframeyourthoughtsintocoherentspokensentences.Althoughourpainfullyshystudentswillresist,and ourcompassionwillmakeuswanttoprotectthem,wedothemnofavorsbylettingthemavoidthispractice.Writer andteacherJessicaLahey,inherFebruary2013Atlanticcolumn,agrees:“Ifanything,”shesays,“Ifeel

evenmorestronglythatmyintrovertedstudentsmustlearnhowtoself-advocatebycommunicatingwithparents, educators,andtheworldatlarge.”

ThetalkersMUSTlearntolisten.

Theextrovertsneedtolearnhowtoletsomeoneelsetakethestage.Inschool,intheircareers,andintheirmost importantrelationships,listeningskillsarehugelyimportant.Chancesare,yourbigtalkersdon’thavealotof practiceinskillslikeparaphrasinganotherperson’sideas,askingthoughtfulfollow-upquestions,orthinkingquietly beforetheyspeak.Bymakingaconcertedefforttobalancetheparticipationinourclasses,wearealsogivingthose extrovertsachancetogrowinwaysthatcouldhaveapowerfulimpactontheirqualityoflife.

TheEndofFisheyeTeaching

Sonowthatthelensisoff,howtokeepitoff?Howdowegetmorestudentsinvolved?Firstofall,knowthatthegoal isnottohaveallstudentsparticipateatexactlythesamerate;thepushshouldbeformorebalance.Ifyourquieter studentscontributeonegoodcommentperdiscussion,that’sastepintherightdirection.

Herearesomewaystobalancethingsout:

Makeyourintentionstransparent.Talktoyourstudentsaboutthisissue,andaskthemtohelpchangethecurrent dynamic.Thiswillprepareyourquietstudents,sotheywon’tbestartledbythesuddenshiftinattention.Itwillalso helpyourextrovertsunderstandwhytheyarenolongergettingthefloorthewaythey’reusedto.Someofthismight happenbehindthescenes:Fortheclassdominators,youmightencouragethemtolimitthenumberofcomments theymaketothreeperclass,orofferpointsanytimetheyparaphraseorbuildonanotherstudent’scommentor question.Forthosewhotypicallyhangback,havethemchooseaquestionaheadoftimethattheyfeeltheycould contributesomethingto,andplantocallonthemforthatitem.

Increasewaittime.Typically,femalestudentsandthosewithmorereflectivelearningstylesneedmoretimetoprocesshigher-levelquestions.Thiscanbeaccomplishedwithsomegoodold-fashionedwaittime.Weshouldbe waitingatleastthreesecondsbetweenposingaquestionandcallingonastudenttoanswer.(Easiersaidthan done.)Thisgiveseveryonemoretimetothinkaboutwhattheywanttosay.Wanttogoevenfurther?Adda“no hands”time,wherenoonegetstoraisetheirhandsatfirst:Youaskthequestion,EVERYONEthinksforamoment abouttheiranswerwiththeirhandsdown,thengivethemthego-aheadtoraisetheirhands,thenyoucallon someone.You’llbesurprisedatwhatadifferencethismakestothenumberofhandsthatgoup.

Pre-loaddiscussions.Giveshystudentsaheadstartbyslippingthemthediscussionquestionsaheadoftime. Actually,goaheadandgivethemtoeveryone.Thetalkativestudentscouldalsobenefitfromsomemorethinking time.

Varydiscussionformats.Anytimeyoucangivestudentsachancetosharetheirthoughtswithasmalleraudience,youbuildtheircouragetosharethemwiththelargergroup.Thisiswherethink-pair-sharecomesinhandy:Rather thanholdingwhole-classfree-for-alls,putstudentsingroupsof2to4andposequestionsoneatatime,allowing eachgrouptotalkitoverwitheachotherfirst,thencallonrepresentativestorecapforthewholeclass.Takethisa stepfurtherbydoingathink-WRITE-pair-share,whereeachstudentfirstconsiderstheirownanswer,writesitdown, thensharesitwithsomeoneelse.Notonlydoesthisgivethemmorethinkingtime,italsoforcesthemtoanswerthe questionontheirown,ratherthan“whatthatguysaid.”

Useicons.Thisstrategy,describedbyRuthWickham,anEnglishlanguageteacherinMalaysia,isaningeniouswaytogetactiveparticipationfromstudentsinlargeclasses.“Iprintedoutfoursetsoflittlepictures,justclip-arttype things,thenIcutthemupandstuckoneonthefirstinsidepageofeach(participant)workbook.Theiconswereall mixedup,sonoonehadthesameasthepersonnexttothem,andtherewerefourofeachscatteredaroundthe room.”Shethenplacedthesameiconsontocertainslidesinherpresentation.Wheneveranicon(suchasaduck) appearedonthescreen,participantswhohadaduckontheirpaperhadtocometothefrontoftheroomandanswer aquestionorperformatask.“Thelooksontheirfaceseverytimetheysawaniconappearwasjustclassic!Weall hadalotoffunandalotoflaughsevenwithsuchabiggroup.”

Somestudentsarenaturallygoingtobemoreactive,moretalkative,livelierthanothers.We’renottryingtomake themallbethesame,justbetter,stronger,morebalancedversionsofthepeoplethatshowedupondayone.With yourlittlecaseoffisheyetakencareof,you’llbereadytohelpeveryoneofthemstretchclosertotheirfull potential. That’swhentherealconversationwillbegin.