Conversing with Students

Yesterday at my after-school job teaching Hebrew School, my class participated in a school-wide celebration of Israeli Independence Day (Yom Ha’atzmaut), which involved a lot of moving around to different stations and playing various Israel-related games.  My 7th graders eventually took over one of the stations – a Jeopardy! game station – and led it while younger grades participated, and I was so pleased to see what an amazing job they did drumming up enthusiasm and managing the activity.

Anyway, at one point in the afternoon, a younger class came to the Jeopardy! station, and I noticed that there was one boy in the class who chose to sit apart from his classmates and opt out of the game.  He didn’t seem particularly angry or anything; he just sat silently and didn’t engage with anyone nearby.  I watched him for a little while, and I wondered what was going through his mind.  Based on his affect, I assumed he thought this kind of educational game was boring, nerdy, and not at all cool.

But I don’t think it’s right to act on assumptions we make about children because more often than not, they’re way off the mark and rather unfair.  I wanted to learn more about what this kid was thinking and if he was, in fact, engaging with the activity without showing it.  So I went over to talk to him.

I had never met this particular student before, but I went over to sit down beside him, and I started up a conversation.  He told me that he was, in fact, bored, and I asked him what he would rather be doing instead.  He said he’d rather be at home reading.  (The English teacher in me jumped for joy at that response!)  I asked him what he was currently reading, and his face lit up as he launched into a description of the biography of Frank Lloyd Wright that he’s immersed in at the moment.  (Again, YAY!)  He started to tell me all he knew about Frank Lloyd Wright, and we got into a whole conversation about the Guggenheim Museum and Fallingwater that lasted at least 10 minutes.

This brief moment with this kid reminded me why it’s so important to take the necessary time to check in with students individually.  This child who seemed on the outside to be so disengaged and bored with school actually had a tremendous interest in something – it turned out, to my delight, to be something educational – and was excited to talk about it, given the opportunity.  While the Jeopardy! game was well-designed and a valuable learning tool, I think that moments like the one I had with this student are ultimately more important than any lessons or materials teachers can prepare.  We need to meet our students where they are and learn about what excites their minds and piques their interests.  In doing so, we can begin to forge meaningful connections with them, validate their interests and knowledge, and create learning opportunities that integrate and build on the things that genuinely engage them.