When the Teaching Part of Our Brain Is Gone Fishin'

Gone fishin'?

When I first started teaching, I was confused about a lot of things.  I began my career as a kindergarten teacher in a Title I campus on October 1st with a class formed for me by the other kindergarten teachers. They were each asked to pick two students to send to my class.  I worked at a really great school with some incredible teachers but I'm afraid a few of them were a little too tempted to have certain students belong to someone else.  Any time you're walking into a classroom formed from other classes--in October--in kindergarten, well, it's gonna be rough.  And it was.  And I sincerely apologize to all of those children because I wasn't a very good teacher.  But no one died and we all went on to have a better year the next year.
There are many bad practices that I developed that year as a part of Survivor-Mode.  All teachers have one or two areas where we need some work and I am certainly right there along with everyone else!  Today, I would like to discuss a little phenomena I like to refer to as "fishing."  This is not the technical term, it's a term I developed after I realized I was doing it and that I shouldn't be, which was about 5 years into my career.  I guarantee at one point you've done it, too.  The best of the best have done it, so let's talk about what it is, why you shouldn't do it, and what you can do instead.
Picture a third grade classroom.  We've been talking about the economy in social studies for several days. The day before we discussed the differences between needs and wants.  In an effort to review the material we discussed prior to this class period, we will start by asking our students (you know what we're going to ask), "What did we talk about yesterday?"
Now, let's freeze right there for a minute and be "the kid".  What does she mean what did we talk about yesterday? We talked about a lot of things yesterday.  We talked about math, reading, social studies, science, writing. We had lunch.  We played outside.  Jimmy and I played football.  I went to music class.  What is she talking about?
As a teacher, we try to be more narrow.  "Remember, yesterday?  When we were talking?  Yesterday, in class."
Kid:  Uhm, which class?
Teacher:  "Yesterday, in social studies.  When we were talking about the economy.  Do you remember?"
Kids begin to nod vaguely, I think I remember something about that.
Teacher:  "And what did we say was a need that everyone has?"
And this is where the really deep fishing can begin, if we are not careful!
Kids: "Water!"
Teacher: "Well, yes, we do all need water.  But I'm talking about something else, something else that we said we all need.  Remember, yesterday, in class? We talked about something we all need?"
Kids: "Food!"
Teacher:  (more aggravated this time) "Yes, that's true.  We do all need food.  But yesterday, we talked about something everyone needs, in order to survive.  Remember, Sally said it.  Right after we read the book."
Kids: "Uhm, clothes?  Money?  A dog?"
Teacher:  (really upset now) "No!  How come no one remembers this?  We just talked about it yesterday.  (my favorite) It starts with a sh---."
Kids: "Shoes?  Showers? Shellfish?"
Teacher:  "Oh, so close!  Shellllllll"
Timid kid in the back row: "Shelter??"
Teacher: "Yes!  Thank you!  Shelter. Remember, we talked about shelter yesterday and how everyone needs shelter?  Don't you remember that?"
Kids:  "Oh, ya, shelter. Ya, I remember that now.  We talked about that.  Shelter."
How many minutes have we collectively wasted in this kind of ambiguous guessing game? Why do we insist on torturing ourselves and our entire class by giving them clues, as if we can magically turn them in to mind-readers overnight if we play this little game enough times? If you work at The Uri Geller School for Gifted Children with ESP, maybe this is a good strategy. Otherwise, not so much.
And really, what is it that we are trying to accomplish? I used to think I was checking for comprehension by asking these questions.  But I wasn't.  Students have to know what the subject is that we are discussing before they can prove whether or not they are informed about that subject.  By telling them 1) we talked about it yesterday 2) I felt it was important 3) it was something to do with social studies, we are not giving them enough information to let us know if they really understand what we are talking about or not.  How often does a student answer our first feeler question correctly?  Usually only if we want a general answer--like wants and needs. If you want something specific, be more specific with your questions!
I was actually teaching third grade social studies and reading when I went to a workshop and the presenter said,  "Never open your lesson with a question about what you did yesterday.  Tell them what you did yesterday and check for understanding by allowing them to discuss the topic."  You'll know very quickly if they have a deep understanding of the topic or if they remember nothing.  And if they only remember the topic of what you discussed and nothing else, then you've reached them on the first two levels of Bloom's--which isn't going to cut it. We want higher-level questions so let's start the discussion with a substantiated topic and then start asking some questions that will make them think--not remember. Otherwise, you're going to waste a lot of time casting your hook into waters where the fish have all scurried away.
I felt relieved when the presenter essentially gave us permission to stop fishing at the beginning of our lessons.  I am no well-known reading expert, but if it helps any, I now give you permission to stop throwing your line in.  Leave the guessing games for recess and let your students sink their teeth into the real meat of the discussion.  You'll all be happier for it if you do!
Thoughts??

Moving on to calmer waters.