12th grade English. 2nd period. They had a vocabulary assignment based on The Crucible. The main point of my instructions had to do with the kinds of sentences they were to write--ones that demonstrated an understanding of the meaning of the words.
"Good morning, my name is..."
And that's when I was interrupted by the sound of a large jackhammer. So, I waited. When the noise stopped, I continued.
"...Original means it's your sentence. You know Ms. M will read..."
And another racket with the jackhammer. Again, I waited it out.
Amazingly, I only got interrupted twice. I guess that's because my intros tend to be short. (I figured trying to talk over the racket was pointless.) Because the noise happened sporadically all period.
At the time I thought it was just the guy on the roof. But no. Turns out they also started tearing up the street that day. (And the back of the classroom is mere feet from the street.)
It's a miracle I didn't get a headache.
The other miracle: the class worked silently the whole time. Not that they could actually hear each other over the construction noise. Or, it could have been because they all had their earbuds in and were listening to music. (Please don't judge me on this. I find that they work better independently if they can listen to music while they work.)
No judging. If it keeps them quiet and focused, let them.
ReplyDeleteI'd never judge you; you know exactly what works for the classrooms you are in. What a racket though with the jackhammer. Seems like it might have been nice to plan that road repair for a school break.
ReplyDeletebetty
I know, right! And it was so hot that day, too. But it was August, so perhaps the schedulers didn't realize that the school is kind of year-round.
DeleteMine work better to music. I think that's a great way to go.
ReplyDeleteYears ago, when my oldest was in school, we discovered that he was able to better focus if he could listen to music. So I have always allowed the kiddos here to listen to music while they study! Whatever works!!
ReplyDeleteI think they've done studies which support this, too.
DeleteI guess it's hard to talk and cause trouble when you can't hear anything. How annoying!
ReplyDeleteNo judging at all. I would've gotten a huge headache for sure, so you did a lot better. Whatever helps, so long as we see results.
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised I didn't.
DeleteWow, times have really changed since I was in school. There's no way we would ever be allowed to listen to music.
ReplyDeleteI would have gotten a headache from the jackhammer noise. I wonder why they didn't do that project before the school year started.
Sunni
http://sunni-survivinglife.blogspot.com/
We didn't have convenient technology that would have made listening to music possible. Unless a teacher was willing to put on the radio for everyone.
DeleteI don't think the construction people realized that this school started earlier than the rest of the district.
That's happened to me too and I've ended up going home with a terrible headache. It's a good idea to let the kids listen to music.
ReplyDeleteI lucked out.
DeleteThat's hilarious. I can just see this is a novel. Perfect intro! And the headphones is a great idea.
ReplyDeleteSometimes it works well. Not always. But sometimes.
DeleteI'm all for whatever works. Jackhammers...ugh.
ReplyDeleteNo kidding.
DeleteAt least the students worked silently. Darn Jackhammers!
ReplyDeleteIt was a minor miracle.
DeleteAn unexpected challenge! Glad it worked out.
ReplyDeleteThat's the joy of subbing. Something generally goes wrong.
DeleteI love that play, whether it be for English studies or Drama performance. You could have tried mooning the jack-hammerer....or maybe the shock of a teacher being so 'unseemly' would have killed 'em and then you would have been up for murder, killed by the moon. Music, what ever it takes is good.
ReplyDeleteNot much of a mooner. And the way things were set up, I would have had to leave campus to do it.
DeleteIf they have the music on then they can't talk to each other-sounds good to me
ReplyDelete