Gotta Know When To Fold 'em

I had a completely different plan for my blog this week.  Originally this was supposed to be a blog on a vocabulary review game that I play in all of my classes. It involves paper plates, teams, and an expectation of 100% participation.

I planned on taking pictures of my students holding up plates, spelling vocabulary words, and talking about how this is one of my favorite review games.

Then 6th grade happened, as it often does.

We had done our first two rounds of the game, which in this case was a review of rules.  The first word they had to spell out was "Wonder" (the title of the book we are reading as a class.  The second word was October.

I was excited because I was things were going perfectly.  My co-teacher was also excited because she is the Language Arts lead and loved that the students were doing this in a science class.

I gave the students the definition of the next key word: The preserved remains of an ancient organism. The groups got the word (fossil), but there was some dissent in one of the groups (I want to hold the L, no you hold the S, I want to hold the L.)

Then two other students started arguing because "you are always trying to boss me around."

Suddenly I had a flash to my first few years of teaching. I saw myself as a teacher that "had to get through the lesson."  The one that would have thought "oh my goodness, my lesson is bombing, I have no control over the class, but I have to finish because my lesson plan says so."  Then would have finished the lesson despite children crying and yelling.

However, years of experience have taught me what really matters - the community.  I stopped the lesson, and had the class return to their chairs. 

We then reviewed our agreements, specifically ones on accountable talk.  It was a very powerful discussion with students realizing and admitting they lost the purpose of the lesson and the game.  They also noticed they lost the values of the community.

We teach our students so much during the course of a year.  Each lesson builds upon the previous - and this includes lessons in culture, community, and expectations.  Letting little things go leads to bigger things later.  I'm glad I have enough confidence to know when to stop the lesson and review cultural expectations.

I'm also glad to have enough experience to know that sometimes six grade just happens... there isn't much I could do to prevent that - but know that when it does, we process, apologize, and move on to more greatness.

Side note, the kids that snapped at each other talked it out and were besties again by lunch... because sometimes 6th grade just happens :)