For several years, I served as substitute teacher in various Arlington County and Fairfax County Public Schools. One Spring morning, I was asked to serve as a 3rd Grade Instructor at Vienna Virginia's Louise Archer Elementary.
As I lived in Vienna at that time, I relished getting an assignment HOPEFULLY within walking distance! It was,barely so. In Fairfax County,The schools tend to be buried- the OPERATIVE word in this sentence- deep within neighborhoods, by and large rather than on or close to main roads.
So, After a healthy and VIGOROUS walk, I arrived at Archer School. I reported in to the Main office and after signing in was directed to navigate through the school to the New Wing. After I got to the proper classroom, I looked at the lesson plan provided to me by the teacher of that class, I was taken, at one with how demanding it was.
As the FIRST student entered the room a few minutes later, I learned that all of the classes in this part of the school were gifted and talented classes, one per grade. I'd learned years ago that, while it is good to follow the lesson plan as closely as possible, that a substitute teacher always served as an "X Factor" in the room. His or her presence there means the dynamic within the room CAN NOT be as it normally would be.
I encountered , early on, the inevitable child, in this case a boy, who was not pleased because I " am not teaching EXACTLY as his teacher teaches! I thought of a way to navigate through that- something I did for the first time there and then used else where. I asked, :" Does anyone remember their Kindergarten teacher?" Every hand went up. "Now, Did your kindergarten teacher teach exactly the same way your First Grade Teacher ?" I had many puzzled looks but some kids started to smile, they go it. I then asked them to compare their First grade Teacher to their Second Grade Teacher and last year's teacher to this year's teacher. By then, All of them had gotten my point. I , then flattered them a little bit, " The most intelligent and mature students love change and differences and get excited as they figure out how to make that difference work best for them!
After that, The morning went by in a quick way- it was smooth and highly pleasant. Yet, Throughout the morning the sky started clouding up and it become very windy. Lunch arrived and the weather held off- just barely long enough to get through lunch.
I noticed that at 2:00 the students were scheduled to have a Twenty minute Recess. I knew, clearly, that this recess was not going to occur outside. An idea suddenly occurred to me, One that I thought these kids would thrill to- if the concept were properly "marketed " to them.
As 10 after 2 came around, I saw the students get out of their desks to get games. I asked them to stop and go back to their seats. They did so, with some grumbling and whining! " This isn't fair, This is our recess" one girl scoldingly told me. I assured them that I KNEW it is recess time. I told them that we were going to play football. This caught them unprepared.
I quickly divided them into 3 teams- offense, defense and referees. I gave the "ball" to the offense and then explained the game. The team with the ball is on the 50 yard line.There are now 2 minutes left in the Fourth Quarter. The Team with the ball is losing by 4 points. If the offense scores, They win. If the defense stops them, they win. You both tell your plays- the referees tell me the outcome and how much time is NOW left on the clock.
They took to it- passionately. When the team with the ball had trouble deciding their plays, One of the boys asked a girl classmate to run the offense. He later told me that her plays would make sense and she would be able to explain the plays extremely clearly. The defense was not as organized at first and the Offense was given a 15 yard completed pass. The defense went then to a similar plan they chose a boy AND a girl as their "deciders"- I believe their theory was of the two of them AGREED- it HAD to be a super play.
Football had become a negotiation simulation. An exercise in team work, a mini- exercise in discussiion and debate.I heard a number of them say " This is cool, This is really fun". The game ended when the offense was stopped on the one yard line at the 0:00 mark. The offense tried- in my opinion- a too complicated play. It involved a lot of running around and tricks- The Defense sinply lined up at the one- with two players in the endzone in case of a pass and stuffed their opponent.
It was a fascinating adventure. I think that those THEN Third Graders saw football and working with other kids to get GREAT things done in a far different way after completing that recess indoor "Football Game"!
- Johnny -
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