Within the 90 min block, I plan several different activities so that we don't spend too much time doing one thing, which helps diverse learners and keeps their attention longer. Time also goes faster when you stay busy. But in order to be able to complete all of the assignments, one has to be "in shape," ready to handle the academic, mental workout. I had never thought about this before, until this past Friday.
This past Friday, my second period started complaining about doing work. It wasn't everybody, just a few. Every once in a while, my students would say, "Can we just have free time?" or "Do we have to do this?" My normal response to this type of questioning is, "I'm sorry yall. I didn't mean to make you do work. My bad. I thought this was school!" Most of the time they start laughing, remember "Oh yeah. This is school," and then get back to work.
However, on this day, a light bulb went off for me: my sophomore students are out of shape--not physical shape, but academic. Some students are not used to working for 90 mins and become agitated and ill when asked to do so. It's just like an athlete at basketball practice ( I love sports analogies). When a ball player is out of shape, the last thing she wants to do is run sprints or suicides. She may whine,complain, or become attitudinal about having to run because she is already tired. But the only way to get better at it is to practice, and we all know how some athletes feel about practice: "This is practice . . . not a game--practice!" ~Allen Iverson.
Well the same thing goes for a student. Learning is tiring. It's physical and mental work. So the next time my students complain about doing work, I'm not going to think that they are just being lazy or unmotivated. I'm going to chalk it up to them being out of shape, and needing a little more encouragement to keep going--learning.
