As a 1st, 2nd and 3rd year teacher, I occasionally carried a beat-up tennis ball in my right hand during class conversations early in the year as we were getting to know one another. You can picture it, I’m sure:

New hair-cut that is quite wet-behind-the-ears, one of 3 ties on and bulky pseudo dress shoes, sleeves rolled up in that ‘working man’ teacher look, trying to act like a real teacher in terms of position in the room and clever retorts, occasionally going for the dancing monkey approach when all else failed instead.

Just add a bouncing tennis ball in the dude’s hand, and you’ve got the picture.

Admittedly, it was a silly distraction at first. Nothing more elegant than wanting something in my hand to futz around with as an early-year career trying to keep nerves/passion at bay, keeping an eye on the clock at the same time.

Over time, however, it became something unexpectedly effective as I one day randomly tossed it to a few students I wanted to answer key discussion questions, especially the kids who were being too quiet (while not throwing it to the students who were talking too much). The point was not about my students catching it (although that helped keep things moving), but about they’re being prepared for the potential of my toss.

Over time, students began leaning forward (literally and figuratively), not only to catch the ball…

…but also to be always ready to ‘respond’ with something coherent and meaningful coming off their tongue/brain.

They figured out pretty licketty-split that being ‘ready’ was key and anything that distracted them from showcasing that preparation would result in looking foolish (literally and figuratively) in front of everyone else.

Funny what a tennis ball can do.

Where the look once served a purpose in allowing me to presumably hold firm my teacher’s ground while reinforcing that I was fully in control, the ball (and dozens of decidedly non-physical martial arts-like trickery in the years since) allowed the kids to re-direct their own energy in ways that were far more useful over time.

Years later, kids would ask if I still threw the ball around class. Years later, I didn’t need to. Something else even more subtle and less me-focused had replaced that side show trick as well.

***

Oh, yeah. One more thing:

If they didn’t lean forwards and contribute in meaningful ways during such conversations?

Well, I’d simply resort to giving them the look and then tossing the tennis ball between the eyes. (smile)

The Holy Teaching Trinity that never fails to work.

With me it is WYSIWYG. I am too old to get ‘burnt’ by a student these days and besides the students all know I can ever so subtly equalise the situation in a variety of different fashions. Admittedly we have great students at our school.

Today I assisted a new teacher with a techie problem as they looked after a replacement lesson for an absent teacher. After I bid farewell to the teacher and the class and left the room I overheard the new teacher say to the class, “Year ten, it’s either my way or the highway. You choose.” I chuckled to myself as I walked away.

Dan, the oblivious approach is wise. Do not allow the attention seeker the pleasure of an audience.

Enjoyed this post, the comments and the photographs immensely.

Believe it or not, this very day I had an 8th grade Algebra student who told me that I’m the hardest teacher to “read” — he said that he can usually figure out most of our other teachers by their response, but that I’m too tricky. He and his friends were quite amazed when I told them that I’d had a conversation about exactly that thing yesterday (and even more amazed that it was with a teacher from the other side of the country!).

The Look.

This is my first year teaching in English (instead of my native Swedish) and I feel how much harder it is to get the interaction “just right” when you communication is a bit off. It is also emotionally draining with all new students, I missing having a group of seniors where I can go in to the class and feel at home, where the trust is built up and I know they will not misunderstand, where the rules of the game allready have been decided.

/Per