Letting Them Speak- A Moment of Listening

This post is about my interview with a former student. I saw him, last week, as he entered the STEAM center. I was setting up my bay for the elementary summer camp. School is over, I no longer teach him and was surprised to see a former student. We are partly in his turf- he is a volunteer at the summer camp and partly in mine- I am a teacher at the camp, but he is not under my supervision, he is helping out in another bay. He smiled as he saw me and waved, nonchalantly. I waved back, letting him know with my action, that of course I remember you. That is always the first question I get when I bump in to former students.

I actually did not have a chance to speak with him until snack time, an hour and a half later. I was eating my pretzels, when I decided to go over and sit down beside him. I asked him how his summer is going so far and that it is awesome that he is giving up his morning, to volunteer here at the science camp. He was always quiet in my class, I didn't want to make him uncomfortable, so I paused and waited to see if he was going to continue the conversation. He did. We spoke for about fifteen minutes and at the end, I asked him if he minded if I wrote a blog about our discussion, he replied "Not at all." This is the heart of the conversation. We had some idle chit-chat throughout, allowing both of us to ease in and out of the discussion.

This was a true Let Them Speak, moment. Thank you Rick Jetter and Rebecca Coda for inspiring me to talk to my students, on their turf. In this case I learned a lot about my teaching, my classroom, and myself as an educator. It was even more enlightening because he was a student who never really wanted to talk to me last year. He is a hard worker, highly motivated and engaged, but independent and a bit non-social. But this interview was amazing. We were both comfortable and relaxed- because it was neutral ground.

This is an except from our discussion:


"Hello Mrs. CJ," he said with a smile. "It is weird to think I am no longer in your science class."

"I know right? The year went really fast," I replied. "Did you enjoy my class?"

"It was my favorite class of 7th grade." He paused and made eye contact. "Really, it was."

"Did you enjoy 7th grade?" I asked.

"Most of it. Some classes were boring, but I liked my classes. All my friends were in them."

"That is good to hear. I am happy you enjoyed your year. I enjoyed having you in my class. Can I ask you a few questions to help me for next year?" I asked. "I want your honest answer, that is how I grow as a teacher."

"Sure. I can do that."

"Why was my science class your favorite class?"

"I loved the flexible seating and the fact that we had so much say in how the classroom functioned."

"Can you elaborate on that, how the classroom functioned?" I asked inquisitively.

"There was a lot of options. We could create different things like podcasts and vodcasts or we could act out a skit. Lots of things we could do as a group, but I also liked being able to do things by myself. You were open to our ideas. That made science more fun because I felt like I was in charge of my learning and you were there to help me when I needed help."

"That makes me happy- I always try to keep my classroom student-centered. Did it feel like a student-centered classroom?"

"It did because you didn't give us notes in class- we got to get those on Canvas. You were also so energetic and passionate about the content. Even boring stuff like water, you made us get totally interested because you came up with cool activities for us to do like making cartoons and stop motion video."

"Thank you for saying that. Can you share with me anything you feel I should improve upon for next year? Anything that you didn't like?"

He paused and looked down at the ground. Then looked up and smiled.

"Be honest, brutally honest. I can't improve if you aren't honest. Feedback is crucial for teachers." I encouraged.

"It feels nice to be asked, teachers don't usually ask for our feedback. I know you do throughout the year, but in class we aren't always comfortable with being brutally honest, as you say." He smiled. "But, being completely honest- there was nothing that I didn't like. I would have preferred you to actually lecture more. But, your podcasts were a great review. I like to listen to lectures rather than have to get all the information myself "

"That is good to know. Next year maybe I will have more brief discussions throughout."

"Yeah. Like 5 minute debriefs. You could call them take-away's" He was excited to share this idea.

"I love that idea. I will definitely implement that. Awesome. Take-away's love this." We took a brief respite to discuss lectures versus student-driven note-taking. Then the conversation continued.

"What about the pace- the difficulty- did it feel like a GT class?" I tried to prompt him into reflection.

"Actually, I had all GT classes. Some good some not good. Your class was challenging but I did not have to sweat too much."

"Sweat too much?"

"I struggled a bit but never felt like I couldn't do it. The pace was fast, but doable. It kept me focused and on track. With only the discussion questions as the weekly assignment and no homework, it let me pace myself."

"What about the labs and activities- what were your favorites?"

"I absolutely love the debates and symposiums. When we as a class had a big group interactive assessment or project made it really fun. It was a big connection of lots of ideas."

" I appreciate your feedback, what activity would you not want to do?"

"If I could choose one- I would take out the PBL on cells. I know when we had Harvey we had to give up the other project- writing the children's book would be way more fun than what we did."

"Good to know. Why didn't you like the cells project?"

"It was too specific, it didn't leave any room for us to get creative. I like the activities that we get to design."

"I agree. Thank you for the feedback." I smiled, Reassuring him that I did.

"Did you like the 1-minute check-ins?" I asked quickly. We were nearing the end of snack time.

"I did. It gave me time to talk to you, one on one, without having to feel embarrassed to ask questions if I was confused. Plus it gave me a chance to get to know you as a person not just a teacher."

"Really? You hardly ever talked to me."

"I talked to you more than any other teacher. I just get shy. I am talking to you now." He smiled.

"Thank you. I appreciate you taking the time to talk to me. You rock. One last question."

"If you could describe my classroom/class in three words what would they be?"

"Flexible, Collaborative and well.... can I say the last in a sentence?"

"Sure."

"As a teacher, you listen and pay attention to us, you don't just appease us, we know when we ask, questions or just need to talk, you will accept us no matter what. And you do everything you can to help us. That is why I will miss you so much."

I teared up. "Can I hug you?"

"Yes."

I hugged him.

"Thank you for talking to me."

"Anything for you Mrs. CJ. I really will miss your class."

"You are amazing, thank you so much for talking to me."

I find it simply amazing that a quiet, reserved student, had so much to say. He actually spent two days at the summer camp volunteering and we had a few more conversations. Our last encounter before he left the last day of camp, I asked him a quick question.

"What is the most important thing you need as a student? The aspect of a classroom that ensures you can learn and grow?"

He replied quickly, no hesitation "As a student, we want to be heard, listened to and respected. When we feel trusted and respected, we will speak up in class and feel comfortable sharing our ideas."

"Thank you for answering, now go and enjoy your summer."

"Can I come back and visit you next year?"

"Absolutely."

We waved one last time and he departed. I am humbled by his kind words. But his last line makes everything fall in place even more. This is not something new. It is not something innovative or insightful. It is something as educators we instinctively know. Students want to be listened to, respected and trusted. They want us to Let Them Speak. The next day I got an email from this student. He thanked me for letting him talk to me. I replied, I was honored to listen.