Ontaskedness

At some point, us education folks became way too enamored with the idea of students being on task. My guess is that this is a throwback to the industrial era, during which workers were pushed to throw the machine lever again and again and again, without thinking, without looking about, without talking with friends, and without pausing except at predetermined times...or else! While that may be good 20th century factory policy, it simply doesn't make sense in the modern classroom.

I've been trying something new this year - I've taken off my Factory Supervisor hat and am no longer holding my students' feet to the fire of perpetual ontaskedness.

The result? A more positive classroom climate for one thing. I'm no longer the on task enforcer of the classroom. Instead, I've taken on these other roles:

• Classroom Attendant: My new favorite thing to ask students as I occasionally circulate about the room is, "Do you have everything you need? Are you comfortable? Do you know what is up next? Do you need to take a break?"

• Reminder in Chief: What a difference it makes to hand a student a sticky note with a gentle, "Just wanted to make sure you knew these assignments need some attention..." as opposed to a stern, "Do this now without any stopping, or you're in big trouble!"

• Praise Monitor: I always keep a stack of Pride Points on my desk and often in my shirt pocket. Pride Points are a quick, piece of paper way of saying, "Good job! Keep it up!" Sometimes kids just need their feel good tank refilled.

• Energy Booster: We all need a fire lit under us sometimes, and there are countless ways to light it. One positive approach I used the other day was to silently note on the board the number of assessments that had been submitted by each class so far that day. Many eyes were on me as I updated the number following each assessment submission, and to my satisfaction, the rate of submissions increased.

Are there limits? Of course!

Students need to refrain from distracting others from their work. (Just because one student is taking a quick breather doesn't mean the rest of the class needs to join in.) To deal with this, we have a classroom guideline stating that it's okay to whisper briefly. Keeping conversation to a whisper keeps the classroom from becoming an anticoncentration environment. Keeping the conversations brief limit student to student distractions. However, a quick, "Man! That was tough!  Did you do the pronouns activity yet?" is just fine.

Another limit is progress (another classroom guideline). Students need to make progress over time. If not, I can always intervene with assistance like solo seating or a phone call home.

So far, the results have been adequate enough to continue this trial on a general, whole class basis. However, it is becoming obvious that I need to do a better job of collecting and reviewing individual progress data to see if there are individuals who are benefitting more (or less) from this approach.

We'll see what that data shows in the coming weeks!