Reading Notes #8 Margaret Brady

Reading Notes #8

I found the Excerpt from Learner-Centered Teaching to be quite interesting. I especially liked how he had the students decide on how other students were graded for participation. I have a situation in one of my classes this semester which has left me struggling with the definition of “participation.” For example, I have a student who frequently interrupts me during my lecture either to try to “correct” me or to add something that is above and beyond the scope of our Introductory Level class. Of course he is always the student who answers my questions, sometimes before I’m even done asking them, and the other students find this disruptive (and so do I). Although he is certainly “participating,” I have received complaints from other students and even the parents of a student (and this is college!) about these disruptions in the classroom.

On the other hand, I have a student in the same class who is the “class clown” but who rarely comes to class. By the way, this class is extremely “dead pan” when it comes to “class character.” Most of them stare at me with blank faces, text or talk incessantly to their friends despite my constant reprimands and asking certain individuals to leave the room. No one even attempts to answer a question I’ve posed to the class as a whole because the over-achiever participator student will answer even if I ask him not to.

Well, the class clown student has been coming to class lately. He is extremely funny and brings “life” to that classroom. Yes, you could call his behavior “disruptive” by definition. But he makes everyone laugh, including me. We’ve had group activities and things are fun and he is hilarious with some silly antics. Yesterday, he had me laughing so hard that I almost wanted to cry. It’s just silly stuff that he’ll say in response to a question. I have another student with Asperger’s Syndrome who has even been cracking a smile. The presence of the class clown lightens things up overall even though his participation could be considered disruptive.

Yesterday afternoon, after class, the over-achiever student came to me and said that he wants to place a formal complaint against the class clown because he finds his behavior disruptive and not conducive to the learning environment in that class. How ironic! This the EXACT complaint that several students (and the parents) have had against HIM! I really didn’t know what to do. I listened to the complaint and said that I’d talk to the class clown. That’s really all I can do.

So, what about “participation points?” Who gets those and do those who participate but who disrupt class in a negative way get the points? what about those who disrupt and make the majority of the class laugh and have fun?

By the way, in all the group activities I’ve tried, the over-achiever complains that it is like going back to elementary school...