Teaching Moments
There are moments in a teacher’s career that echo over and over in their dreams. Moments that make you smile and get lost in your thoughts. In my long career in teaching I have had a few, maybe quite a few of these memorable moments. I have memories of students and of lessons of the past, but one seems to keep surfacing. Many years ago I I was introduced to the very effective teaching tool of simulation. As a biology teacher, the ability to create lessons that simulated life processes was very helpful. Many of the intricacies of life are hard to understand for advanced students much less young learners just entering the complexities that make up living things. One such complex idea is the living cell. I was shown a great simulation of the living cell at a science conference. The company that created the inflatable star planetarium also created a giant cell that could be projected on the inside of their inflated dome. The idea was packed away in my lesson planning corner of my mind. A few years earlier I had read a lesson created by another genius science teacher. H made his whole classroom into a giant cell by hanging huge cell parts from the ceiling of his classroom. Another thought was stored away. I figured I might be able to combine the two ideas. What if I created my own giant cell by taping together thick plastic sheets, painter’s plastic. I could make a big cubed cell with six 10’ x 10’ tarps with duck tape. I could then inflate it with a square window fan, cut a doorway in it and take my whole class into this giant, 1000 cubic foot plant cell. Each student could be assigned to make a cell part to scale and carry it in with them. The whole cell lesson could be taught inside a room-sized plant cell. Because it was plastic the students had to remove their shoes, and sit cross-legged holding their cell part model. The giant cell could be deflated, and stored away from year to year. I was in business. I called it the “Honey I Shrunk the Kids” Giant cell project.
And now the memory that keeps coming up….
The lesson was introduced. The students were given their cell part to model. I usually gave them a weekend to construct their cell part model so Moms and Dads could help (Biology is much too important to teach only your students..parents need to learn as well.) We traveled to our student lounge because it was a large enough room to hold a 10’ x 10’ x 10’ bubble. The cell was unfolded, the fan was attached, and the cell started to grow. The students seemed excited. They had their cell part simulation in hand. They had a notecard with notes so they could teach their fellow students what the cell part was, what it did, and how it related to the other cell parts. In they went, kind of like reverse vacuoles being engulfed into the cell instead of being spewed to the outside. I noticed that one student wasn’t going in. He had his cell part, but he did not want to go in. I tried to help him. I asked what was up? He refused. I told him his grade depended on giving it a try. Still no go. Everyone was inside except him and me. I had my shoes off and was ready to start the lesson. He wouldn’t remove his shoes. I told him he had to. Nothing. He saw that I was getting a bit frustrated and finally made the decision to go in. I told him to go on in so we could get started. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed that as he took his shoes off he grabbed his sock and pulled the toe so it folded under the rest of his foot. His sock had a huge hole in it and he was embarrassed. My heart sunk. I was putting him in a situation that was hurtful to him. Well, he went in, presented his cell part and got an “A”. He solved his problem, but I was the one that had created the problem for him. It is not what a teacher should ever do.
Every year from that time on on the day of the Giant Cell lesson I made sure to wear my special pair of socks. Both socks had a big hole in the toe and as I removed my shoes I made sure to bring attention to the socks and the holes in the toes.
Sometimes teachers learn more from their lessons than their students do…
