On the second to last day that we would spend discussing Invisible Man, we had an extended advisory period in the morning, and I could see several of my students, who would be in my first period class next, getting restless. Two students in particular kept asking what we would be doing in class, what kind activities we would do, were we going to do something “fun.” To be honest, I did not think what I had planned that day was fun, by their standards, because we were reaching the end of the novel and a lot had happened in the chapter that we had to discuss in class. I told them that they could try leading the class if they really wanted to, and the two boys jumped at the chance. I was surprised, but handed them my lesson plan and was prepared to step in when needed.
The two boys were both energetic, fairly active participants in class, and enjoyed group work or leading their peers through something. One boy was naturally charismatic, constantly moving around, and liked to have a sense of responsibility and authority. The other was a very strong, deep thinker and always had something interesting to say about the novel.
That day in class, we were discussing the second to last chapter of the novel, and I had planned on showing a short video clip about the 1943 Harlem Riot and having the students read an excerpt of an essay about the riot to get a sense of the situation that Ellison had based the events in his last chapter on. With my printed lesson plan in hand, the two boys called the class together, showed the clip from my laptop, and lead the class through the supplemental reading. Though the boys were reading the essay excerpt for the first time along with the rest of the class, they both asked very insightful questions and tried to get the class to make connections between the essay and the novel. I was surprised at the level of depth in their questions, and as I watched them interact with class, I wished I had tried something like this earlier in the unit, because I think most of the students could have done well leading a discussion or activity with their peers.
Although the other students in the class were fairly subdued and quiet, and we did not get into as much of a discussion as I had hoped, the two boys seemed to really enjoy leading the class and posing questions to their peers. I think they had a positive experience partly due to the open nature of my teaching and my constant attempts to be open about the content of the novel –symbols, themes, writing style – and the structure of the class, which meant that they were familiar with the procedures in class. I have also always been receptive to student feedback and suggestions about the class so I think they felt more at ease asking to take on a larger role that day than they would have if my CM as leading the class.
The two boys were both energetic, fairly active participants in class, and enjoyed group work or leading their peers through something. One boy was naturally charismatic, constantly moving around, and liked to have a sense of responsibility and authority. The other was a very strong, deep thinker and always had something interesting to say about the novel.
That day in class, we were discussing the second to last chapter of the novel, and I had planned on showing a short video clip about the 1943 Harlem Riot and having the students read an excerpt of an essay about the riot to get a sense of the situation that Ellison had based the events in his last chapter on. With my printed lesson plan in hand, the two boys called the class together, showed the clip from my laptop, and lead the class through the supplemental reading. Though the boys were reading the essay excerpt for the first time along with the rest of the class, they both asked very insightful questions and tried to get the class to make connections between the essay and the novel. I was surprised at the level of depth in their questions, and as I watched them interact with class, I wished I had tried something like this earlier in the unit, because I think most of the students could have done well leading a discussion or activity with their peers.
Although the other students in the class were fairly subdued and quiet, and we did not get into as much of a discussion as I had hoped, the two boys seemed to really enjoy leading the class and posing questions to their peers. I think they had a positive experience partly due to the open nature of my teaching and my constant attempts to be open about the content of the novel –symbols, themes, writing style – and the structure of the class, which meant that they were familiar with the procedures in class. I have also always been receptive to student feedback and suggestions about the class so I think they felt more at ease asking to take on a larger role that day than they would have if my CM as leading the class.