So, here it is:
My blog: WWW.Mywishingrock.blogspot.com
I’m a retired educator. I now spend my time gardening, writing, reading, watching and feeding the birds, taking in the beauty of the countryside that surrounds my home, walking and, when I do, filling a plastic bag with the litter that the uncaring throw thoughtlessly, disrespectfully, from their cars and backpacks. I volunteer in a couple of schools, and run workshops for kids AND their parents, called 'I'm a scientist.'
So, what did I do? Where did I teach?
My 50 years in education included initially teaching middle school, then elementary, before being taken from the classroom and elevated to the post of Advisory Teacher in Leicestershire, England during the Open Education era. During that period of time, I visited scores of classrooms, set up a Field Study Center (in the village of Foxton) and ran countless science workshops - in the UK and the USA.
Eventually I became a principal in an Open Plan school, then, after 6 years, took on another school in the village of Ibstock.
After 33 years in education, I retired and I moved to the States in 1996 to build up an embryonic teacher preparation program.........founded and directed another, taught at the local university, and retired from being a paid educator in 2011.
Eventually I became a principal in an Open Plan school, then, after 6 years, took on another school in the village of Ibstock.
After 33 years in education, I retired and I moved to the States in 1996 to build up an embryonic teacher preparation program.........founded and directed another, taught at the local university, and retired from being a paid educator in 2011.
Here's a thumbnail sketch of my career 1963 - 1994
1963 – 1965
My first teaching post was in the small town of Stafford, at Trinity Fields Secondary School, for 11 to 15 year olds. As the newest and youngest member of the science department, I taught – and taught badly - Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Human Biology, to 11, 12, and 13 year-old pupils, including many recently arrived from the Asian continent, unable to speak or understand English.
During my two years at Trinity Fields, reading out loud from a science textbook didn't quite cut it. Reading about science did not arouse anyone's curiosity - at least, not the way I read. Bringing the outdoors indoors, I eventually learned, was what really intrigued my pupils, especially those experiencing schooling difficulties. Helped by an incredible 'awareness-raising' learning experience with a boy nicknamed Tiger, his disinterest in school and his fascination with a spider, I eventually developed a variety of engaging strategies for introducing pupils to the world of science.
Tiger, bless his cotton socks, lay the foundation for my enduring passion and interest in teaching classroom science, using material drawn from the ‘wild’ environment.
Thank you, Tiger. (See bottom of the page for the Tiger story).
1965 – 1967
Hearing and reading about the exciting science and mathematics curriculum work going on in Leicestershire Primary Schools when Stewart Mason, the Director of Education, wisely abolished the highly selective 11+ examination, I moved from the Staffordshire secondary sector in 1965, joining the staff of Blaby Stokes, a large Leicestershire primary school.
In January, 1965, I assumed the teaching responsibility for a large class of 9/10/11 year old boys and girls.
Supported by an understanding and supportive progressive Headmaster, Mr. Ted Ward, I developed a strong 'hands-on' science and mathematics bias to my teaching, using rocks, fossils, insects and plants, as engaging and motivating resources for encouraging reading, writing, painting, mathematics and, of course, science.
It appeared to work well, enthusing me as well as my children, many of whom, I later learned, went on to enthusiastically and successfully study science throughout their secondary and higher education.
Whilst at Blaby Stokes, I had opportunity to develop other school teacher skills away from the classroom. I reorganized and managed the school library, led staff debate and discussion on the content of an appropriate mathematics and science curriculum, ran the school football team, and organized residential trips for the pupils to North Wales and the Isle of Wight.
My classroom became a visiting spot for teachers from America [1]. They came to Leicestershire, I was told, to see progressive schools at work, and came to my classroom in particular, to observe how I integrated science, mathematics, reading and writing in a multi-age setting.
Len Sealey, the Primary Schools Advisor to the Leicestershire LEA, spent several days in and around my classroom, making a film of my teaching he used in his In-Service work for teacher education, and at conferences and workshops in Africa and America.
Later, Bill Browse, Sealey’s successor, invited me to join the Advisory Center as a science and environmental education specialist with the remit to ‘introduce and develop science’ in Leicestershire Primary School classrooms [2].
I had been at Blaby less than two years.
Although the Education Authority was keen to raise the level of science curriculum interest in all its 365 primary schools, few science resources were available – which, in hindsight, was perhaps a blessing. Bill Browse gave me a few tins, a map of the county, and, with a smile, said, “Hey, that’s it. See what you can do.”
With a wide open brief (and a petrol allowance!!), I enthusiastically set out to discover parts of the Leicestershire countryside that could be safely explored by young children and their teachers for investigative activity.
That done, my next task was identifying classrooms and teachers with whom I could work – and, who could work with me (I was a high energy individual at that time :) - and from whom, consequently, I could learn more about how children learn.
That done, my next task was identifying classrooms and teachers with whom I could work – and, who could work with me (I was a high energy individual at that time :) - and from whom, consequently, I could learn more about how children learn.
- Working with Headteachers (principals) who were keen to introduce my kind of science in their schools;
- Routinely visiting and working in a variety of town and village classrooms with pupils aged 5 to 11;
- Leading outdoor and indoor workshops with teachers, using the ‘wild’ environment as a resource. (This work, incidentally, was often observed by visiting advisory/inspectorial staff who were involved in the current Nuffield Science and Mathematics in other school districts, and educators from America who were using ideas developed by Dr. David Hawkins and his staff at the Federally funded Elementary Science Study, based in Boston, Mass, USA.)
- Identifying those teachers who knew their teaching would benefit from attending a meeting or ‘hands-on’ science workshop with like-minded teachers;
- Supporting those teachers in their classrooms as they attempted to introduce science activities in their classrooms;
- Providing an ear and an eye for LEA officers and administrators who were anxious to hear of school and classroom changes;
- Taking teachers on residential visits to the LEA’s Outdoor Pursuits Center in Aberglaslyn, North Wales, helping them plan their trips with young children;
- Working with parents of very young children in evening workshop sessions led by Marjorie Kay, the Infant School advisor, focusing on ways in which adults and young children learn together;
- Presenting evening talks to parents about my kind of school science;
- Working with the Secondary Schools Advisor to create an effective school curriculum for disaffected High School pupils;
- Developing links between schools and the city museum (a project funded by the Carnegie Foundation) which led to the appointment of an Education Officer – which, in turn, led to a school loans program that brought fossils, rocks and minerals, and historical artifacts in to schools);
- Setting up the first day visit Field Study Center for Leicestershire primary schools. I took over a disused village primary school in the village of Foxton, on the banks of the Grand Union canal. This was an ideal site as a resource center for outdoor work with young children, still in use to the present day [3];
- A year or so after the opening of Foxton (where I ran 92 consecutive day workshops for teachers), Leicestershire LEA opened two other centers, one in the small village school at Hoby, and the other in the town of Thurmaston;
- Frequent late hour, education-focused discussions with colleagues Bill Browse, Tony Kallet, and numerous visiting American educators, including David and Frances Hawkins, Bill Hull, John Holt, Philip Morrison, Tom Justice, and many others;
- Leading science and environmental education workshops at the LEA’s Easter Residential Course for Primary School Teachers, held at Loughborough University. This was a particularly successful annual in-service education program, led by Bill and Tony, which attracted over 100 teachers over the Easter week;
- I was a pioneer in developing strong links between schools and the newly established local radio; [4]
- I was a guest speaker at several science conferences held in different cities across Great Britain.
1967 – 1970
The science going on in Leicestershire Primary Schools attracted many educators in the late 60s – all wanting to see ways in which environmental science resources were used to motivate and engage young children in OPEN classrooms (multi-age students, teacher-controlled/owned curriculum). Several American educators, including David Hawkins, Tom Justice, Charles Rathbone, John Holt and Roland Barth, shadowed my advisory work, especially at the Foxton Field Study Center.
 |
| David Hawkins |
1970 – 1971
In 1970, David and Frances Hawkins invited me to join them as a full time staff member at the opening of the Mountain View Center, in Boulder, Colorado, an education project funded by the Ford Foundation, and managed by the University of Colorado, Boulder.
My work at Mountain View included working closely with David [5], Frances, Elwyn Richardson [6], Jane Richtmyer, and Tony Kallet. The ensuing year was spent:
- Learning more and more about the education process.
- Acquiring more strategies for engaging teachers in a workshop environment.
- Working in classrooms with children who had significant social, cultural and learning issues.
- Learning more about the depths and delights of physics, chemistry, biology, and mathematics when working alongside eminent scientists and mathematicians (especially Philip Morrison and Stan Ulam) who had been with David at Los Alamos during the second world war, creating the atomic bomb).
- Developing strong links with many teachers who were keen to discuss, debate and exchange educational experiences, especially on ways to engage and motivate all kinds of learners.
- Setting up and running science workshops at Mountain View, in schools, and in other centers of learning – including Tampas, Boston, Denver, St. Louis, and Colorado Springs.
- Talking with teachers about early childhood education practice.
- Working with staff of Head Start and Follow-Through projects across America,
- Running workshop sessions at weekends on the Pine Ridge Wounded Knee Reservation with adult Oglala Sioux who were involved with a classroom teacher aid program sponsored by the University of Colorado, Boulder.
- Visiting consultant at EDC, Boston, where I led a series of workshops for EDC staff that focused on their work with teachers who were shifting from formal to informal teaching.
- Visiting consultant for a weeklong program at the University of Florida,
- Visiting speaker/workshop leader in Philadelphia.
- Co-authored Yesterday I Found, published by the University of Colorado, 1971.
1971 – 1973
On my return to Great Britain, I resumed my duties at the Leicestershire Advisory Center.
Science, now I learned, had certainly taken root in Leicestershire classrooms and I was fortunate in reaping the harvest of my previous work. I linked up again with Leicester Museum and became heavily involved in the Carnegie Project, aimed at developing educational links between schools and the museum. This work brought me in contact with The Nature Conservancy who invited me to talk at two conferences on the theme of children embracing the concept and practice of conservation.
In the autumn of 1971, I spoke at the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s world conference in Rotterdam. I described the exciting science and mathematical work going on in Leicestershire classrooms. The following afternoon, I led a team of environmental ‘experts’ on a field trip (Foxton Field Study Center style!!) in a woodland close to the conference center. Instead of telling everyone what I knew, I kept asking questions. This style was appreciated!!
1973 – 1976
As my advisory work began to take me away from the classrooms and more into the secondary sector [7] as it contemplated how to support teachers when the school leaving-age was increased (from 15 to 16), I decided it was time for me to hang up my travel boots and return, full-time, to the classroom.
Consequently, I was appointed as teacher of a class of ten and eleven year-olds (and as deputy Headteacher (principal) of Warren Hills CP, a newish open-plan primary school.
During my time at Warren Hills CP School, my classroom was featured in an educational film, ‘What did you learn in school today?’ and I was featured as a visiting science advisor in another film, Look in on Learning, made in Mary Brown’s school in Melton Mowbray.
1977 – 1985
in 1977, I was appointed Headmaster (principal) of Robert Bakewell School, a large open plan school on the outskirts of Loughborough. My work there as Headmaster included,
- Negotiating and agreeing clear curriculum policies and classroom practice.
- Developing an effective partnership relationship with parents and governors that brought them into school and into its classrooms.
- Creating a positive image through developing evening classes for the community. (As the school offered child care, parents began to use the building more and more during school time).
- Attracting school TV broadcasting to make several science [8] programs (which I wrote) in Robert Bakewell’s classrooms [9].
- Improving the quality of teaching and learning through staff debate and discussion, workshops, In -Service courses, and a focus on developing each teacher’s particular strengths.
Robert Bakewell’s reputation improved to such an extent that it was described by Stewart Mason, Director of Education, as a ‘good stable’ – Mason speak for a school that developed teachers worthy of promotion to positions of responsibility in other establishments - and a school that did its utmost to provide a rich, quality learning environment for its pupils.
The LEA continued to use me as a consultant/advisor, and, at the Authority’s behest, I set up a primary Teachers in-service Program at the LEAs conference center – and developed some of its outer buildings as a Field Study center for inner-city children.
Following the 1981 Education Act which focused on creating a new policy for children with learning difficulties, I formed a working group that led to the LEA adopting an appropriate program for supporting children with learning issues in mainstream schools.
I was seconded for a term, working at Sheffield University as the LEA’s representative, discussing the aims of the new government’s educational ambitions which would, eventually, bring about significant changes in education, including the tightening of teacher contracts to a set number of annual teaching hours.
During my time at Robert Bakewell I had 15 books published, many for Ladybird Press, including:
- Nature Takes Shape
- The story of the spider
- The story of the ant
- Batteries and Bulbs
- Simple Chemistry
- Physics
- Biology
- Air
- Light
- The Midlands
- Winter
- All Around You
- Weather
In 1985, I was appointed Headmaster of Ibstock Junior School, an establishment built in 1906 in the mining village of Ibstock, and now with 265 junior pupils on roll.
An interesting feature of this school for me was its UNIT for children with moderate-to-severe learning difficulties.
Other interesting (and challenging) features included its low self-esteem, its run-down curriculum, [10] its disinterested staff, its uninvolved parents [11], and its new board of governors.
Through staff, parents and governor debate and negotiation, significant changes in school were introduced to meet the challenges of impending educational policy changes.
I was helped by the 1988 Education Act [12] which, among other things, described an entitlement curriculum for all pupils in all schools, and which urged schools to manage their own financial affairs.
Over the next few years, school slowly developed a well-deserved positive reputation.
- It met the needs of its pupils.
- It became popular with parents and the LEA.
- It was ambitious for its pupils and its teachers.
- It developed clear, understandable, well-communicated policies and goals.
- Its governors and parents were well informed and keen to support school, its teachers and its pupils.
- Its teachers were enthusiastic and well prepared, developing interesting, age-appropriate, interactive learning activities.
- ALL members of staff (teaching and non-teaching) had ownership of - and participation in - all school policies and management decisions.
An inspection by local education officers and advisors highlighted the good practice in place, particularly praising the science teaching and learning, and the school’s program for children experiencing significant learning challenges.
As a result of this report, the Chairman of the school governors and I were asked to address County Councillors about the school’s science teaching – giving us the opportunity to celebrate school’s achievements. These achievements, included:
- A strong, appropriate, changing curriculum for all pupils.
- A highly regarded Annual Review process of school’s (many) statemented children.
- A National Award for Schools’ Annual Governors Report to Parents.
- My membership of the UK Government's Core Curriculum Interim Committee, National Curriculum Council.
- Winning a number of computers for the school library.
- Gaining funding from Toyota for a school yard project.
- Creating a staff development and routine staff meeting agenda that met teacher needs and expectations.
In September 1994, I visited a school in New Canaan, Connecticut, USA, for six weeks, to work alongside Dr. Russell Firlik, giving me chance to observe at first hand some of the teaching and learning (and management) processes in place in Dr. Firlik’s school.
This project was financed by the Fulbright Teacher Program and I was the first Head Teacher in the UK to receive such an award.
Later, in the autumn, Dr. Firlik came to Ibstock and spent six weeks shadowing me.
1996 – to the present
Enticed by long conversations with my friend, mentor and inspiration, David Hawkins, during my time in New Haven, I decided to return full time to the USA. After 33 years in education in the UK, I retired and took up an offer to come to Denver to run an embryonic Teacher Preparation Program at the Stanley British Primary School, financed by a five-year grant from the Colorado Commission for Higher Education.
The program was way, way different from the traditional teacher education model. Student teachers ('interns') were placed four days each week in the classroom, co-teaching with the lead teacher (the 'mentor'). Each Friday, the interns met with me, and each other, to discuss - and learn from - their teaching and learning experiences.
When the grant expired in 2001, I agreed not to return to the UK, to stay on and to make the program economically viable. And that is exactly what I did.
Then, in 2004, I started another Teacher Preparation Program, in Boulder, at The Friends School, and was also appointed as senior lecturer (Research Methods for Teachers) in the School of Education, University of Colorado, Denver, and a Site Professor in its very traditional teacher preparation program. Every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday, I visited schools and ran seminars in my new program in Boulder. Every Thursday, I oversaw the work of 10 teacher candidates in an Aurora middle school for UCD.
Evenings and weekends I lectured at the university.
******* Comparing, first-hand, the two programs affirmed my strong believe that one learns to teach by teaching - not by reading books ABOUT teaching....
Then, in 2004, I started another Teacher Preparation Program, in Boulder, at The Friends School, and was also appointed as senior lecturer (Research Methods for Teachers) in the School of Education, University of Colorado, Denver, and a Site Professor in its very traditional teacher preparation program. Every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday, I visited schools and ran seminars in my new program in Boulder. Every Thursday, I oversaw the work of 10 teacher candidates in an Aurora middle school for UCD.
Evenings and weekends I lectured at the university.
******* Comparing, first-hand, the two programs affirmed my strong believe that one learns to teach by teaching - not by reading books ABOUT teaching....
In these two roles, I interacted/worked with over 450 teacher candidates (aspiring teachers) in over 30 public, charter and private schools.
Drawing on my background in progressive education, I worked hard to create and implement a teacher preparation experience that was motivating and authentic. I worked hard to inspire and engage my adult graduate university students through a seminar process that involved active discourse about how one engages and motivate students.
I feel honored that the teacher preparation experience eventually impacted so many students and so many classrooms in so many schools. I fully retired in 2011.
Although retired, I still love to teach. I particularly enjoy leading sessions for teachers on how to build classroom community, how to motivate and engage students of all ages, classroom management, science and environmental education. I especially enjoy teaching science to pre K, elementary and middle school students, too, at three local schools, thus maintaining the integrity and authenticity of my work with adults.
I am currently planning my next series of classes for parents and children, entitled, ‘I’m a scientist’. These classes focus on adults working with their children on engaging, challenging science activities.
I also continue to enjoy visiting classrooms and telling stories. For this, I was recently the focus of an EVERYDAY HERO program on Channel 7 (see blog 'And this is what happened on my dad's birthday: EVERYDAY HERO' )
My blog, www.mywishingrock.blogspot.com, and my website, www./site/johnpaullssciencesite, describe many of the other things I do to enrich each and every day.
My latest book, Through My Eyes, published by Xlibris in 2012, describes my childhood and my introduction to teaching.
My second memoir, my time as a principal, is near completion.
I have started my third, which focuses on my time in the world of teacher education. And, Jeannine and I are co-writing a book on the current state of education.
My second memoir, my time as a principal, is near completion.
I have started my third, which focuses on my time in the world of teacher education. And, Jeannine and I are co-writing a book on the current state of education.
John Paull
[1] Leicestershire LEA, one of three areas in England much visited by American educators eager to see at first hand progressive schools – Oxfordshire and the West Riding of Yorkshire being the other two.
[4] Radio Leicester was the first local radio station set up by the BBC – a station that led the way in developing links for teachers.
[5] Emeritus Professor of Philosophy, first Director of ESS, consultant to the Nuffield Science Project.
[7] As it contemplated how to support teachers when the school leaving age was increased from 15 to 16.
[10] A bland diet of textbook and blackboard mathematics and English, with the occasional bit of history and geography, and no science whatsoever.
[11] Parents were not welcome in the building and consequently had little confidence in what went on in the classrooms.
[12] I was invited to work with Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s Consultative Committee, and made regular visits to London
Thank you, Tiger!
My
teacher wake-up call…….
Long
ago, in September, 1963, in fact, I started my first teaching job. I was
appointed as a science teacher at Trinity Fields. The school, like all secondary
modern schools of the time, was for students aged between 11 and 15, all of
whom had failed the national 11+ examination, and thus seen to be undeserving
of an academic education.
The
day before school started, I was given my teaching responsibilities. I was Form
Teacher for 1C, which meant I took the register for attendance, school lunch and
dismissal at the end of the day. After taking my class to morning school
assembly, I was to teach the bottom classes in each of the four years (1C, 2C,
3C and 4C). The Head of the Science Department gave me the textbook, pointing
out the science topics I was to cover. “Not to worry,” he said. “When they take
the Leaving Test at 15, only mathematics, reading and writing are tested.”
The
following day I began my teaching career. Well,
teaching is perhaps too grand a word. It would be more honest to say that I
began to be paid for standing daily in front of loads of bored adolescents,
opening a well-thumbed science text book - then, scribbling science words on
the blackboard to be copied into their science notebooks.
My
science-teaching pattern was straightforward. The kids came in, I welcomed
them, they took their seats, opened their science journals, and waited as I
read from the science textbook. I then wrote the key science information on the
board and the pupils, using their best handwriting, copied my notes. Nothing to
it, really.
What
follows is the description of one significant thing that happened during my
first, very challenging year with Class 3C.
Thirteen year-old Tiger always sat
alone at the back of the science lab. As he was always looking for trouble (and
he was really good at finding it), he was, to put it mildly, a pain in the ***. Tiger made my science lessons a joke. School
didn’t interest him and science didn’t engage him. His dad had told him that
he’d have a job with him as a bricklayer on the building sites when he was 15,
so why should he ‘do his best’ in school? What was the point of it all?
My monthly science topics certainly didn’t
interest Tiger. Well, to be honest, they didn’t interest me very much, either. When
I read from the science textbook, Tiger would roll his eyes, run his fingers
through his greasy hair, scratch his head, and interfere with anyone sitting
close to him. His science notebook was filled with dirty pictures and rude scribbles.
Occasionally, on his really bad days, Tiger shouted that he was fed up with
school and very fed up with boring science.
Nothing I did in my science lessons
made any connection to Tiger’s life experience or appealed to his sense of
curiosity. The science I read from the textbook was irrelevant to his world –
especially, I suppose, the way I presented it. To be honest, the science didn’t
interest anyone in the class.
Most of the boys and girls did,
though, sit politely through each lesson. They spent their time scribbling and
drawing in their science writing books, often whispering to each other,
probably gossiping about Tiger. The boys, though, waited for Tiger to stir the
pot.
The days, weeks and months dragged
by.
In the first week of spring thank
goodness, the miracle of miracles happened - a big, BIG change for the better
came over my teaching. Tiger, of all people, and a small garden spider were my
divine inspirations.
Walking back from shopping for the
weekend food, I spotted the most beautiful orb-web spider sitting in her
intricate silky web in the black currant bush outside the steps leading to my
flat. Surprised to see one so early in the year, I fetched a jar, popped her
inside, and took her upstairs.
The spider reminded me of when I was
a kid when my dad and I found some garden spiders in the back of our house. I
kept two or three of them in a jar tucked under the bed – quickly learning that
you don’t keep spiders together as they eat each other. Looking after the
survivor was really fascinating, though. Keeping her safe and well fed with
flies and moths made me feel good, especially when she deposited an egg sac for
me on her silky web.
I took the spider to school the
following Monday, put her in a large bell jar with a little soil, some
greenery, a branch, and a couple of insects. I set the new home on a small
table at the back of the science laboratory, out of direct sunshine.
The following day, I was thrilled
when I saw a silk egg sac dangling from near the center of the spider’s orb
web. Smiling, and thinking back to when I was a kid, I knew it was going to be
a dead good day. Sensing the spider was hungry, I found a small silverfish
darting around the base of my desk, unscrewed the top of the spider home, and
put the small creature on the web. Immediately, the spider came running towards
her prey. I sat and watched, fascinated by the process, until Tiger’s class
came through the door, breaking the atmosphere by noisily throwing their
satchels under their stools.
Here we go, I thought. Sorry,
spider, I gotta go. I got up quickly, pushing the spider home to one side. The
kids were ready for yet another particularly dull science lesson (all chalk
and talk, then reading and writing, and no ‘hands-on’ science
investigation). They looked bored before I even started.
Then Tiger came through the door,
late. He had a real mean look on his face. Crikey, I thought to myself, I think
I’m in for a real treat! When I asked him where he’d been, Tiger stared at the
floor, kicked a piece of scrap paper, and mumbled he’d been sent to the
Headmaster’s office because, he said: “I was caught looking frewh a dirty
book, sir. ‘fore school started. Not
fair.”
“Who caught you?’ I asked,
thinking ‘serve you right!’ I felt
nosey – I wanted to know more about what had happened. Tiger’s tone changed,
and he looked across the room at me, and shouted loudly:
“Mr. Jelbert, you know, Mr.
Paull, P.E. teacher, he looks at us lads in the yard through his ‘scope from
the class upstairs. He saw me. Looking at pictures. You know. Dirty pictures.
Weren’t my book, though, Mr. Paull. It’s Fatty White’s. ’E shows me every day. It’s them pictures I try to draw in me science
book. Now Mr. Thomas has it. Fatty’ll murder me. I’ve got to go back to the
boss’s office after school. And I’ll get caned. I’ll get six, I know I will.”
Looking sulky and angry, Tiger
turned and went to his usual spot at the back of the classroom.
The class was more restless than
usual. And now, I thought, I have to teach, well, read about science.
Thank you, Tiger.
As I was writing on the blackboard,
asking the pupils to open up their journals and copy my notes, there was a loud
shout of “CHRIST! Friggin’ ‘ell!”
from the back of the room. Startled, I looked up. Everyone in class turned
their heads to see what was going on. There was Tiger, standing up and pointing
his index finger and thumb at the bell jar. The sulky look had gone. His eyes were
wide open.
‘F*# ‘ell!
Look! Mr. Paull, Mr.Paull, there’s a spider ‘ere! It’s killing a creepy-crawly!
It’s f*^** killing it! Look!!!” I raised my
hand. ”Tiger, that’s enough! Watch your
language!”
” Mr. Paull, Mr. Paull, I can’t
f*ing believe it. Look at THAT! The spider, f*+** great!!”
Tight-lipped, I told him to sit
down, leave the spider alone, and get out his science journal. He totally
ignored me. The spider eating her lunch, of course, was, for Tiger, far more
interesting than my science -reading lesson. I turned to the class, and tried
to settle everyone down. “C’mon. Everybody! Never mind Tiger. He’s just
having a moment. Get on with your writing. C’mon everybody, it’s no big deal.”
Tiger swearing loudly was much more captivating than my science-reading lesson
for the class. “Wassup wiv Tiger,
Mr.Paull?” asked Michael, suppressing
a giggle. “’e sick or summat?” The class was restless. I gave in. “Go on,
then, everyone, take a look. Go and see what’s in the jar – then get back to
your seats.”
They didn’t need telling twice.
Everyone rushed to join Tiger at the back of the room He pointed to the jar
which got everyone chattering excitedly about the spider – excited chatter was
something I had never heard in one of my science lessons. “Ain’t never seen
a spider like that! What is it? Wos it doin’?” asked one pupil.
One of the girls, Diane, said the
spider was so beautiful. “Can I look at
it, sir? Please? Can I get a maggy
glass from the drawer?” she asked. I
thought for a moment. Why not? I nodded. Diane fetched a magnifying glass and
peered through it. “It’s great. Can I
draw it, sir? Please?”
“Of course.” I said. “Use your pencil, not your pen. Oh, don’t,
though, draw it in your science book. That’s for science. Here, there’s a piece
of scrap-paper on my desk you can use!” Dianne looked at me, and
asked, drily, “Aren’t spiders science, Mr. Paull?” “’Course, Dianne” I replied. “Sorry. Do it, drawing, oh, go
on, put it in your science journal.”
The idea caught on and a few more of
the class also wanted to draw the spider, sitting in her web, clasping the poor
silverfish. Defeated, I told everyone to close the science textbooks. “Draw the spider, go on, everyone! In your
journals.”
Tiger did not draw the spider in his
journal, though. He sat very still, ignoring me and everyone else, watching the
jar, mesmerized.
The science hour went by quickly,
every minute focused on looking at the spider and swapping stories about
spiders.
Tiger stayed behind after class,
and, with a warm grin and an impish twinkle in his eye, asked me where I’d
found the spider. When I told him, he said, “The spider’s great, sir, ain’t it great?
You like ‘em? Spiders? They’re brill, ain’t they?” He looked up at me. “Sorry
I swore, sir, sorry. Won’t do it again. ‘Onest!! Sorry I din’t do anyfing in me
science book. Can’t draw, anyway, you know. Scabby drawer.”
“Well,” I said, using a quiet voice, “I think you can draw, Tiger,
but the pictures you draw in your science book are rude, you know.” Tiger smiled,
shrugged his shoulders, and then said he was going to get some spiders of his
own as soon as he got home. “Good, but
now get off to your next class. Don’t be late,” I said. “Oh, and don’t forget to see Mr.
Thomas………….and be sure to give the book back to your friend.”
That night, I couldn’t put the
spider episode out of my head.
The next day, Tiger was waiting for
me, outside the staff room, before school started. He had that impish smile on his face again. “Boss
let me off. Didn’t get whacked.” He took a jar out of his satchel. “Got some spidos. Found ‘em, Mr. Paull, found ‘em. There
were stacks of ‘em. Tiny ‘uns. Babs, I think, ain’t they? I got free or four. Like
yours. Can I keep them in the lab, Mr. Paull?
Go on! Can I? Next to yours?”
Then, he added: “Found out about ‘em, too, Mr. Paull. My dad knows what
they are – they’re Garden Spiders, and they eat flies and stuff!” He looked up at me. You know what? You’re ok, Mr. Paull! Sorry,
sorry, I swore. Won’t bovver you agen, ‘onest.”
“Thank you, Tiger, thank you. I appreciate
that.” I said. “I’m sorry you swore, too.
Come with me. Let’s get some jars for those spiders.”
We went to the science lab and I
gave him four jars, telling him that spiders can’t live together without
paralyzing and eating each other. “Make a
home for each one, ok? Quick, now, school’s starting soon. Go to your form
room. Oh, and you can tell your class what you know about spiders, ok?”
When his class came later in the
morning for science, Tiger stood sheepishly at the front of the room, by the
blackboard, the four jars in front of him. He then told a very respectful,
quiet, surprised, and very attentive audience what he had learned about
spiders. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. I was fascinated to see how
Tiger caught everyone’s attention with his excited, twitchy, body movements.
Tiger had at last discovered something in my science period that made him feel
that wonderful, inside-your-head glow when the brain is alive and alert.
His classmates felt it, too.
“Spiders, “ he said,
“ are dead good. Look at this one. It’s a
beaut.” He held up one of the jars.
“Guess what I found out…………Spiders suck their
food after they’ve crushed and made watery…….ain’t only the gals that make
silk……..the fella spiders make silk, too, but only when they’re young………..then
they stop and go looking for a spider girl-friend. They mate on the
web………….sometimes the gals kill and eat the fella………some spiders chase after
stuff they want to eat.”
I was taken aback by how much he
knew, thinking: “Where did he learn that from, then? All from his dad? It
weren’t, for sure, from me in science lessons.” He’d really done his
homework. This was Tiger’s golden moment.
Tiger told his audience that, if
anyone wanted to watch, he was going to release the spiders and
their eggs in the school garden at
lunchtime. “They’re goin’ to die soon, oferwise, y’know, and the eggs will
‘atch soon, right, Mr. Paull?”
When he’d finished, everyone
clapped. “Any questions for Tiger?” I
asked. The hands went up, and Tiger was asked a million questions, some of
which he could answer.
Almost everyone turned up at
lunchtime to see Tiger release the spiders.
That
night I checked my spider’s identity in a spider book, learning that it was Meta
segmentata, a common garden species related to the garden spider. Its
courtship routine was different, though. The male, I read, drives off other
male suitors, but doesn’t advance towards the female until an insect is caught
on the female’s web. Both spiders then move towards the struggling insect. The
male’s front legs are larger than the female and he uses them to push the
female away from the insect. He then gift-wraps the prey. As the female tucks
into her dinner, the male wraps silk around her legs and then mates with her.
The following day, I went to school
early in the morning, an hour or so before the official start of the day, and
went to the science storeroom. I gathered a box full of bones and mounted
spiders and insects, microscopes, racks of test tubes, flasks, and other
scientific equipment. I set them out in
the science lab and then rearranged the stools.
When Tiger’s class came through the
door, the boys and girls noticed what I had done and looked at my displays of
science equipment. “Hey,” said one, “look….look at all this science stuff……..and
hey, look, we ain’t sitting alone. He’s put us in groups.” He turned to me. “Mornin’,
sir, this stuff looks great. Can we touch it?”
Tiger showed me a picture he’d drawn
at home of the beautiful orb-web spider. “Hey,
you did it. You drew your spider. You can draw, see?” I said. Tiger smiled. “Can I glue it on the cover of my science journal, Mr. Paull?”
“OK,” I said, “ but first let me rip out
those inappropriate doodles, ok?”
I started
off the lesson by pointing to the specimens I’d found in the cupboard and then sharing
the spider snippet with everyone. They were enthralled.
I was very struck with the ensuing
class conversations and how the class listened when Tiger had something to say.
When talking and learning about spiders, the pupils were very animated,
commenting and asking good questions. “Tomorrow,
“ I said, at the end of the lesson (which flew by), “we’ll
do that again, ok? See if you have anything that links to our lesson topic, you
know, insects and stuff. You don’t have to stand at the front and share. You
can share your stuff with me privately, if that’s what you’d rather do. You can
draw and write about them in your science journals.” “Great,” said Diane, “Like
bein’ a proper scientist. S’dead good!” “Oh,” I said, “leave your journals . Let me have a look at them tonight. You’ll get
‘em back in the morning.”
That night, I opened up their
journals, the page of the day filled with spider and insect pictures, facts and
questions. Even Tiger’s………….Hey, it dawned on me. Why was I such a twerp? I had learned, by
sheer luck, what motivated and engaged my most challenging, disruptive pupil: observing
and studying a small spider. It was, in fact, an incredible teachable moment. I
had learned the importance of arousing curiosity, of engagement…………I had seen
HOW students learn best.
The next day, and for days after,
kids brought in all sorts to show me, and each other…………….. and I felt like a
teacher. It was THE first ‘Come on, John Paull, be a REAL teacher. Be
professional. Earn your pension.’ wake-up call. Now I KNEW how to teach
science!! Well, at least I KNEW how to teach science in a way that I, and my
kids, enjoyed.
A life-changing experience, for the
better. From Tiger, of all people.
Thank you, Tiger. Bless your cotton socks.
Extract from: Through
My Eyes – on becoming a teacher. John Paull 2012
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