Teaching a class of twenty-five teenagers around the age of sixteen in oppressive heat, no air conditioning, and the classroom feels like a sauna, well, actual learning is an impossible outcome, a fantasy, a dream, like pigs flying over my veranda…it simply cannot happen. To even attempt a unit of work under such conditions, particularly last period on a Friday, is pure, unadulterated lunacy.
I remember years ago, trying to teach a group of Year eights under similar conditions, new to the job, and the poor kids were either slumped in their chairs, exhausted and sweating or hysterical and literally climbing the walls. This wasn’t teaching, I thought, but crowd control.
Learning, real learning can only occur under bearable conditions. From my experience, the better the conditions, the better the receptivity of the student, because they are less distracted. A hot, stuffy and untidy classroom is not conducive to real learning. This simple fact has been proven to me time and time again.
An example:
One’s environment affects one’s state of mind.
During the early nineties, New York City’s transit system, specifically their subway, was, and looked like, a war zone. Crime was at an all time high, commuters were getting mugged at an average of ten a day. There was so much graffiti covering the trains and the walls of every station that there was literarily no space for the vandels to spray paint their tags…the place had become Dante’s ninth level of Hell.
The city’s government had had enough and thus poured millions of dollars into fixing the problem. A small army of uniformed security was hired to patrol the subway and trains; an upgrade of all stations, refurbishing everything from the walls to the turnstiles, the lavatories to the actual platforms, and of course the trains themselves had been cleaned of all graffiti, including a more ‘crime safe’ ticketing system. New York’s subway had been reborn. So what happened?
One writer has called the phenomena, ‘the broken window syndrome”, that is to say, when people are in a dirty, depressing environment…broken windows, graffiti, garbage everywhere, their attitudes match the surroundings.
Crime dropped in New York City subway’s from ten mugging’s a day to one a week. This is a significant drop in crime. Adding value, not only did the crime drop, but more people used the subway to move around the city…tourists’ began using the system again and the company quadrupled their profits.
How does this relate to learning and the classroom?
If a classroom is neglected, where the paint is peeling, the desks have etched or carved graffiti that cannot be removed, and the overhead fan does not work, on a hot day, the children will match their surroundings and chaos ensues, learning a lost dream.
Putting the “broken window syndrome” to good use, one year I decided to refurbish a classroom, painting the walls in a fresh, light blue, replacing the damaged desk tops with new ones, rearranging the room giving the impression of more space; replacing the blinds and purchasing a new white board.
What happened?
My students returned from their holidays and when coming into that particular classroom for the first time, sat down and said,
“Wow, this doesn’t look like the same room. What did you do Mr. Middleton? This is pretty awesome, man.”
A normally rambunctious group of students, we had the best lesson in years, and continued to do so for the remainder of the school semester.
Other teachers, in fact, commented how changed the space had become and that they now did not regret having to teach in “that” room.
Environment is everything when attempting to teach a group of hormone inflamed teenagers. To be sure, it is difficult enough managing a classroom and running a lesson under “normal” conditions, but in an environment of intense heat and disorganization, the task of teaching becomes challenging if not absolutely ridiculous.
Today was hot, and a Friday, lunch time break became volatile as a few fights occurred…the children were tired after a long week of unrelenting heat and school work.
As a few teachers called in sick today, I was given an “extra”, to watch over a classroom during last period on a humid and hot Friday. As it turned out, I knew these kids and told them to sit back, chat amongst themselves and plan their weekend.
The overhead fan worked though the heat was oppressive, I ordered them to chill…and they did…but no work was accomplished. So they sat back and chatted, trying to relax under the heat, but at least left the school somewhat relaxed, leaving the classroom saying, “Have a good weekend Mr. Middleton. See you Monday.”
No fights, arguments or angst, and all seemingly wanting to return to school after the weekend break.
Although no learning occurred, I figure this to be at least a small accomplishment.
Environment is everything.
I remember years ago, trying to teach a group of Year eights under similar conditions, new to the job, and the poor kids were either slumped in their chairs, exhausted and sweating or hysterical and literally climbing the walls. This wasn’t teaching, I thought, but crowd control.
Learning, real learning can only occur under bearable conditions. From my experience, the better the conditions, the better the receptivity of the student, because they are less distracted. A hot, stuffy and untidy classroom is not conducive to real learning. This simple fact has been proven to me time and time again.
An example:
One’s environment affects one’s state of mind.
During the early nineties, New York City’s transit system, specifically their subway, was, and looked like, a war zone. Crime was at an all time high, commuters were getting mugged at an average of ten a day. There was so much graffiti covering the trains and the walls of every station that there was literarily no space for the vandels to spray paint their tags…the place had become Dante’s ninth level of Hell.
The city’s government had had enough and thus poured millions of dollars into fixing the problem. A small army of uniformed security was hired to patrol the subway and trains; an upgrade of all stations, refurbishing everything from the walls to the turnstiles, the lavatories to the actual platforms, and of course the trains themselves had been cleaned of all graffiti, including a more ‘crime safe’ ticketing system. New York’s subway had been reborn. So what happened?
One writer has called the phenomena, ‘the broken window syndrome”, that is to say, when people are in a dirty, depressing environment…broken windows, graffiti, garbage everywhere, their attitudes match the surroundings.
Crime dropped in New York City subway’s from ten mugging’s a day to one a week. This is a significant drop in crime. Adding value, not only did the crime drop, but more people used the subway to move around the city…tourists’ began using the system again and the company quadrupled their profits.
How does this relate to learning and the classroom?
If a classroom is neglected, where the paint is peeling, the desks have etched or carved graffiti that cannot be removed, and the overhead fan does not work, on a hot day, the children will match their surroundings and chaos ensues, learning a lost dream.
Putting the “broken window syndrome” to good use, one year I decided to refurbish a classroom, painting the walls in a fresh, light blue, replacing the damaged desk tops with new ones, rearranging the room giving the impression of more space; replacing the blinds and purchasing a new white board.
What happened?
My students returned from their holidays and when coming into that particular classroom for the first time, sat down and said,
“Wow, this doesn’t look like the same room. What did you do Mr. Middleton? This is pretty awesome, man.”
A normally rambunctious group of students, we had the best lesson in years, and continued to do so for the remainder of the school semester.
Other teachers, in fact, commented how changed the space had become and that they now did not regret having to teach in “that” room.
Environment is everything when attempting to teach a group of hormone inflamed teenagers. To be sure, it is difficult enough managing a classroom and running a lesson under “normal” conditions, but in an environment of intense heat and disorganization, the task of teaching becomes challenging if not absolutely ridiculous.
Today was hot, and a Friday, lunch time break became volatile as a few fights occurred…the children were tired after a long week of unrelenting heat and school work.
As a few teachers called in sick today, I was given an “extra”, to watch over a classroom during last period on a humid and hot Friday. As it turned out, I knew these kids and told them to sit back, chat amongst themselves and plan their weekend.
The overhead fan worked though the heat was oppressive, I ordered them to chill…and they did…but no work was accomplished. So they sat back and chatted, trying to relax under the heat, but at least left the school somewhat relaxed, leaving the classroom saying, “Have a good weekend Mr. Middleton. See you Monday.”
No fights, arguments or angst, and all seemingly wanting to return to school after the weekend break.
Although no learning occurred, I figure this to be at least a small accomplishment.
Environment is everything.
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