2:40 p.m. Wake-Up Call

by Steve Sliwa

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 A /wak / en / ing (adj.) 1. Waking up. 2. Rousing; exciting -n.

1. The act of waking; an emergence from sleep. 2. A stirring up; a rousing of attention or interests.

September 1. Waking -up.

There's little doubt that the textbook has a place in the history classroom. How teachers use the text is often what is at issue. For the most part, I viewed the textbook that I used with my Grade 10students as an avenue where students could explore, in greater depth, the topics and issues, which we cover in class. It was wonderfully illustrated and well written. There was only one problem: students were telling me that they hated the text, that it was confusing and at times, boring to read. I thought that I was using the textbook effectively but surveying the students tended to confirm that this was the case. What did I need to do to improve how my students used their text and understood what it was that they were reading?

October 2. Rousing; exciting

Translating the awareness into action was the greatest challenge. I began to share the nature of my concern about the textbook, beginning with the students themselves, a critical friend and colleagues whom I shared a M.Ed. course with. My awakening, at this point, had extended beyond their cognition of a problem with instructional practice to how I broached the problem. I became acutely aware that I was attempting to resolve this conflict in a different manner, engaging in a multifaceted process rather than assembling a quick fix to what had emerged as a roadblock to the student learning. A preliminary step towards resolution followed from a conversation with a critical friend, where I came to the realization that the illustrations might serve as a means of preparing students for reading the text. This strategy seemed to be quite productive, the results of which energized me to try it on larger scale. In terms of the latter, I developed a preview of illustrations related to a Chapter in the text. Sharing the results of this exercise with M.Ed. colleagues merely confirmed the positive results that I observed in class only a few hours earlier, at 2:40 p.m., my moment of awakening.

November. Now that I am awake...

I realize that there is a process in place and those whom I collaborate with, be they colleagues, students or designated critical friends, appear to help usher me through this process. I have come to realize that there is an available pool of support, which I can draw upon when I engage in the process. Finally, I have become aware that my capabilities to alter my practice in order that I can be more effective can occur at a level beyond the quick fix alterations. This alone furnishes encouragement to continue the process tomorrow and the days that follow.