C4T 3

Caren Carrillo: Awkward Classroom Silence

Mrs. Carrillo covers the topic of silence in the classroom and she kindly provides various tricks for teachers to use that can encourage a student to say something. The biggest tip that she provides for teachers is the following: “Don’t Be Afraid of Silence.” She says that teachers should not worry if they are met with silence because it does not necessarily mean that the kids do not understand the lesson plan. Mrs. Carrillo says that if a student does not understand something, they will most likely ask for clarification or they will not be able to answer the question that is asked of them correctly. Mrs. Carrillo gives tips such as engaging students in a staring contest until one of the students cannot deal with the quietness anymore and says something to break the silence. I think that is such an incredibly clever idea! Some students do not like to speak up much in class, but the awkward silence might encourage them to find their voice and say something. I commented on Mrs. Carrillo’s post by saying that I have experienced silence at the end of presentations before, and it would make me very nervous. I would tend to think that I did not explain my presentation in a manner that my audience could follow. I never really thought that my audience might not be saying something because they are too shy to say something. I told Mrs. Carrillo that I really value the tips that she has outline in her post and I plan to try out her suggestions in my classroom.

Caren Carrillo: A Little Seasonal Classroom Humor

In this post, Caren Carrillo provides a link to a humorous article from The New Yorker that chronicles a teacher's efforts to throw a Day of the Dead celebration in her classroom. The article starts out with a teacher named Emily who asks parents to send in pictures for an altar that will be created in the classroom. Many parents respond back to Emily's request with confusion, and Emily tries to ease the concerns of the parents over the ritual that will be performed in her classroom. Emily has to keep sending emails because her original emails are too vague. In the end, it is shown that Emily features one too many mishaps in her Day of the Dead celebration. This article serves to remind teachers to be smart when it comes to planning celebrations. I commented on Caren Carrillo's post by saying that I was glad that she shared this article on her blog. I noted that although Emily was only trying to teach the kids about a new culture and celebration, she went about the process in the wrong way. I noted how flippant Ms. Emily is when she is responding to the concerns of the parents in her classroom. She dismisses their concerns and is rather unprofessional in the way that she regards the parents. On various occasions she appears to be too busy to care or listen to any of the parents suggestions. If Ms. Emily listened to the parents instead of thinking that her way was the right way, then she might still have her job. I told Mrs. Carrillo that this article will help remind me that I should not become too hyper-focused on what I want to do in the classroom. As a future educator, it is important to listen to other people's concerns, because they might be able to notice a flaw in my plan that I would not have noticed on my own.