The story passed down to me goes something like this.... my great-grandfather was somewhere near Ronssoy, France in September 1918. All the men in his squad were killed. He ran into 4 Germans manning a heavy machine gun, killed them with his pistol, and took control of machine gun. He jammed it so it was continuing to fire.
Medal of Honor Citation
Photograph of Frank Gaffney from Niagara County Historical Society
Hoping to find a safe place, my great-grandfather dove into a foxhole. Immediately, 80 German soldiers were pointing their pistols at him. He jumped up and yelled, “Alpha Company, Bravo Company, Charlie Company, Delta Company.” The German soldiers laid down their pistols and Frank Gaffney marched all 80 of them back to camp. Single-handedly. Or so the story goes.
As a teacher, I found myself
periodically (a time or two) in a metaphoric classroom foxhole. Instead
of 80 pistols drawn upon me, I found 30 sets of piercing eyes penetrating my
tired and exhausted soul.
To help prevent ever falling into the
foxhole in the first place, know your students’ readiness, knowledge, and
interest of the content BEFORE you ever begin instruction. Whichever form
of pre-assessment you choose, use the information you obtain to target your
instruction. By doing so, you will have a much greater chance of
connecting your students to the content and they are much more likely to be
engaged in the learning process.
When the occasion does occur in which you find yourself in the
classroom trenches, instead of succumbing to the inevitable D-Day (Day of
Defeat), jump up and seize the moment. We have to respond quickly to the
verbal and, most importantly, nonverbal feedback from our students and respond.
If what we are doing is not working, adjust and then, readjust if needed.
If you are not sure what the problem is, ask your students. They will
tell you.
Sometimes we need to remind ourselves, it's about them -
not us. We may feel like soldiers in the trenches, but our students are
not our enemy -- they are our Allie.
