Perfecting pacing

I had no idea what to expect of the students abilities on Day 1. Sure, this is an Algebra 2 class, and yes, I know the students are generally somewhere in the middle of the pack in terms of ability. But to a new teacher what does that really mean? I recalled the Algebra 2 material when going through teacher training, but trying to decipher the students’ background mathematically worried me initially. To complicate matters, these rising tenth graders came from more than a couple high schools. As we all know, that adds even more variability to the equation. As a tutor, I never had this worry because I could tailor my teaching to one student. Using the Socratic method, I could probe students and find out exactly what they knew and where the gaps in knowledge were. I could spend time creating brief examples to illustrate how to approach homework problems that they struggled with. In a classroom setting, that is often not feasible.

The pre-test that we gave the students on Day 1 was not very helpful. Few could recall how to solve systems of equations or graph non-linear equations. My co-teacher re-assured me that this was normal and it just means that we hit on the necessary topics to build the summer around. We designed the entire curriculum from scratch. So when I got up in front of the class for the first time, I had no idea if I would be talking to students thinking “oh my, this guy thinks that we are kindergarten students” or on the other end of the spectrum thinking “is this dude speaking English?”

I started off with a slow pace. Explain as much as possible without detailing the basic arithmetic. I found it made things run smoothly for the majority of the class. There is one student in particular that I am concerned about, but other than that, I have been impressed.

That positive impression gave me the feeling that I needed to speed up. My co-teacher sat in the back of the room after one lesson where I really picked up the pace and confirmed what I surmised. Based on the blank stares I received while delivering the lesson, I went too fast. Slow down, ask the students questions, keep them engaged, and double-check that the material makes sense.

There is a happy medium to pacing. I talked about this with a teacher who has been in education longer than I have been alive and he said even he still struggles to hit that sweet spot. Those were reassuring words. I’ve returned back to a pace that the students seem comfortable with but it’s a constant fine tuning process. And I’m enjoying every minute of it.