Second Week

A student had asked why the perfect tense is called perfect and we had no answer. I still do not have a definitive response, though the explanation might be in the fact that "complete" is one of the definitions to the word. Nonetheless, the question raises a couple of issues for the teacher.

The first of which is that the script that you have prepared will be challenged, often by questions that veer so tangentially from the direction you were going that an answer for their question is not at the ready, and if it is, it is often a long one that would eat up the clock. In response to this situation, I see two things needing to happen: (1) there must be consideration taken for unexpected questions when creating the lesson plan; one must think about how students process the questions you pose, seeing how they might interpret and respond to them. Also (2) there needs to be a culture established in the classroom of having students act as equal participants in the discovery of information. It should not be the teacher's job solely to provide the answer; students need to know that some questions are theirs to research, and that the answer they do discover is welcomed and encouraged in the classroom.

The other issue is potentially being frustrated by the question, and because of that fumbling the rest of the lesson. A teacher needs to learn to shake off a bad moment and continue with the game plan. And most importantly the students need to see that the teacher is in control of the class and that though questions are welcomed, those questions wont derail the lesson, though there probably would be occasions when an abandoning of the lesson in favor of restructuring the class around a question that is posed is OK.