When I started teaching high school Speech, we did not have computers in our classrooms. We didn’t have TVs or even phones. In an emergency we had a button on the wall to press and (hopefully) someone would respond over a speaker mounted on the wall. Now the TVs have come and gone, desktop computers arrived and have been replaced by laptops, we still have phones that are rarely used, but all of us have our own powerful computers in the palms of our hands.  This allows us to make and edit videos in a matter of minutes.

At some point I decided that I wanted to record student speeches so that they could complete a two-part self-evaluation. Part one was written immediately after giving a speech and part two would involve watching their speech on video and answering a series of questions about their introductions, word choice, body language, tone of voice, etc. I wrote a grant proposal and was able to buy a Hi8 video camera, tripod, and wireless microphone that I used for many years. Students were only given one or two assignments which could be completed on video if they chose to do so because few had access to a camera.

As inexpensive digital video cameras became more common, I decided to allow students to complete their demonstration speech (the first “big” speech of the year) on video, if they wished. I stipulated that if a speech could physically be given at school (in class or outside), then they should deliver it live. But, if they wanted to teach the class how to do something (demonstrate) that could not be done at school, they could record it and we would watch the video in class. I was sure there would be some issues that would arise, but decided to give it a shot.

Many students were excited that now they could demonstrate how to make fried rice, drive a stick shift, or change the oil in a car–topics that simply weren’t feasible on campus. Most students opted for the more traditional route of demonstrating something live. As usual, we learned how to make an origami frog or crane, how to throw a football, how to play guitar chords, and how to hula or dance the cha-cha-cha or merengue. Some students quickly figured out that if they chose to record their speeches that they could edit and re-record until it was nearly perfect. They also realized that this would likely involve a lot of time . . . to edit and re-record. Some of my friends/colleagues suggested that by allowing students to record, the experience wouldn’t be “authentic” because they could . . . edit and re-record. I figured, that just meant they cared about the final product and that by “re-recording” they were actually just “practicing.” And besides, nearly every other speech of year was and would be given live.

One of my students that year said she wanted to give her demonstration speech on welding. I couldn’t quite picture how that was going to work, but she was a good student in my class and really wanted to give it a shot. I mean, how awesome that she wanted to teach us to weld! In her video she explained all the equipment and then got to work, welding pieces together. She had someone else record her from a distance as she worked and then she put the camera inside her mask to show us what it looked like from her perspective. She showed her finished product and even brought it to class to display it in person. All of us were engaged and impressed. It was a really cool. I quietly marveled that in past years she would not have had the chance to select this as her topic.

I was unsure of how this change to my assignment would play out. Since I was the only speech teacher at the school, I didn’t really have many people to bounce off the idea. But, embracing changing technology and allowing students more freedom to choose how they approached the project, worked out to be the best decision. It’s scary sometimes to give up control to students, but so often they rise to the occasion and do some amazing things. With a small change to the guidelines, I opened up many more opportunities for students and never went back to requiring that they give this speech live in class.

I taught high school speech for 22 years, so I’m probably biased, but I think having students practice formal and informal speaking in the classroom is critical. In fact, speaking and listening are part of the Common Core standards for English Language Arts. But, oftentimes more emphasis is placed on the reading, writing, and language standards and the speaking and listening standards are left by the wayside. I have a few theories as to why this is. It could be due to the fact that most English teachers do not have a background in teaching public speaking and so it may be out of their comfort zones. We have access to numerous methods of assessing reading, writing, and language, but far fewer for assessing speaking and listening. Perhaps, most importantly, the SmarterBalanced standardized tests assess reading, writing, language, and listening, but not speaking. As a result, students are often not given adequate opportunities to practice speaking.

Given that teenagers today often rely on non-verbal means of communicating with friends and family–texting, social media–it is even more critical that students are given time, space, and opportunity to practice conversing, speaking informally and formally to groups, and actively listening to others. They need practice presenting a variety of information in a variety of ways. Yes, many English classrooms require students participate in Socratic seminars and work on group projects with a presentation as part of the final product. But, all too often, students are not expected to speak before a group delivering both impromptu and prepared speeches. It is the frequency of practice that helps students overcome stage fright and gain confidence. Presenting a slide-deck report of information once a semester is just not enough.

Understand, I’m not bashing English teachers. I also taught high school English for 23 years. English teachers are tasked with teaching students to read critically and write in a time when reading has become devalued. High school English teachers typically have 150+ students. Consider the math here. If teachers spend a scant five minutes giving feedback on a single essay, this equates to 750 minutes to grade them. That’s 12.5 hours spent outside class time to grade. (Maybe some teachers can grade during class while students work on other assignments, but I never was able to do that with any efficacy.) That’s just one essay. Students should be writing many essays each semester. We know that they need to practice writing and need feedback, too. It should be noted, too, that most “ratings” of schools place heavy emphasis on the writing and literacy scores of students. This means there is even more pressure on English teachers to get their students where they need to be. That said, public speaking skills are not only  necessary for students, but the experience can also be an important interpersonal experience for students and give teachers the chance to evaluate organizational and critical thinking skills in a different way.

Teaching speech was always a source of joy for me (Okay, sometimes it was also a source of frustration. More on that in another post). I was fortunate to see nearly every student in my classes grow and gain confidence as a speaker and communicator. I also had the freedom to focus the curriculum in a way that is nearly impossible in a traditional English class. Students were given the opportunity to give impromptu speeches, formal speeches, group presentations, video presentations, toasts, eulogies, and practice job interviewing. They were up and speaking all the time. They could make mistakes and have a chance to redeem themselves. It wasn’t a one-time experience. With a wide variety of assigned speeches and experiences, students inevitably found some enjoyable and found others that challenged them. But, which were enjoyable and which were most challenging was different for each student.

Two factors were critical to the success of students in my speech classes–frequent practice and collegiality among them. Because the classes were typically comprised of a wide variety of students–grades 10-12, high-achieving-all-honors-all-AP-the time, star athletes, at-risk students, special education students, English learners, musicians, dancers, artists, gamers, students who hated school, and everyone in-between–no one recognized everyone in the class. This immediately caused all of them to be a bit uncomfortable and intimidated at first. This turns out to be a good thing. As they overcame their anxiety about speaking, they got to know each other and learned to encourage one another. They made friends they might otherwise have not.

Over the years I often hear from former students. They tell me what they are up to and sometimes talk about things we did in my classes that they remember most. But, the most positive feedback I receive is from former speech students. They will recount presentations they gave and connect those experiences to speech classes they’ve taken in college or interviews they’ve nailed or presentations they give at work. I don’t think their kind words are due so much to my teaching skill, but instead are a testament to the opportunity I was able to provide for them to practice and grow. And, I was lucky enough to watch it all happen.

But, not every school offers speech class (a real tragedy in my view). And, not every student has the ability to take speech even if it is offered. So, what can we do? This often falls (again!) on the English teacher. Building time for frequent practice speaking before the class can help. Build class culture so that students are polite audience members. Include low-stakes practice, especially at first. Give them the opportunity to “fail” without it costing them too much in grade or social currency. Something as simple as a “Monday Minute” (could be a “what I did over the weekend” sort of talk or have a particular theme or guiding question given beforehand) can help. Students get practice, they get to know each other, the teacher gets to know them, and the grading can be fairly simple. Specifically teach how to be a good speaker. This is key. It’s not enough to have a rubric for the content that must be included on a slide deck. Students must be taught about organization, eye contact, voice projection, body language, word choice, tone, pacing, and the value of the pause.

It can be tough to give up control to students, but it can enrich the lives of students and teachers. Not only do students get the chance to practice speaking and listening, but teachers get the chance to practice listening, too.  After all, speaking and listening not only are the standards, but at some point students are going to need to communicate without the aid of texting and social media.

My son came home from camp yesterday. Before leaving, he ranked his top-ten course choices from a list of about 40 options. He received, and was placed in, five of the ten he selected. On the way home and at dinner, he reported on people he met, adventures he had, games he played, and what he did in his classes. But, he kept coming back to talking about his favorite class–welding.

I must pause for a moment here to explain that my son, though he has many talents, is not very good at working with his hands. He can build any Lego set put before him, but asking him to create art, make a craft, or even write neatly often results in frustration and, sometimes, even tears. At a parent conference when he was in first grade, his teacher suggested that he needed to take more time on his art projects and even said, “He could at least draw hair on his stick people.” This triggered a bit of parental freak-out on my part which resulted in a series of art classes for several years. While he appreciates art a bit more, he is still not very adept at drawing, painting, or really sort of poster-making or crafty activity. So, I was a little concerned that welding would set him up for frustration. Then again, sometimes a little frustration is good for us, right?

First off, he raved about his teacher. She has run a marathon on every continent. She teaches welding classes to kids and adults of all ages. She has her own business–Weld Like a Girl. And, she’s even kind of old–about 50 (his words . . . ouch!). We learned about the equipment he used, how welding works, and how he burnt his finger based on his report. He loved this class and looked forward to it each day. And, he loved his teacher and was sorry that we didn’t get to meet her.

Welding may be seen as a school-to-career or vocational class and so, is not often deemed as valuable for students who have their sights set on college. I doubt my son will pursue a career as a welder, though we would not discourage him to do so if he chose that route. How will he get an idea of what interests him and what talents he has if he is not exposed to a variety of options?

Clearly there was so much more to learn in welding class.

Just as I mentioned in my post about his upcoming culinary arts class, my son was able to easily determine if he had completed the project successfully. He could see the fruits of his labors (that which is frustratingly missing from most academic pursuits). He really stepped out of his comfort zone and even said how he gained confidence as a result of working in a fairly dangerous environment. All this from a class he chose because “it seemed cool.”

And, he was taught to weld by a really fantastic teacher . . . who happens to be a woman. (By the way, he never mentioned that it was surprising that a woman taught welding. Gives me some hope for the future.)

We do a disservice to students when we remove choice and options and discount the learning opportunities presented in areas that are not deemed academic. And just because a student is on a “college track,” it doesn’t mean they don’t stand to learn valuable skills in a “non-academic” class. A good teacher always has more to offer than simply what is written in the course outline or standards. Just as Robert Frost wrote about good fences making good neighbors, good teachers also make good classes.

With the push to increase the rate of college-ready students, electives sometimes get forgotten. After all, if students are striving to gain acceptance to prestigious universities, their “electives” will likely be “academic”–third and fourth years of world language, math, and science. Electives in quotes here because students meet the minimum graduation requirements and A-G requirements with one or two years of these subjects. But, a third and fourth year are typically recommended. So, the “extra” courses in these disciplines fulfill the elective requirement for graduation.

But, what about true electives–those courses that allow students to explore areas that may not be considered academic?

I recently wrote about my son taking health over the summer so that he would have the opportunity to take a year-long elective in the fall. He will take four required classes–English, math, science, physical education. In addition, he is taking a world language, the first year of which meets a graduation requirement, but two years of a world language is also necessary to meet A-G requirements for college. Thus, he is left with one opening for an elective and he has this option because he completed the health requirement over the summer. Had he not done this, he would have taken the semester health class and then would have had limited semester-long elective options. However, there are many year-long elective options from which to choose including: AP Computer Science, Introduction to Broadcasting, Digital Photography, Web Design, Beginning Culinary Arts, Teen Court, College and Career Prep, Band, Percussion Ensemble, Chorus, Music Theory, Music Appreciation, Drama, and Art. While he clearly has his sights set on college, he opted for Beginning to Culinary Arts which is not generally considered a college-prep elective (though it does meet the A-G elective requirement). And, though he loves to eat and try new foods, he is not especially interested in cooking on a regular basis. But, he figured this would be a useful and fun elective. Plus, when we went to one of the introductory nights at the high school, he was impressed by the demeanor of the teacher and her description of the class.

I am happy that he has the opportunity to take a practical, hands-on class. All too often these hands-on courses are being eliminated. As a result, students often miss out on working with their hands and completing “assignments” in which students can clearly evaluate their own success. After all, if the pizza burns or the cupcakes don’t rise or the soup is too salty, students immediately know if they’ve successfully attained the outcomes. There is great value in this. Plus, they get pizza and cupcakes.

But, there is value in simply having a choice, too.

So much of a teen’s life is prescribed these days. High school has more graduation requirements and college acceptance has become highly competitive. (After all, when I was in high school, we only needed three years of English to graduate.) I’m not suggesting that the higher expectations of school today are a bad thing, but with the increase in rigor, there is a decrease in student choice. How are students supposed to discover their talents and interests if they don’t have any choice over their learning? In fact, I’ve heard some educators–administrators included–argue the value of fewer electives in an effort toward “equality.”

I don’t expect my son to decide to become a chef after taking culinary arts. But, I do anticipate that he will learn to use a knife effectively, follow a recipe, try new foods, avoid burning himself in the kitchen, and how to efficiently clean up a kitchen. I also expect he will practice measuring precisely, following directions carefully, and communicate as part of a team toward a common goal. According the teacher, he will also practice sitting at a table and conversing while enjoying a meal he prepared. How can this not help him develop and find his place in the world–even if he doesn’t want to be a chef?

Yes, too many choices can be crippling, as Malcolm Gladwell explores in his TED Talk Choice, Happiness, and Spaghetti Sauce. But, eliminating choices for high school students deprives them of the opportunity to explore new areas of study and practice. It deprives them of the opportunity to explore who they are, too.

A few years ago at the high school where I was teaching, one of my favorite students was adamant that she was not going to take extra math and science classes her senior year, despite prodding from her well-intentioned counselor. She was planning to enroll in a culinary arts program at a local community college. This student had already taken cooking classes, including an online knife-skills class (online because at the time she was too young to take the face-to-face class she wanted). Unfortunately, her high school did not offer any kind of culinary arts class. So, she took wood shop and guitar (along with the required English and Government and Economics classes) her senior year. She was also a teacher’s aide, largely because there were so few other elective options available for her. In fact, she gave a talk for our TED-Ed Club about how wood shop taught her how to cook. She learned to plan and measure, follow directions and create.

She pressed on, though. She completed her culinary arts program, is working in a kitchen, and continues to hone her craft. But, I have to wonder . . . what about those students who don’t know they have an interest in or talent for cooking? What about those who just want to learn to prepare tasty food for themselves and their families? Shouldn’t they get that option, too?

In the summer of 2009 I taught my first fully online class–credit-recovery English for students entering grades 10-12. All of the students enrolled in the class had received a D or F and were making up the class for credit (if they received an F) or were seeking grade improvement (if they received a D). Families paid for the courses and a semester was covered in three weeks. In the fall of 2010 I became the first teacher to offer a fully online class during the regular school year. This time the class was for students who attended the high school where I worked. Eleventh-graders attended five traditional classes, but took my English class online. I continued to teach online high school English for another five years. As you can imagine, I learned a lot, not only about online education, but about student motivation, and simply teaching English. There were many unexpected discoveries to be made and I will dig into this more in a later post. Recently, I had the opportunity to observe an online high school class as a parent.

This summer, my son took his first online course for credit. He is entering high school in the fall and we decided it would be a good idea to take the semester health class over the summer. By completing this graduation requirement early, he will have room in his schedule to take a year-long elective next year. He is pretty disciplined and tech-savvy, so we figured the fully-online class would be a good fit. When I say fully-online, I must clarify that while all of the coursework is delivered via the online course management system, students are required to come in to physically take the five unit tests (which are taken online). This is an asynchronous, self-paced course, so there are no deadlines except for finishing by the end of summer session.

After the face-to-face course orientation, my son was convinced that the course would be more difficult than he anticipated and that he would surely not receive an A. I helped him map out a plan for completing the units and taking tests in between our vacation plans. He signed up for five appointments to take the tests (and one extra in case he missed his goals or encountered some unexpected hurdles). He dutifully completed the coursework, even taking notes, though they would not be turned in or assessed in any way. He reviewed and studied for the tests and gained confidence that he would do well. In the end, he finished everything by the timeline he determined and received an A. And while he learned about health, there were some additional unexpected benefits.

First of all, because the course was delivered asynchronously, he learned to “backward plan” and map out when he would complete each module so as to finish before the deadline he set for himself (long before he was required to complete the class). He figured out that by taking handwritten notes, he remembered the material better and was more prepared for the tests. He also had a tool to review for the tests. He gained confidence in his ability to tackle high school coursework. His 14-year-old self articulated these benefits, but I saw something else.

Having taught online, I expected my son to learn some self-discipline and to identify practices that would help him be successful. But, I didn’t anticipate that by dipping his toe into the curriculum before actually starting high school, he gained confidence about the transition to the exciting, and often challenging, experience that is high school. But, most importantly . . . to me anyway, is how he absorbed the health content. Learning about nutrition, drug use, and sex can be uncomfortable at best for 14-year-olds in a classroom setting. Because he took the class online, he was free to explore these subjects without the comments and jokes that are often used to disguise the discomfort young teens feel when discussing such subjects with their peers. He even talked about what he was learning with me and his dad. Though the motivation for taking the class online stemmed from an effort to open up his schedule, he enjoyed the freedom to internalize the information without fear of judgment or ridicule. It turns out that taking online health over the summer is setting a solid foundation for what we hope will be a smooth transition to high school.

Thanks for reading!

“I don’t have to agree with you to like you or respect you.”

—Anthony Bourdain