Pete’s PE class are learning about controlling a hockey puck and shooting it from a pass. They are beginning a drill exercise in pairs. One student runs towards the other student, who passes the puck to the first student as soon as they reach a cone. The first student then needs to control the puck, dribble to the next cone and shoot in the goal. Pete gives his instructions and models what he wants to see. He then lets students begin to practise, but it quickly becomes evident that students are not doing the dribble step. They are controlling the puck and then immediately shooting. Pete stops the group and reminds them of what they are supposed to do. Things improve a bit, but it keeps happening and Pete gets frustrated and tells the class off for not listening properly.
***
Fariha’s sociology classes are comparing different approaches to studying families. Fariha explains what she wants students to do in the essay, and Sam puts his hand up and asks “do we need to give similarities and differences of each approach or just similarities?” Fariha says, “Yes, Sam we need both, I literally just said that.”
***
Luka is giving his students a geography task. On one sheet are a number of scenarios and case studies about coastal protection arranged in a grid. On a second sheet there is another grid on which students are expected to place and categorise the scenarios by the type of protection being offered and the advantages and disadvantages that are found in each scenario. Luka wants students to work together, but as he circulates most of the discussion he hears is about how to do the sheet in a procedural sense – “Do we just use the numbers or do we write the whole thing?” “Can one thing go in two boxes?” “Are these all supposed to match up?” – rather than about the actual geography content. He helps out a few students but as he is doing so it really starts to get quite noisy in the room. He turns around and says, “If you can’t work together quietly then I will make you work by yourselves!”
