Wk 3 Reading: Response to Ashlee Park

Ashlee’s Blog:

While reading chapters 5-8 this week I enjoyed reading about the “silent conductor” and how you don’t have to have a special chair or podium to be a leader. Chapter 5 said that anyone can be a leader.

These words reminded me of a little girl in my classroom. This particular little girl is very small and soft spoken. She is 7 years old and weighs approximately 35 pounds. She is very sweet and everyone loves her. She struggles with class work and with reading especially, but she always tries her best and her classmates are always willing and ready to help her complete any given task.

At the end of the year in my class 1st graders learn how to do String Art. String Art is difficult but once you get the hang of it, it is fun. Typically I have several students who catch on quickly and typically these are students who are higher achieving.

This year this wasn’t the case. Most of my high achieving students struggled with learning String Art, and I had a “silent conductor” step up to help these students. My “silent conductor” was the little girl who typically relied on others to help her. I have seen this little girl struggle for a whole year with almost everything we have done, and now she was coaching and encouraging students who rarely ever need help with anything. Needless to say she was doing this with a huge smile on her face!!! I have never seen her be so proud of herself. I watched several students praise her and ask her for help and the look on her face brought tears to my eyes.

This story goes back to Multiple Intelligences and the importance of teachers being aware and providing ample opportunities for students to thrive and have the chance to be a leader. I’m so glad I was able to see this little girl thrive on being able to give back to others and be a leader.


My Response:

It’s moments like these that remind us why we teach. Sometimes a fellow student can explain a concept better than the teacher ever could. As an ESL teacher, I really like the concept of the ‘silent conductor’. One of the biggest hurdles in an ESL classroom is getting students to speak. They are so shy and afraid of making mistakes that they prefer to say nothing. In an orchestra, the job of the conductor is to get the best sound possible out of the group. Likewise in an ESL classroom, the teacher uses as many tactics as possible to get the students to ‘fail their way to success’. Sometimes, however, it’s the ‘silent conductor’ that one student who’s equally terrified but makes the leap anyway, that turns into the inspiration for the rest of the class.