Melodie’s Teacher Stories: The Opera Cough

by Melodie Rosenfeld

Melodie Newman Rosenfeld is a lecturer at an academic teachers college in Israel and has been working with teachers and Read More

Joined Apr 2016
Published Books 9

2

Author’s note:

Sometimes when a student is not allowed to stand up in class, they are so stressed about not standing up, that they can concentrate on nothing else.

This story is about a true critical incident that happened to one of my college students concerning a learner in her 8th grade English class.

Can she convince other teachers about her deeper understanding and what her learner needs?

3

The clock says 7:30 pm and the babysitter has just arrived, so we can leave for the opera.

As I put on my warm pullover sweater, there’s a tickle in my throat, so I pop a menthol cough drop into my mouth to stop a cough.

That does the trick.

4

Melodie’s Teacher Stories: The Opera Cough by Melodie Rosenfeld - Ourboox.com

The opera starts at 8:30 which leaves us just enough time to park.

We find our seats in the middle of a very long row and turn off our cell phones just like the stuffy old lady who’s sitting right in front of us.

The opera begins and is going strong, when a tickle begins again in the back of my throat.

Where’s that box of cough drops?

6

A cough is brewing. Why didn’t I take the whole package?

If I could just cough and get it over with, the tickle would go away.

But if I cough, a thousand people will glare at me, not to mention the stuffy old lady who will turn around and scowl.

8

I hold my breath and swallow the saliva in the back of my throat.

The tickle is now boiling and about to spill over into a full-bodied cough.

I can’t get up in the middle of the row.

My eyes are watering, my face is hot, I’m suffocating, I’m dying.

9

And then unexpectedly the audience claps and the curtain closes for intermission.

I have a deep, satisfying cough.

My husband asks how I liked the final tenor’s singing.

What singing? I heard nothing.

10

We go down and buy a bottle of water.

During Act II, I do feel the need to cough a few times.

So I just sip some water and the tickle passes.

12

And the cough during Act II?

No big deal.

14

A few years later, my opera-cough trauma comes to mind.

Shelly, a new English teacher, tells me about her student, Adam, who was in her 7th grade class last year and is now again in her 8^th grade class.

Adam files into class with the other 8th graders who are scuffling, pushing, laughing, finding their seats, enveloped in the smells of recess sweat, dirt and tennis shoes.

17

Good afternoon, pupils.

Good afternoon, Miss Golan.

Listen as I explain the story on page 17.

Sit down, Adam.

Take out your workbooks and answer the questions on page 19.

Sit down, Adam.

19

For a whole year, Adam got up every few minutes to disturb her class.

Shelly counted eight, maybe ten, times in each lesson.

He sharpened his pencil and then got up to empty the shavings.

He walked to the window and looked out.

He asked to go to his locker.

21

He isn’t hyperactive, so why can’t he just sit?

The only explanation is that he is not interested in her lessons and simply finds more interesting things to do.

He is just a pain, determined to challenge her patience.

This year, Shelley learns about the needs of similar learners with kinesthetic tendencies.

They have to concentrate on sitting still and this takes a lot of energy away from learning.

22

Maybe Adam has strong kinesthetic tendencies?

After class, Shelley approaches him and asks this question for the first time since she has known him:

Why do you keep getting out of your seat?!

She recalls being profoundly surprised at his answer:

So I can concentrate better on what you’re saying.

23

She and Adam work out a private code system between them; if he feels the need to get up, he makes a walking-sign with his fingers on his desk.

If she predicts that he’ll get antsy, she asks him to erase the board or go on an errand.

In short, he can get out of his seat any time he needs to.

24

And the getting up during class?

No big deal.

26

And then Shelley counts: the rest of the year he gets out of his seat three, maybe four times per class.

Not like the ten times before she legitimized his needs.

What was going on here?

The opera-cough phenomenon.

28

Not allowed to get up or move, the learner can concentrate on little else besides getting up and moving.

He struggles as he suffocates, needing to escape his strait-jacket. He hears little of the lesson.

Having permission to get up whenever he needs is like my sip of cool water.

When getting up is no big deal, the learner just doesn’t need to get up as much.

30

Shelley, as a new teacher, is particularly excited to share her discovery.

In the teachers’ room, the other teachers continue to complain about Adam’s disturbing behavior.

They listen to Shelley, but nothing she says convinces them to allow him to get up.

32

They say,

We used to be new teachers, too.

Shelly’s new.

She’ll learn.

34

Adam says,

Shelly’s my best teacher, ever.

36

Photo credits

red opera chairs <a href=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/41407408@N00/5082213817″>Fancy, Old Fashioned Theater Seats</a> via <a href=”http://photopin.com”>photopin</a> <a href=”https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/”>(license)</a>

opera singer <a href=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/31969501@N05/6937858856″>Event Photography by Pete Labrozzi</a> via <a href=”http://photopin.com”>photopin</a> <a href=”https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/”>(license)</a>

water bottle <a href=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/68732633@N04/15113565826″>The Water Story</a> via <a href=”http://photopin.com”>photopin</a> <a href=”https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/”>(license)</a>

No Big Deal http://www.trademarkia.com/nbd-no-big-deal-74162545.html

students on stairs <a href=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/88876166@N00/21034454412″>First Day of School</a> via <a href=”http://photopin.com”>photopin</a> <a href=”https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/”>(license)</a>

teacher sitting at desk http://3tgmli1sbjtj2hpytw6t8lw1.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/stock-photo-education-elementary-school-learning-and-people-concept-group-of-school-kids-with-teacher-236774134-500×373.jpg

pencil sharpener <a href=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/24018267@N00/6801422876″>062/366 Shavings</a> via <a href=”http://photopin.com”>photopin</a> <a href=”https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/”>(license)</a>

walking fingers (personal photo)

straitjacket Shutterstock Image ID:70247092

four teachers <a href=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/123952077@N02/27075096953“>160603-A-UK263-100</a> via <a href=”http://photopin.com“>photopin</a> <a href=”https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/2.0/“>(license)</a>

spiral staircase http://3tgmli1sbjtj2hpytw6t8lw1.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/27547034426_44c35df5db-500×375.jpg

38

Melodie’s Teacher Stories: The Opera Cough

by Melodie Rosenfeld

Author’s note:

Sometimes when a student is not allowed to stand up in class, they are so stressed about not standing up, that they can concentrate on nothing else.

This story is about a true critical incident that happened to one of my college students concerning a learner in her 8th grade English class.

Can she convince other teachers about her deeper understanding and what her learner needs?

The clock says 7:30 pm and the babysitter has just arrived, so we can leave for the opera.

As I put on my warm pullover sweater, there’s a tickle in my throat, so I pop a menthol cough drop into my mouth to stop a cough.

That does the trick.

The opera starts at 8:30 which leaves us just enough time to park.

We find our seats in the middle of a very long row and turn off our cell phones just like the stuffy old lady who’s sitting right in front of us.

The opera begins and is going strong, when a tickle begins again in the back of my throat.

Where’s that box of cough drops?

A cough is brewing. Why didn’t I take the whole package?

If I could just cough and get it over with, the tickle would go away.

But if I cough, a thousand people will glare at me, not to mention the stuffy old lady who will turn around and scowl.

I hold my breath and swallow the saliva in the back of my throat.

The tickle is now boiling and about to spill over into a full-bodied cough.

I can’t get up in the middle of the row.

My eyes are watering, my face is hot, I’m suffocating, I’m dying.

And then unexpectedly the audience claps and the curtain closes for intermission.

I have a deep, satisfying cough.

My husband asks how I liked the final tenor’s singing.

What singing? I heard nothing.

We go down and buy a bottle of water.

During Act II, I do feel the need to cough a few times.

So I just sip some water and the tickle passes.

And the cough during Act II?

No big deal.

A few years later, my opera-cough trauma comes to mind.

Shelly, a new English teacher, tells me about her student, Adam, who was in her 7th grade class last year and is now again in her 8th grade class.

Adam files into class with the other 8th graders who are scuffling, pushing, laughing, finding their seats, enveloped in the smells of recess sweat, dirt and tennis shoes.

Good afternoon, pupils.

Good afternoon, Miss Golan.

Listen as I explain the story on page 17.

Sit down, Adam.

Take out your workbooks and answer the questions on page 19.

Sit down, Adam.

For a whole year, Adam got up every few minutes to disturb her class.

Shelly counted eight, maybe ten, times in each lesson.

He sharpened his pencil and then got up to empty the shavings.

He walked to the window and looked out.

He asked to go to his locker.

He isn’t hyperactive, so why can’t he just sit?

The only explanation is that he is not interested in her lessons and simply finds more interesting things to do.

He is just a pain, determined to challenge her patience.

This year, Shelley learns about the needs of similar learners with kinesthetic tendencies.

They have to concentrate on sitting still and this takes a lot of energy away from learning.

Maybe Adam has strong kinesthetic tendencies?

After class, Shelley approaches him and asks this question for the first time since she has known him:

Why do you keep getting out of your seat?!

She recalls being profoundly surprised at his answer:

So I can concentrate better on what you’re saying.

She and Adam work out a private code system between them; if he feels the need to get up, he makes a walking-sign with his fingers on his desk.

If she predicts that he’ll get antsy, she asks him to erase the board or go on an errand.

In short, he can get out of his seat any time he needs to.

And the getting up during class?

No big deal.

And then Shelley counts: the rest of the year he gets out of his seat three, maybe four times per class.

Not like the ten times before she legitimized his needs.

What was going on here?

The opera-cough phenomenon.

Not allowed to get up or move, the learner can concentrate on little else besides getting up and moving.

He struggles as he suffocates, needing to escape his strait-jacket. He hears little of the lesson.

Having permission to get up whenever he needs is like my sip of cool water.

When getting up is no big deal, the learner just doesn’t need to get up as much.

Shelley, as a new teacher, is particularly excited to share her discovery.

In the teachers’ room, the other teachers continue to complain about Adam’s disturbing behavior.

They listen to Shelley, but nothing she says convinces them to allow him to get up.

They say,

We used to be new teachers, too.

Shelly’s new.

She’ll learn.

Adam says,

Shelly’s my best teacher, ever.

Photo credits

red opera chairs <a href=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/41407408@N00/5082213817″>Fancy, Old Fashioned Theater Seats</a> via <a href=”http://photopin.com”>photopin</a> <a href=”https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/”>(license)</a>

opera singer <a href=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/31969501@N05/6937858856″>Event Photography by Pete Labrozzi</a> via <a href=”http://photopin.com”>photopin</a> <a href=”https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/”>(license)</a>

water bottle <a href=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/68732633@N04/15113565826″>The Water Story</a> via <a href=”http://photopin.com”>photopin</a> <a href=”https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/”>(license)</a>

No Big Deal http://www.trademarkia.com/nbd-no-big-deal-74162545.html

Shelly, a new English teacher, tells me about her student, Adam, who was in her 7th grade class last year and is now again in her 8^th grade class.