The pleasures of controlled chaos

It is perhaps foolhardy to talk about teaching in a post immediately following one in which I bemoan my teaching failures, because I may be inviting people to connect the two ("well, of COURSE her teaching went badly at Former College if THAT's what she does in class!"), but teaching is on my mind at the moment, so...

My MW class this term gets, well, a little distracted sometimes (this student is a prime offender, actually). We get off topic. But you know, there are things I like about this: it comes about because the students ask questions, questions inspired by the topic at hand. Sure, the questions aren't always relevant to the topic at hand (in fact, they're often not), but they're triggered by it. And I like it that what we're talking about makes them think of something, even if sometimes the connection is kind of out there. Because they're engaged enough to think, and it's neat to see them connect what's happening in our class with what they know from other contexts.

(Want an example? Someone today asked if something we were talking about today was so, then why was it such a big deal when Henry VIII wanted a divorce? It was kind of a cool question, which you'd probably be able to appreciate better if I wasn't being purposely vague about what we were actually talking about today, which has nothing at all to do with Henry VIII, being four hundred years and a continent away from the guy.)

The other reason I like it: when students ask these veering-somewhat-off-topic questions, the other students respond to them. They start talking to each other. It's like if we're not strictly on the exact topic of the course, they feel like they can be authorities, too, and they don't have to wait for me to answer. I don't want the students to (and don't let them) spread misinformation, but it's fun to see them start conversations of their own about the subject (or at least something kind of vaguely related).

Obviously chaos has its down sides, too. Uncontrolled chaos is a problem, and controlled chaos can easily devolve into the uncontrolled variety. There's only so far you want to let distractions go. For instance, after the Henry VIII question, another student said, "Henry VIII? He chopped the heads off his wives, right?" Which comment inspired other students to start explaining everything they knew about Henry VIII (no, that was not allowed to continue). And the danger with students' own conversations is that they can move entirely away from the course topic (or anything academic), and it can be hard to bring them to a close gracefully when you want to.

And what you really don't want is for the digressions to get self-indulgent - where I and some students are happily chatting away about topic x (even when it is connected to the course material), and folks in the back row who aren't part of the conversation are getting bored. This is where controlling the chaos is necessary, so there can be room for these deviations and expressions of student interest, at the same time that you don't lose anyone through boredom or simple confusion about what does this have to do with the course, again?

It can be an interesting balancing act sometimes, and sometimes pulling them back from the brink is takes a little effort. Usually pointing out explicitly that while interesting, these questions don't really connect to what we're doing and we need to get back to the course material, is sufficient. Making sure to catch everyone's eye to bring their attention back to the room as a whole can work, too (depending on how big your class/room is). I do find myself often raising my voice, trying to talk over their conversations, but I don't think this is usually very effective - they just talk louder too, which intensifies the sense of uncontrolled chaos. I have a friend who, in such situations, starts to talk really quietly (and when they finally calm down to be able to hear her, she says, "And what I just said will all be on the test." Hee!), and I have to remember to try that. I'm more likely just to stop talking, and stand and stare at them till they realize, wait, isn't that person in the middle of the room supposed to be doing something?

Different classes also have very different propensities for chaos, too. Some are quiet, and docile, and others are rowdy and ready to change paths and the slightest provocation.

So, what about you? How much chaos do you feel comfortable with in your classroom, and how do  you control it?

Comments

[styleygeek]

I sometimes wish my classes would be more chaotic! My postgrads and third years talk a lot and have their own ideas, but they don't get off track very often. When they do, I find a slightly exasperated "AnyWAY" inserted into the conversation (with a smile) usually makes them realise they are off track and they apologise and we go back to the topic.

One of my first year classes is talkative and prone to jumping randomly to unrelated topics, but they usually stick to topics that are related to the course, if not to the topic of the day, so I often let them run with it for a while.

And the other first year class are the stunned mullets of doom, so even talking on-topic seems to be too much for them.

[PhilosopherP]

It depends on the material...

In my logic courses, I like to have a bit more control when I'm in control and more chaos /energy when they are working out a problem.

In my Ethics and Intro courses, I like more give and take during discussion -- when it feels like I've been talking too much, it is a signal to me.

I've had particular exercises that get them really riled up. At one point I had to turn out the lights to get their attention. That was fun, but probably not helpful to overall learning.

[Belle]

I adore chaos. But that leads my to my current problem.

My upper division classes wander a lot; my lower division I'm having issues in major fashion. The students who know me, love my classes and the chaos; we learn a lot. The ones who don't are pretty freaked and get scared.

Order and structure others can give them. I want to blow up mindsets!

[phd me]

Not a shock to anyone who knows me: I'm not big on the chaos. I'm all for it in group work. They can get as noisy as they want while they're working away at the given questions; I think they learn a lot from each other when they're running with tangents and asking random questions. Whole group, though, I'm on the side of structure. It's a thing.

[September Blue]

I definitely prefer the chaos to the terminally quiet classes where getting anyone to say anything is like pulling teeth, but it's really, really exhausting, even so. Managing it feels more like playing Lemmings than doing anything academic.

That said, I remember being an undergrad in a class where the TA stopped all potentially off-topic conversation dead in its tracks with a "Well, that's really not what we're talking about today." Looking back now, I have some more sympathy for him, but at the time it was far more frustrating than useful, and I don't want to put my own students in that position or to end up with the kind of conversation-killing dynamic he ended up with. So I do a lot of gently swatting the conversation back on topic with lines like "Meanwhile, back in the English department...", and promise myself a huge coffee if I can keep them mostly on track for the whole class.

[Another Damned Medievalist]

My classes can get chaotic. Mostly, I try to bring them back, usually by trying to find a point in their meanderings that can help reinforce what I want them to think about. So, for example, "I know what X said might have seemed off-topic, but how can we compare it or contrast it with ...?" But I have one class that disintegrates into chaos because the class has a sucky personality. The students are fine as individuals, but the class is just dire and painful to me. The next class I teach, back-to-back, is the same course, and much more productively chaotic.

[Dr. Curmudgeon]

I'm also a big fan of some chaos in the classroom. In part it fits my own style of thought which is often more than a little tangential. When I can get students to talk about things they've thought of, even if they're a bit far out, it's evidence they're thinking and more that I can work with.

Terminally quiet classes distress me because inevitably they are the ones where I can only get one person to talk/ask a question/answer a question. For some reason, whenever two of my preps are different sections of the same course, I always wind up with one dead silent group and one that seems engaged (which, at least in part, is due to me using talking as the primary measure of engagement).

Where the chaos gets tricky for me though is when those moments of order peek through on their own - when cliques emerge amidst the talking. That always seems to be where folks get the most off-track.

[Anastasia]

this happens to me all the time. like dr. curmudgeon, i think this fits my style. I'm totally random and I have strange and disparate interests. I do the "ANYway" thing that styley does to get them back on track. they find it funny most of the time. seems to work okay.

[sheepish]

Zero chaos. I teach a class with a couple hundred people in it, and if I lose their focus it's nearly impossible to get it back again.

[historyprof]

Why were you being purposefully vague about what you were actually talking about?

[heu mihi]

My survey class this semester has a tendency towards the mildly boisterous, and I love it--this is the first place where I've had lots and lots of students who don't seem in the least bit shy. I can usually bring them back to the topic at hand without too much trouble (after a little meandering, natch).

I've had some problems, however, with a student who has a pretty serious form of autism. I have him in two classes (and therefore 5 days a week). He's bright and definitely into the material, but has a tendency to talk. A lot. And not very productively. For example, he'll think of a movie or TV show that the text in some totally tangential way reminds him of, and start retelling the entire plot. The thing is that he doesn't really get the cues that I use to redirect (or shut up) other students, so I often find myself just cutting him off. Not sure how to deal with that--although it's not clear that he minds being cut off, or even really notices.