Guest Speakers Run Wild

November 30th, 2009 By: Diane Trim in Articles, Teachers' Corner

A few years ago, I invited our local daily newspaper’s popular columnist to my high school journalism class. When I let my principal know, I invited her to sit in on the class, too. After all, she was a big fan.

I had asked the columnist to talk about the difference between writing for the city desk and writing his column. He did, but the talk bordered on R-rated material and language (example: inappropriate Halloween costumes). He also put my principal on the spot and asked her about policies and controversies.

I squirmed the entire 84-mintue block period.

The columnist had a ball and the students loved him. The kids were on fire about journalism and adopted him our publication’s patron saint. My principal was a good sport. I was twitchy and my head hurt.

So, how could I have prevented my guest-speaker-run-amok? I loved the on-fire part, but the uncomfortable bits I could have done without. Uncomfortable was pretty much the columnist’s shtick, though.

It boils down to this: prep work. Here’s what you should do to prepare for the speaker and here’s what I did. You can see for yourself where it all went wrong.

Prep the lessons. Make sure that a guest speaker will enhance and support your unit’s objectives. I think that guest speakers should always bring that real world element into the class, something that the teacher can’t always provide.

What I did: Our unit was opinion writing and column writing. My objective was for students to be able to distinguish among different kinds of journalism writing and to understand how columnists develop columns from ideas to printed work.

Select a speaker carefully. Your guest speaker should be an authority in her field, be dynamic and articulate. It’s not fun for the speaker or the students when kids start to nod off or have side conversations halfway through the class period.

What I did: I know our columnist. He’s a pretty entertaining guy. However, I didn’t take into account his adult language or his tendency to be very, very naughty.

Prep the class. It’s a good idea to prepare your class for a guest speaker. It goes beyond behavioral expectations; it also involves background about the speaker, his company, and his work.

What I did: We read the columnist’s work over a few weeks and I pulled a couple of my favorite past columns. We analyzed his writing style and compared it to opinion, news, and feature writing. Those kids knew the columnist’s style.

Planted questions. The only thing worse than a dull guest speaker is awkward silence. It’s not enough assign homework for your students to develop a list of possible questions for the speaker. You don’t want your students asking about your speaker’s cat or about the weather. Brainstorm possible questions and collect them to ask on behalf of the students if the Q&A portion of the lesson is slow.

What I did: As a journalism class, I took this advice and the students developed good interview questions with the idea that they would write both a news article and column from the columnist’s visit. Unfortunately, the columnist didn’t leave much time for questions.

Prep the speaker. Just as you prepare the class for the guest speaker, you should prepare the speaker for the class. Send your speaker examples of your class’s work, explain what they’re interested in, and outline your objectives for the visit. Give your speaker a heads-up about school rules, parking, and checking into the office. Tell your guest what’s acceptable language and content and what’s not.

What I did: I prepped the columnist and sent him my students’ work. He knew what the kids were writing and what I was covering in class. We discussed what he’d talk about. I e-mailed him about where to park and that my editors would meet him at the entrance. What I failed to do was tell him about language and appropriate topics.

Keep the principal in the loop. The principal needs to know when guest speakers come to class. You don’t want her finding out from someone at the grocery store that you’re bringing someone in. The principal also might have some suggestions about folks you could invite, too.

What I did: I kept my principal in the loop from the beginning and even invited her to join us. Too bad she was able to clear her calendar.

Try to redirect. Don’t allow the guest speaker to hold your class hostage. This isn’t easy. You want the speaker to have a good experience, but you also want an appropriate learning atmosphere. Interrupt the speaker and say something like, “You know, this is a classroom. We can’t wander off into subject matter like this.”

What I did: This is where I really fell down. I told the popular columnist a few times that he needed to keep his talk cleaner and more appropriate, but he was on a roll. I should have been more insistent. My experiences had prepared me for unruly students, but I hadn’t been prepared for unruly adults.

Live and learn. If you’ve had an unsuccessful guest speaker, don’t beat yourself up about it and worry over it five years later. Just like any other lesson, reflect on the day, make notes for next time, and decide whether or not the students learned the objectives.

I think my students learned a lot that day. The guest speaker delivered on the objectives and he certainly sparked an interest in journalism that the students didn’t have before. I learned a lot that day, too.

Do you have a tale to tell about a guest speaker gone wild? Any advice? Feel free to leave your wisdom in the comments!

Tags: Classroom Management, guest speaker, prep work