Teacher as conductor, ringmaster, parent, chess participant,I can see all of these metaphors clearly.  I have to agree with my peers that Kounin's conductor metaphor is easily visible.  This year is my first experience with a student teacher.  As I observe her, I certainly hope that "withitness" can be learned.  I feel I am extremely good at knowing what is going on in my classroom.  I eliminate problem behaviors before they surface and know when I'm losing a student's attention, "satiation".  I'm convinced that some of this is innate but that experience is a large portion of it.  Having a student teacher has put me in my classroom as an observer.  I see behaviors excalating and wait to see if she will notice. It is extremely difficult for me to keep quiet and not respond to student misbehavior. It has been an interesting experience viewing the students from the outside and I'm excited about the opportunity to witness her growth in classroom "withitness".

My classmates showed wonderful examples of how a classroom teacher could be compared to an orchestra conductor.  What comes to my mind is that while the left hand is doing one thing the right hand is doing something totally different.  I find this true everyday. Literally, I've got my right hand over my heart pledging allegiance and my left hand combing through papers or marking attendance.  A teacher has to be able to do more than one thing at a time.  Like Jennifer, I can hold a guided reading group and monitor the rest of the class.  Teachers make an average of 2000 decisions a day (lounge conversation). We are constantly juggling four or five things at a time, "overlapping". A teacher may be working on a book order, helping one student with a math lesson, compiling after school work for another student, showing compassion for a student who is dealing with problems at home, and keeping the rest of the class on task.  This is very typical of an elementary teacher.  The ability to overlap is essential.

Transitions and group focus can also easily be used to describe both the job of the conductor and the teacher.  A conductor must change tempos with smooth transitions just as a teacher makes subject transitions trying to link one to another.  Orchestras have groups of instruments, working together to complete something unique.  Teachers use cooperative groups much in the same way.  The conductor is also responsible for all groups at once, keeping them in time and motivating them to perform.  I can relate to this metaphor fully.  It is hard for me to see where it falls.  I began thinking about the end of the performance, but even teachers have a sense of satisfaction and completion at times during the year.  I do agree with Beth that the metaphor falls apart when you contrast the orchestra members with the students, teachers deal with students who don't want to be there everyday.

Another possible metaphor for a classroom teacher that demonstrates the use of overlapping and withitness is a traffic cop.  He has people coming at him from all sides.  He has to be able to make quick decisions, be decisive.  He must be authoritative yet yielding when trouble arises.   He has to be withit, always knowing what is going on around him. A traffic cop, like a teacher, must keep things flowing by giving clear understandable instructions.  They direct people, hopefully heading them in the right direction.  A traffic cop deals with all types of people. He has to be patient with the slower drivers and keep others from going too fast.  And talk about your ripple effect, have you ever seen a five car smash up?  He  even carries a whistle.
 
 

References:

Books:

C. M. Charles, Building Classroom Discipline

Web sites:

Are you Withit?

United Federation of Teachers

Schoolwide and Classroom Discipline

Student Papers:

Twardowski, Elizabeth
Trieger, Rebecca
Adkins, Margaret
Haberkorn, Jennifer
 
Personal Experiences:

Classroom 2001

Lounge conversation- 2000