“Challenges are what make life interesting and overcoming them is what makes life meaningful.” - Joshua J. Marine There are misconceptions about education that are found in some school districts. Here is a comment: “Since our students are all learning the same material, it is important for everyone at each grade level to be on the same page on the same day.” Really, you have to be kidding. A teacher told me it was for the students that move around a lot in their district. Believe me, these kids have much bigger problems than having a lesson taught to them two times. If you have taught students that move with each welfare check then you know they probably need repetition with all the other things on their minds. We also need to remember because students were taught a lesson doesn’t mean they all understood it and can apply it. All students do not learn the same way at the same time. It is like running a race. You hope to come in first but you may realize that it is going to take you longer until you build up your endurance. Some kids have to build up their missing skills and vocabulary. They will cross the finish line but it may take them a little longer. This is so obvious with young students. Some children come to us who have never held a book or gone on a vacation. Their experiences in life give them literacy. If they don’t have any experiences, then they have very limited vocabulary and understanding of the world. Some students need to begin again with powerful lessons that include first hand experiences to build up vocabulary and sentence structure. It isn’t fair to judge young children as low and put them in the low group that they will never get out of in the future. They may have not had the “school” experience. Give them a couple years to develop before we stick labels on them that they won’t loose. I had a student who couldn’t write, but his thinking was amazing. He took his science tests etc. orally. Everyone thought I was nuts to let him get away with doing that. I wasn’t grading writing; I was testing his understanding of science. We need to look at education with new eyes. What are the strengths your students have? This same student put a journal together of nature pictures and recorded his thoughts for his “Expert Folder”. By the picture of a beautiful beach he wrote: “The grains of sand come together to make the beach just like my thoughts come together to make my mind. When we look at the sand we see the possibilities for sand to create the beach. Why is it that when we look at a student we don’t always see what is possible?” He went to middle school the following year and I encouraged his language art’s teachers not to track him with the low group. They said if he couldn’t write he had to be in the low track. I was so discouraged. Brian wrote me: “ My teachers don’t see what you saw in me. Thank you for giving me hope. I won’t let school discourage me.” Look through the eyes of your students and you will be amazed at the possibilities you will see. The world is changing. Get them ready for their world not ours. “I don’t regret the things I’ve done, I regret the things I didn’t do when I had the chance.” – Unknown
Posted on: Tue, 15 Oct 2013 21:35:45 +0000
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