Reach 'em to Teach 'em

Not much seems to be happening on the message board, so I'll post a few of my thoughts on one of the articles: Reach Them to Teach Them.

Overall I agree with the theme of the article, in that you should build good relationships, respect your students, make lessons relevant, build connections and overall be a hard-working and interesting teacher to be around.

However, these schools in Virginia sound nothing like my school. These sound like schools that have resources, have average ability students, are going to make their AYP this year and are your typical, all-American, move out to the suburbs type high schools. (This is just a guess, but I bet anyone a 6-pack of good beer that I'm right). I'm tired of reading about these types of schools - to me it's just not keeping it real (yo).

So far, building relationships is not enough. I think my relationships with my students are pretty good, but that doesn't get me very far. It seems to me (and granted, I'm in a bit of a dark, down in the mouth place with my teaching right now) that our school has such a climate of disrespect going on that I can hit on a lot of the aforementioned strategies (relationships, etc) and the students still poop all over my lessons - and me - and everyone around them.

I really like to plan out lessons and spend way too much time trying to add some flair and make them interesting. Well, at least they are interesting for me. But I'll be damned if I can get the students interested in anything I'm doing these days. So what's the next step in reaching students? 'Cause if I can't dig a little deeper I'm going to become a worksheet teacher from now until May...

Dave

r. That makes putting up with it all, that much more difficult.

But I'd bet a dollar against a donut that your classes are going much better than those teachers who are doing the worksheet model. Easy trap to fall into. I don't know that it does any good.

Lisa and I are going to continue to push the Writer's Workshop model in our classes. The folks who tend to do nothing have either shown a propensity to do, now, just a little, or to (you wouldn't have thought it possible!) do even less. But the kids who want to learn are really running with it, and appreciate the opportunity.

And the kids in the middle are making progress, too.

I think the kids you are reaching with your animation and flair would be disappointed and disheartened if you canned it. I know that'd be the case here.

I see only half my original message made it. Here's a more complete verions.

Yo.
I know I've been tempted to poop-can the creative approaches and do the textbook. The tail, in terms of kids who seem determined to disrupt class, very much wags the administration dog here, too. The times I've come close to a hand-em-a worksheet model have been a bit easier, but, even given the circumstances, I don't for a moment think that's the right thing to do. I know you don't, either, but venting is fun!

Lisa (my spec ed co-teacher) and I are trying to get our hands around this Writer's Workshop thing. It's hard. Lots more detail and tracking than I anticipated; I'm learning it slowly. Relationships are so critical to making it work.

I had stopped getting tension headaches on my way to school for the latter part of last semester. My students and I had, for the most part, made peace with each other (or at least detente!). Then, a whole bunch of new folks were thrown in at semester change: folks who failed English I first semester, hadn't taken it yet, etc. The dynamics of the classes changed dramatically. We're slowly making peace again. Our ability to make the kids feel safe, liked, and welcome are key to whatever progress we've made. Hopefully, soon, no more morning acetaminophen to the end of the school year!

Changing to the worksheet model is tempting. But I'll bet you and Carlos have much better relationships with your kids than many of the other teachers, with your creativity and flair a big part of that. The silent majority would greatly regret seeing that go away. You'd be disappointed, both in your efforts and your results, too.

I know you don't really intend to cash it in for that model. I'm not lecturing you. Putting this stuff on screen actually helps remind me, and keep me on path, too!

I'd bet a dollar against a donut that your classes are going much better than those teachers who are doing the worksheet model. Easy trap to fall into. I don't know that it does any good.

Lisa and I are going to continue to push the Writer's Workshop model in our classes. The folks who tend to do nothing have either shown a propensity to do, now, just a little, or to (you wouldn't have thought it possible!) do even less. But the kids who want to learn are really running with it, and appreciate the opportunity.

And the kids in the middle are making progress, too.

I think the kids you are reaching with your animation and flair would be disappointed and disheartened if you canned it. I know that'd be the case here.

With my last post I was only half joking. I've come to believe that my students could really benefit from doing Guided Reading (read that as worksheet) exercises.

I know it is not a very exciting way to teach for any of us in the classroom, but I feel that my students need a lot of help learning to read and scan for information. Doing a very formally structured task such as worksheets (usually Carlos and I write them instead of using the ones that go along with the textbook) is something the students know how to do, it allows for a relatively slow pace and plenty of one on one time with students who are struggling, it is good training for taking standardized tests and allow for the use of Bloom's higher levels (explain, describe, contrast, etc).

Somewhere along the line worksheets got a bad rap. While I definitely don't think they should be used everyday, I do think they can be a valuable part of a lesson and they can be a valid methodology.

After talking with some of my friends about a lot of the stuff we are learning, and our own experiences as students I have come to the following hypothesis. Worksheets are great for some classes and some students. Will they retain everything? No. Will they have to read for information, read questions, or actually do some work? Yes.

I want to be that teacher that my students remember as someone that helped them in their lives, but sometimes I think maybe these kids should hate me but at least learn that they are going to have to do some work to earn the things they want in life.

Worksheets are the only time I see the majority of our class working. Group projects, think pair share, jigsawing, and other techniques have left me tired, angry, and disappointed.

However, one thing we need to work on is modeling expectations. Maybe that would help.

I may be a bit late in replying here, but I just wanted to tell Carlos: Don't give up on being that teacher that the kids remember in ten years. Just don't think that you gain that status through your curriculum. I have an excellent connection with many of my students, even those who don't feel any connection with the subjects I (nominally) teach. Now, to teach in such a way that they remember the material itself ten years later, that's another thing entirely. I don't think I'll be able to do that foor another couple of years. But can you personally be an important person in your kids' lives? Abso-floggin'-lutely, mate.