"Does It Always Have to be the "Good" Ones? Giving All Students a Chance!

I was talking to a high school teacher about the mentor program that was established between the 5th graders and the high school football team.

The response was, "Which football players?"

When I said I wasn't sure, the response was, "I hope it's not the ones I'm thinking about!. really hope it wasn't those kids!"

I paused, and said, "Well whichever ones they are, they have done an excellent job with our boys!".

Why do we automatically put down our kids? Why are we so quick to label? Why do we want to put our kids into a box?

Don't they deserve as much of a chance to fail and/or succeed as anyone else? 

Shouldn't we give them a chance to prove their worth?

Isn't it possible that when we place them in a certain environment, an environment where we thought they couldn't, they prove us wrong, and show us they could?

I am guilty of this as well. When there's a chore outside the realm of the Job Cards, there are certain names which are always at the tip of my tongue. I have to consciously stop myself, and think of another child I can call on. 

Everyone deserves a chance to prove that they aren't what we think they are. Some will succeed, some will fail.

Our kids loved having lunch with their mentors every week, enjoyed talking to them,  the field trip to their football game,playing with them at recess, and got a special thrill out playing with them in the End of the Year Flag football game. Whoever these young men were, they were a positive influence on our students.

I loved watching them interact with our "babies." Watching their eyes light up when they came for lunch, and greeted their mentee. The pride they felt in being a mentor.

I don't know which football players were chosen, but our kids loved them. 

It doesn't always have to be the "good" ones.

Watch Your Tongue! Our Kids Hear Every Word!

Sometimes I get frustrated with my class when it seems as if they are not listening to me.

You know. When 6 of them ask a question which had already been answered. Or when they ask you for directions after you have just given them.

I have my methods for dealing with those situations, but, it is frustrating, nonetheless.

The other day we were watching a video.

Let me backtrack. This year I started this "thing" that whenever we watched a video or read a story, when applicable, I would say, "This is a career!" I know they're 5th graders. I know they're 10-12 years old. I know some of them don't have a clue what they want to do when they grow up. But I want them to know that any number of careers is open to them. Therefore, I follow up with, "This is a career!"

Back to the video. So, we're watching this video on Wonderopolis. I can't remember what it was about. The video finished and my kids yelled out, "This is a career!"

"Yes, yes, it is!"  You know I was beaming.

They listen. Not only were they listening to me, but they were applying what I said to their lives.

Which made me think.

We need to be careful what we say about, and to, our children. They are listening.  And just as they listen to the positive, they hear the negative as well. And the negative probably digs in a lot deeper than the positive.

If you tell them they're stupid, (words and/or actions), they hear you.
If you tell them they can't succeed, they hear you.
If you tell them they're losers, they hear you.
If you tell them they will never be anything, can't do any better, they hear you.

If you make a habit of telling them what they aren't, instead of what they can be, they will own it.

Tell them the good. And if you have nothing good to say, don't say anything. Our kids are listening.

My kids are listening, and I am watching what I say!



photo credit: The U.S. Army via photopin cc

Our Students and the Self Fulfilling Prophecy: Avoiding Gloom and Doom!

I remember when I was in college a LONG time ago, we learned about the self-fulfilling prophecy. I don't recall the professor who taught it, but somehow it has managed to stay in my head after all these years.  If you believe it, it could happen, good or bad, positive or negative, our expectations influence those around us. When the professor introduced this concept, he wanted to emphasize the damage we could do to our students if we had preconceived notions about them and what they were capable of.

In the education field this is particularly true.  We have a huge impact on what happens to the hundreds of lives who sit in our classrooms, year after year.  How many times have we heard successful people credit a teacher who believed in them? Teachers who refused to believe that  a particular student would amount to nothing?

Too many times I have heard comments about what "the population" of a school is,or is not, capable of.  I have witnessed students who were judged by the behavior that they exhibited in prior years. Trying to get teachers to incorporate technology in their classrooms, and  being told that the students "can't" do it. Determining the intelligence of  a child based on the behavior of a parent or sibling.

I have always had high expectations for my students, I refuse to lower my standards to fit a mold others think they fit in.  I hold them responsible for their education and believe that they are capable of so much. And I have found, repeatedly, that most of my students rise to my expectations. 

  If we continue to teach students according to our expectations of them, and our expectations are low, what will the results be? If the Robins are challenged every day, and the Sparrows aren't, when do the Sparrows get a chance to spread their wings, to fly beyond our enforced limits?

I had a student who was truant the previous school year.  When he arrived in my class, the pattern began again.   He would show up for school twice a week, if that.  According to statistics, the general consensus wass that he would eventually drop out of school, and his life would be pretty bleak. It might be, particularly because he was 13 in the 5th grade, but, I was not deterred by that "prophecy." I chose to believe that he would succeed.   

He missed one day in the weeks that followed. His grades improved, and he was willing to share his thoughts and work. He participated in discussions. He High-fived me every morning and afternoon. (The afternoon High 5 was always accompanied by the word, "tomorrow.") He was so much more than a statistic to me.

I know, it's pretty idealistic. "I believe, and if I believe , it can happen." I realize that this is not always the case. But wouldn't it be great if our prophecies were positive, and most of them were fulfilled?

Originally posted on "Diary of a Public School Teacher"(Wordpress)

Teach Them Like They're Future Presidents!

A conversation in a workshop, in a classroom, in a school, in a district, in a city, in a state, in our country. An unfortunate conversation that has probably been repeated many times across the U.S.

Discussing a real world problem while teaching volume:
Presenter/Teacher:  We need to give the kids a real world application. I think this problem would be great for that.
Teacher 1:  Yes, that's an excellent way to teach that concept.
Presenter/Teacher: After all, let's face it. These kids will probably be filling boxes for a living anyway.
Teacher 2(indignantly) :  I don't know what kids you're talking about! The kids in my class are going to be future presidents, or CEO's!
Presenter/Teacher:     (crickets)

And that's who we should be teaching, future presidents. Future CEO's, astronauts, computer geniuses, authors, and inventors. That's how we should be teaching, as if the future is theirs for the taking. As if this is what we are preparing them for. Is there only one type of kid who gets to be taught this way?

Because you know what? If it has already been decided that they are going to be nothing but "box fillers", then that's the way they will be taught. If it has already been decided that they are going to be pregnant in middle school, then that's the way they will be taught.

If it has already been decided that there is not much that will come of their lives because mom is a single parent, they are African-American, Mexican, poor "white trash" , living below the poverty line, dad is in jail, grandma is raising them, or any of the other reasons teachers have used to crown themselves foreseers of the future of their students' lives, then that is how they will be taught!

 They will not be challenged. The expectations for them will be little or none. When they ask for challenges, they will be dismissed. They will become a "population" of students of which nothing is ever expected.

And unless, they get a teacher or a mentor who will treat them as if they can be somebody, their life is destined to be where that  teacher said it would lead. Then in a few years, that teacher can pat them-self on the back and say, "I told you so!" smiling smugly, satisfied.

Will some of them end up working in McDonald's? pregnant? Of course, life happens. But while they are in our care, while they still have a chance, let's teach them as if they a future president!

Sometimes They Need to Let Us Know, That They Know...

Sometimes they need to know, that we know, that they are capable. Sometimes they need to know, that we know, that they are capable of so much more than what they might exhibit.

We switch classes for Literature Circles (Book Club), whatever you want to call it. I call it, "Let them read, and enjoy  a book time." The kids in one group were asked to write a brief prediction about their story before they started.

With no prompting from me, they politely shared what each had written. I looked in one little girl's book and she wrote her prediction in giant letters, sloppily written all over the page. Now, I'm all for giving my students ownership, but I have rules about some things. I quietly let her know that it wasn't acceptable, and she wrote it over, beautifully.

As they left to return to their classrooms, I pulled her aside, and gave her my heartfelt speech. "These are my expectations for you, (hand raised high in the air), they are not here", (hand close to the floor.), I know you can meet them." She nodded affirmatively, and walked to her class. (Now mind you, this is one of "those" students teachers tend to gossip about).

I say all this because at 7:38p.m., she emailed me a three paragraph essay about her winter break. We are now a Google school and we use Google docs. This little girl, at home, wrote a three paragraph essay, looked up my email, and shared it with me!!!!! Wow! I am blown away!

 I read it and left a comment. Nothing about spelling, grammar. I praised her for the excellent work and thanked her for sharing her winter break with me.

She is making a statement, "I have no problem meeting your standards Mrs. M. Look what I can do! Look what I am capable of!" Hey, sometimes they need to let us know, that they know, that they are capable of so much more, and I love it!