After reading this week's reading especially Lisa Espinosa' story, I could not believe how many experiences from my observations I could relate to. Lisa and I had so much in common. We were both quiet students in high school that did not have strong connections to teachers. However, are high school experiences were different. She was able to form a connection to the curriculum because it was about her Mexican culture. On the other hand I was not. I always learned the white perspective. It made sense because I grew up in the suburbs but I did not understand why I was learning one side of history when there are so many factors and ethncities involved. Lisa's philosophy for teaching from multiple perspectives was exactly similar to mine.
During my observations, I had a somewhat similar experience with one of the student's, that Lisa had with Jasmine. The student's name was DeSean. DeSean acted out during class, he was constantly yelling and throwing things at other students. During a quiz, DeSean started acting out, I quickly rushed over to him to calm him down. I looked at his quiz and his sheet was blank. I told DeSean to read the first question and he was struggling to read the word 'acqusition'. He stopped mid word and gave up, I encouraged him to keep reading and that he was doing fine. I helped him read the rest of the questions and noticed how low his reading level was. He may not have an tramatic experience like Jasmine's, but he acted out because he did not want to look "stupid." He wanted to be the class bully so other students would not pick on him when he was struggling. The next week DeSean got kicked out of school. I asked my mentor teacher why and she said the teachers could not handle him. I was beyond annoyed hearing this. DeSean was an awesome student and really sweet once you got to know him. I think his teachers were not able to see this because they were constantly discipling him. They did not understand his acting out was a defense mechanism he was not confident in his abilites.
In Chapter 16, there was a teacher named Amanda Branscombe who asked her students to teach her the rules of writing a rap song. She later compared this with Shakepeare's rules of writing. This engaged her students because they were able to take on the role of the teacher and learning about writing was fun and relatable. During my observations on Wednesday my mentor teacher did something similar to this. The students were taking the BOY (beginning of the year) exam and had to write an essay about whether having survelliance cameras was a good or bad thing. The students starting to get restless. So the teacher showed a clip of a police officer being charged for lying because she accused a driver of throwing a bottle at her. There was a surveillance camera by the incident which led to cop to getting in trouble. This instantly started debates among the students they started writing down their responses in the test booklet.
From the readings this week I took away a couple key points; in order to be a successful teacher you have to make learning meaningful to students, giving up on a child is never acceptable, and we know we have done a good job teaching is we are learning from our students and vice versa.
Meera,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the post! I like how you intertwine the chapter summaries and the experiences you've had in school. Just like you mention, “in order to be a successful teacher you have to make learning meaningful to students”, and I agree with that. This reminds me of the 5 E’s acronym: engage, elaborate, explore, explain, evaluate, which all five have to be part of each lesson. I also found the stories interesting, and I like to think that many times during our careers we will have the time to get to know the students. It might not be that we know all of them in the same way, but I hope we will be open to listen to what the students want to share with us.
Hi Lorena,
DeleteThanks! I agree that the 5 E's are crucial to each lesson and engagement is one of the key ones. I am so glad you brought up the point that teachers who have the same students will have different relationships with them, I never even thought of that.
I had a similar experience when it comes to relating material to students. I taught a Lessing last week utilizing the song "Hey Ya!" By Outkast and teaching how point of view can change the meaning of the lyrics. Although students don't really act out in the AP Literature class it is hard to related AP required literature to them. By having them examining this song that they had been listeningn to for 11 years this was the first time that they could see what the song meant or could mean. Although sometimes we just need to get through material there definitely is a place and time to relate big ideas to students in a relatable way
ReplyDeleteHi Meera!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for this blog post! I think you made some really important points and did a great job connecting the reading to your real life experiences. Your story about DeSean is the perfect example of why its so crucial as teachers that we look for the cause instead of getting hung up or offended/ annoyed with the effect. I really commend you on being able to look past a students bad attitude or class disruptions and notice that he was an insecure, poor reader.
Hey :)
DeleteI think the point you brought up is so true, that we can't get annoyed with misbehavior but play on each students strenghts. Thanks for reading!
Upon finishing reading your story of DeSean, I was really surprised and just as annoyed as you must have been with the situation. It's truly a shame that the school resorted to simply kicking him out of school rather than trying to get to the bottom of his situation and addressing his need accordingly. Your experience in working with Desean shows how much of an impact a few minutes of one on one help can have on a student. It also shows the importance of one on one time as it can really make a difference in our students' attitudes and progress in class. Although it may be very tricky and difficult to set aside time to individually work with our students, especially those who need it most, it's definitely something that we need to make a priority in our classrooms.
ReplyDeleteI have had similar experiences with students this semester. Many students in my classroom act out because they do not understand how to do the assignment. One of the classes I am in is so crowded that students don't even ask for help when they are stuck. It is difficult for the teacher to give individual attention to each student that needs it and carry on with the lesson. The students that don't understand just give up and turn in a blank paper or copy from another student before the end of the period. Because they are not engaging during class, they become distruptive. I have sat down with a few of these students and have helped them complete their assignments. Now, these students turn to me when they have questions because they know I will take the time to help them. Becuase of the small amount of extra attention, I have noticed that these students are engaging in class and completing more assignments.
ReplyDeleteMeera, thanks for this heartfelt response. I too felt empathy with Lisa, mostly in the way that she felt doubtful of her connection to the Mexican community. I am half-Mexican and after having lived in the Pilsen community for a over a year, I still felt alienated from it, largely because I realized I had never really "entered into communion" with the Mexican community in the first place. I was raised white culturally, with tinges of Mexicanness thrown into my childhood experience: visits to panaderias a child, enjoying my Mom's rice every now and then, listening to her music and attempting to understand conversations with her and her family. It is still a journey I am on--this building of a true connection with this part of identity--and sometimes I wonder if it is worth it to try, as if sometimes feels forced on my part. Yet, I know that I do want to work with Latino students, and reaching out to "difficult" students like Jasmine will be something I will have to do. After all, getting to know their story, like Espinosa came to know Jasmine's story, may open my eyes to traumas and experiences that can better inform my instruction, and strengthen my relationship with the students.
ReplyDeleteI'm also frustrated to read about your experience with DeSean. He sounds like a student named Tim that I went to middle school with (I've written about him before on this blog). He was full of anger and faced a lot of disciplinary actions. He was known and dreaded by all the teachers; we students could sense it. We were also afraid of him; he bullied us both emotionally and physically. The only time I've ever really been a victim of physical bullying was from Tim.
And yet, he was smart--I could tell. He asked good, critical, stirring questions in class, was deeply sensitive (part of the reason why he was so angry all the time) and showed a unique capability for critical analysis that was actually quite rare for his age (12). It is so easy for urban (and obviously, suburban) schools to see students like Tim as exclusively problem students. I know it sounds kind of abstract and wishy-washy, but I feel as though Tim and DeSean need to be reminded of their loveliness. Having deep, meaningful interpersonal relationships with students is so crucial because in the end, we are all just human, and we all experience suffering, and we all want to feel a sense of belonging and love. As teachers, we need to stick our necks out like Espinosa and go that extra mile. It could mean the world to our students.
Hi Meera,
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad to hear that you've been finding these readings relateable and relevant to your observations. Nothing beats resonating with someone of something in the classroom, which is a common thread that these readings have been signifying. As teachers, we are responsible for accommodating different learners, but these differences extend beyond the walls of the classroom or standardized tests. They are more important to student's cultures and lives that shape what they engage with, who they listen to, and how they act. This is why I love that you brought up how committed Amanda was to connecting literature with music for her students because that's what worked for them. What causes me anxiety sometimes is not knowing what kinds of accommodations and connections I can make into my classroom because I haven't met my school or students yet. Anyway, great points made!