Cut to Annex Room 2A
Chaos can be heard inside as a teacher shouts over her 30 freshman students. The teacher: Okay, okay, okay… now, stop now. Quiet! Y’all pencils down, eyes up. Pencils down, eyes up. PENCILS DOWN EYES UP. Okay, there we go. Now, today we’re going to- Ariel STOP THAT- okay, we’re going to be talking about - Camron, let go of Tamara’s hair- talking about… ummm… characters. Now who can tell me - Camron, I said LET GO OF HER HAIR- jeeez, where was I? Oh yeah, what do we know about characters? The room falls silent for the first time during the day as the teacher looks around and decides to call on the student she knows will be able to answer. The teacher: Jada, tell us about STEAL. Episode 2 was one that was much like the pilot episode. There were still tears in staff bathrooms but we also added tearing hair out to the equation. This one was all about me trying to reach an entire grade of students but having no idea how to do it. In the clip from The Office, the diversity counselor says, “99% of the problems in the workplace arise out of ignorance,” and this really was my biggest issue. Episode 2, like the pilot episode was a long one that lasted months before my awareness of my own ignorance kicked in. |
From May to October of 2015, I kept wondering why these kids couldn’t learn, wouldn’t learn, couldn’t and wouldn’t behave. Sure, there were good days but even then, the kids weren’t ALL learning. The problem was that I didn’t have clear expectations. In fact, I don’t know if I had many expectations at all. I was so discouraged by their confusion that I mainly focused on the few that were getting it and left all the rest in the wind. I blamed them. It was their fault that learning wasn’t happening. I was so ignorant and prideful and stubborn that I refused to admit that I was the problem. I was like Michael, convinced that my stupid ideas were amazing and the kids should love them. In the midst of the worst of it, around the end of September, I called Sarah Jacobs, my friend and former MTC program coordinator and asked her what to do.
Cut to inside 2002 Volvo. Close up on teacher’s face. You can see tears in her eyes and as she speaks, her throat chokes her words. She has a phone in one hand and a cigarette in the other. The teacher: I’m doing something wrong. Maybe I’m doing everything wrong, Sarah. The kids deserve better. They aren’t learning and I don’t know how to make them learn. Sarah speaks slowly and in a tone almost as if she is trying to console a child. Sarah: Daria, this is how it is the first year. You never feel like you’re doing enough, but also you haven’t figured out what you want from them. You have these MTC rules, which work, but they’re not working for you. Believe me, it gets better. You just have to figure out what works for you and the kids and it will get better. |
This is some of my honors kids on a day we were doing group reading of Streetcar Named Desire. Each student had a character they were given and there was one director who kept the group on track and paused for questions. As you can see, she took her role very seriously here.
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Whenever the words "hard to reach" are mentioned in staff meetings, class sessions, or in conversations with friends, usually the first students we begin to address are those that hold an Individualized Education Plan or those that probably should. We think of the ones that are so behind that we wonder how they even made it to high school or whatever grade we are teaching. However, there are far more students that are "hard to reach" than those that are grade levels behind where they should be. When I break it down, I think it is roughly 3 categories of kids.
1. Academically behind: Let's start with this group since they are the first that come to mind. These are the students who come in so deep in the red on a STAR test that you wonder if they've paid attention in a single class since kindergarten. You hum and drum on how to include them, how to work them into a class that is far too advanced for their capability. A lot of times you feel like giving up on these kids. They are the ones that tend to zone out in class or sleep because, let's be honest, who wants to talk about irony when you can't even read? I see at least two of these kids in each class period (except my honors group) and sometimes they try and sometimes they don't. 2. Hindered by behavior: These are the students you dread seeing. You do secret leaps of joy when you see their name on the "In School Detention" list or even better, the "Out of School Suspension" email. You feel bad about it, but then remember that you're human and even though you love this kid, your class is going to function so much more easily without that kid there. Generally speaking, these kids are those that could be bright if they would put the effort in, which is why they're particularly frustrating. You've probably even mentioned this to them, encouraged them with little to no results. Any teacher can name these kids and think back on the big wins and losses they've had with him or her. Their behavior is the thing that keeps them from being successful, and it's very difficult to determine where to focus their energy. 3. Surpassing them all: These are the ones that we all overlook. I have an entire class of them. Honors kids. The ones that are so smart that you have to create different lessons for them. These are the kids that outshine the rest. You know you should read their essays last because they'll make you feel better after tearing 80 other papers up with a red pen. They're the kids with both natural gifts and a desire to learn. How do you quench a thirst for knowledge when these kids move at a rapid 100mph pace as opposed to the kids in your regular class who are slowly walking down the road? |
It seems a rather impossible task to try to reach all of these kids, especially without planning 10 different lessons. I entertained that idea and then threw it out the window very quickly. My school set me up with a consultant at the beginning of the year and we began to talk about cooperative learning.
Cooperative learning is a phrase thrown around for group work and pair work, but it's so much more than that. Cooperative learning is when the students take responsibility for their own learning and teach other in the process. It's an excellent way to teach every child because every student has a role and they know that their role is important to the group as a whole. If they do not do their part, they do not just fail themselves, but they fail everyone in their group. I have found jigsaw to be the most fun way of doing this. In jigsaw, the kids become "experts" in groups at first and then they "jigsaw" so there is one type of expert in each group to teach about the given subject. It takes a lot of planning on the front end but watching kids teach other and take pride in being an "expert" leads to the most rewarding moments I've experienced as a teacher. I have watched students who are behind glow at knowing that they are teaching kids that have always been ahead of them. It makes them feel successful and pushes them to work harder. I've watched kids jump crazy amounts after that first feeling of success. It keeps those hindered by behavior under control because they love having attention on them when they are the "teacher." And for those who have risen above and beyond, it allows them to gain even deeper knowledge of a subject because they are teaching themselves, so they can go deeper in exploration of the subject. In addition to cooperative learning, I spent the first two months of this semester pulling my hair out as I tried over and over to make EVERY STUDENT PARTICIPATE in class. There were minutes of dead silence. There was anger and frustration, but in the end, I have coming out of it with a group of kids that expects that they will have to answer a question at any moment because no one is off the hook. When it comes down to it, how do you meet all these kids? EXPECTATIONS. If you set an expectation and require kids to meet it, they will. I did not learn that until this year. Regardless of where a child is academically or behaviorally, if you set an expectation that everyone will participate and everyone will respect one another and enforce it, for the most part, the kids will meet that expectation. Look below to see pictures of all the stars of this episode. |