What You Say Can Make a Difference

In The Power of a Teacher’s Words , from Cruel Shoes by eplybon , she tells about her son asking if it is illegal for a teacher to call their students losers. She also says,

“The words of a teacher have more power than any other unrelated individual in a child’s life.”

When I was in fourth grade, I had a teacher who terrorized us when we made a mistake. I think that may be why I’m such a perfectionist and at times, harder on myself than anyone else. I’m not sure I will ever get over this but I try to teach my students that an error is not a terror.

When I was in high school, I was very good in math and science. I was so good at memorizing facts and figures and formulas. But I was never encouraged to be creative or to create new things with my skills. I remember a teacher explaining to me that because I was so good in math and science that I would never be very creative and I believed this for many years. It took me this long to realize how wrong this teacher was. Since I retired, I am finding out that I do have a creative side. I love to do digital scrapbooking which involves photography and creating scrapbook pages. I also enjoy knitting now and creating my own things. Making these things make me feel so proud of myself especially when I realize how wrong that teacher was.

When I was in college and finishing my student teaching, I had a professor tell me that he didn’t think that teaching was for me and I should think about switching majors. I was totally crushed. You see, teaching was the only thing I had ever wanted to do in my life and up until that time, I thought I had been doing a great job. I remember going to see my advisor and crying on her shoulder. Luckily for me, she persuaded me to stick with teaching and told me that I would be an awesome teacher. Unbeknownst to me until years later, the first professor had been going through marital discord and he took it out on me. I decided to prove the first professor wrong and trust that my advisor knew what she was talking about. When I was chosen Teacher of the Year almost 30 years later, I knew my advisor had been right. I’m so glad that I trusted her words and let them help guide me.

I taught a self contained class for many years and in most cases I had my students for four years in a row for all the core courses. When I figured out the amount of time I spent with them, I realized that I probably spent more time with my students than any other adult in their life. In fact, I was with them more than their own parents during the school year. Whether they would admit it or not, what I said and did had a major impact on my students.

I saw this when I was teaching lessons and if I told them that it was a hard lesson, they had some difficulty with it. If I said it was easy, they seemed more excited and willing to try it.

They believed what I had to say because they had always been told that a teacher knew “everything!” I had to tell them that this was not true and that many times I would be learning along with them so we needed to help each other. I tried to impress on them that we were together so much that we were like family. Many times we would squabble like family members do, but we also had to be there for each other and take care of each other.

This became really evident in one situation when some of my students were taking an industrial arts class which I thought they would enjoy since it would be some hands-on activities. About two weeks into the class, one of my students asked to speak to me privately. He then told me that he felt two other students in our class were being treated badly in that class. The teacher called them dummies and retards because they were in a special ed class and then had them sweeping the floors during class time. Needless to say, I was furious and had a conference with that teacher and an administrator to correct this problem. It took me months to undo the damage that this teacher did to these students. I’m so grateful to the student who trusted me enough to share this situation with me but I also think if I hadn’t told the class about being family, it could have turned out differently.

It hurts me to hear other teachers belittle students and call them names. I feel when teachers say things like this, even if they think they are joking, they begin to believe it. Not only do they begin to believe it but so do others including other teachers and students.

I guess it makes me think of that old saying, “If you have nothing nice to say, say nothing at all.”

I also hope that when I hear another teacher talking this way, I have the courage to tell them how I feel. Maybe they don’t realize how they come across and the impact their words have on others.

How do you handle situations like this?

Posted on the Successful Teaching Blog by loonyhiker (successfulteaching at gmail dot com).

Original image: 'Embraced by Words'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/21046489@N06/4289385819 by: Robbert van der Steeg

My DirecTV experience

(Warning: Rant in progress!)

Every year I start my vacation on a bad note with DirecTV. I have been a loyal customer since 2006¸ paying almost $140 per month for this service. Keep in mind, I enjoy DirecTV and the programming we get with it but it is a luxury and not a necessity. When I called DirecTV to put a vacation suspension on my service, they say I need to have a zero balance to put this hold on my service. I just paid my bill in full on 11/19 and do not feel that I should have to pay the full amount in advance on 12/3 just to put a hold on my service. I feel this is a terrible way to treat loyal customers! It is not like I’m trying to get out of paying my bill because I pay my bill in full every month.

The first girl told me that it was impossible to do and got me her supervisor, Vanessa when I asked for her. She also told me it was impossible to do without paying the whole amount so I asked for my service to be cancelled. So, Vanessa passes me on to Solomon. We go through the same song and dance and I still feel that I am treated pretty shabbily when all I want to do is put a vacation hold on my service. I finally ask for the company president’s address and an email to file a complaint. Solomon gave me an address and told me to address to the attention of the “Office of the President” but would not give me a name (which I found out by looking at their website is Michael White, Chairman, President & CEO).

When I asked for an email address, he told me that he couldn’t give me a specific email address but told me to go through the following steps: Go to “DirecTV.com”, click on “About Us,” Click on “Our Company,” click on “Executive Team,” click on Executive Customer Care Contact,” then click on “Ellen Filipiak, Sr. VP of Customer Care.” Why did he have to go spend all that time when he could have just given me that final person’s name and email? I believe they hoped that I would be fed up and give up without cancelling my service! You would think that a company that can turn my service on and off by the touch of a computer should be able to handle this quickly and efficiently.

After all that, when I asked Solomon if he cancelled my service, he acted surprised, like he didn’t know that I still wanted to cancel my service. Finally, twenty minutes after I began this ordeal, Solomon says that he will put a vacation hold on my service but this is a onetime deal only. Again, I feel this is a terrible way to treat a long term customer and should not be made to feel like I’m begging for something that isn’t due to me.

I have to go through this ordeal every year when I want to put a hold on my service. Why do I need to have this aggravation when I start a vacation? I should not have to threaten to cancel my service in order to get good service.

When we return home, we plan to look seriously at this situation to decide if we want to continue with DirecTV. If they don’t value long term, loyal customers, there may a company out there that does want our business. Please let me know if you have a company you have had a lot of trouble with so we don’t put it on our list to consider.

Now it’s time to put this horrible experience on the back burner and go enjoy my vacation!

Posted on the Successful Teaching Blog by loonyhiker (successfulteaching at gmail dot com).

Original image: 'Day 15--Frustration'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/58372737@N00/369649914 by: Brandy

Useful Information In and Out of the Classroom 12/3/10

Here are some interesting sites that I’ve found this week, thanks to my PLN. As a teacher, I feel we have to keep up to date concerning research in our field and current issues in the education system. I hope some of these inspire you, inform you, and even have you asking questions. Thank you for coming by and visiting!

The Economics of Seinfeld – Seinfeld ran for nine seasons on NBC and became famous as a “show about nothing.” Basically, the show allows viewers to follow the antics of Jerry, George, Elaine, and Kramer as they move through their daily lives, often encountering interesting people or dealing with special circumstances. It is the simplicity of Seinfeld that makes it so appropriate for use in economics courses. Using these clips (as well as clips from other television shows or movies) makes economic concepts come alive, making them more real for students. Ultimately, students will start seeing economics everywhere – in other TV shows, in popular music, and most importantly, in their own lives.

The American Revolution – interactive lessons about the American Revolution

Oomfo – free add on for Microsoft Powerpoint, must be downloaded, make your charts and graphs animated and in 3D.

Geocaching for Educators – great info for using geocaching in the classroom.

Fatworld – download needed; “a video game about the politics of nutrition. It explores the relationships between obesity, nutrition, and socioeconomics in the contemporary U.S. The game's goal is not to tell people what to eat or how to exercise, but to demonstrate the complex, interwoven relationships between nutrition and factors like budgets, the physical world, subsidies, and regulations”

Posted on the Successful Teaching Blog by loonyhiker (successfulteaching at gmail dot com).

Original Image: Tools by Pat Hensley

Individualized Instruction: Good or Bad?

In Is individualized instruction a bad thing? from Dangerously Irrelevant, Scott McLeod mentions a comment from Diana Senechal that she left on a Wall Street Journal article about computers’ burgeoning ability to individualize student learning:

“While "individualized instruction" seems an unequivocal good, perhaps it is not. There is something to be said for asking students to pay attention to something that does not immediately interest them, something they may not immediately understand.”

Then Scott asks, “What do you think of Diana’s comment? Is individualized instruction and/or learning a bad thing?”

I thought about this for a long time and then couldn’t resist answering this question.

I think individualized instruction is important for all learners. Individualized instruction does not mean that all rules and expectations need to be individualized. In life, some people may ride a bicycle, drive a car, or walk to work, but we all follow basic traffic rules and expectations. The same thing applies to individualized instruction. I think behavior is being confused with instruction.

Too many times we have tried to make all students fit into the same mold causing many to fall by the way side. How many times have we heard about inventors who were poor students but were able to invent something that we just can’t live without?

I think it is important to teach students to know what ways work best for them. Students need to learn to be their own self advocates. Teachers can give individualized instruction but first they need to know what works best for the individual student.

When I taught students who had trouble passing the exit exam in order to receive a high school diploma, I noticed that the students were at all different levels of skills. There was no way to reach all of them by teaching one lesson per day to all of them. Using pretests, I was able to find out what skills each student needed to work on and move forward from there. Since they also learned at different rates, many of them did not need the same amount of time to learn the same skill. So, each student had their own individualized instruction and I had very little behavior problems during the year.

Even though each student may have been learning individual skills, they still were expected to follow basic rules of the classroom. Each student was expected to finish their assignments, do their homework, raise their hand, be respectful, and come prepared for class. Many basic expectations do not need to be individualized.

As an adult, I know what my learning style is and try not to put myself into situations that may conflict with this if possible. I also have found that if I have to be in certain situations, I find ways to make the situation easier for me. I really do not learn if I have to sit and listen to a lecture but I have found that if I can do something with my hands, I am able to focus on the lecture more easily. Since I took up knitting, I usually bring my knitting with me and this really helps me focus. If I am in a small room with a lecturer, I usually let the person know what I’m doing so that I don’t appear rude. Unless we let students explore and learn how to do this, they will be unable to make these decisions for themselves later in life. Isn’t this part of preparing them for life?

So, I guess my bottom line is that individualized instruction is not only a good thing but I feel it is extremely important to all students.

What do you think? Do you agree or disagree and why?

Posted on the Successful Teaching Blog by loonyhiker (successfulteaching at gmail dot com).

Original image: 'Ever have the feeling that you just don't quite fit in?'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/61779926@N00/3925965984 by: Steve Wall

What If We Switched

In Glad that week is over! from Running From Cupcakes,  CurlyJ says,

“Yesterday we also had to do an elementary/secondary switch, so those in elementary schools had to spend the day in a high school, and vice versa.”

This reminded me of the saying, “The grass is always greener on the other side.”

I’ve been lucky enough to teach on all grade levels from elementary to university. I can honestly say that all levels have their own difficulties and their own joys. I have also taught special ed classes and some general ed classes and the same goes for that. Here are the things that I remember from all of these experiences.

When I taught on the elementary school level, I remember the hugs and the joy when the students saw me as they arrived. I remember the happiness over the small things in life. I remember the pride they had at pleasing others. I remember being part of a faculty that was small and felt like a family. I remember how taking away recess or sitting students in the corner would be all that was necessary to teach appropriate behavior. I also remember wiping noses, and not making it to the bathroom. I remember the “tattletales” and the name calling. I remember hurt feelings that seemed like it was the end of the world. I remember faculty squabbles because we were so small and were like a family.

On the middle school level, I remember students wanting to be young adults but still being treated like children. I remember some of them not understanding their own feelings and lashing out at anyone who is near. It seemed like everything might offend them and cause them to go berserk. Their hormones were causing them to go crazy! I also remember seeing these students learn how to control their own feelings and behaviors and the amazement on their faces when they succeeded. It seemed like a simple phone call home or a meeting with parents would encourage the students to act appropriately. I remember how the faculty supported each other during these turbulent times so that we could all be supportive of these students.

On the high school level, I remember how important it was to teach the students skills that they would use later on in life. These skills would be important for their financial and emotional independence. For these students, the light at the end of the tunnel was not that far away. Yet emotions were much closer to the surface and hurt feelings could cause major eruptions. At this age, sexuality was also a major factor in their lives and it scared me at the growing number of teenage pregnancies. The faculty was much larger and issues were quite different than those at the other levels. In fact, this large faculty was a society of its own. Yet, I was able to work with a variety of different teachers who taught different subjects. I was able to adapt many of their effective lessons into my own classroom. The sense of collaboration was much easier at this level than at others.

All of the levels had their own difficulties and also their own goodness. I am glad that there are teachers at each level that feel they have found their own niche. I suggest that if you haven’t found your niche yet, it is important to find it. The ones that have found it are the ones who are most effective with their own age group.

What level do you teach and why do you love it? Please share!

Posted on the Successful Teaching Blog by loonyhiker (successfulteaching at gmail dot com).

Original image: 'Portal'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/37585370@N00/61376762 by: Brian Utesch