Reaching the Top

In The Continual Rush??? from Tech Thoughts By Jen by JenW, Jen talks about a conversation with a colleague.

“But as we talked, her continual conversation came back to — “but Jen, you know so much more” and I continue to remind her that I have been at this since 1995….but I still send a frustration in her voice that seems to say “will I ever catch up?””

This conversation made me think about my relationship with my students. I wondered if they felt the same way and were overwhelmed by me as a teacher. I usually inform them about my education and my years experience but does that really matter to them? I have been knitting for about a year now and can still only do basic stuff. Yet, when I go to my knitting group, they are doing lots of fancy stuff and making exciting things.Will I ever reach that point when I can do something like that? Some have told me that they have been doing this for years but others have not and are doing complicated stuff. I feel frustrated because I want to do this now, not in the future. I know exactly how my students feel.

Does our system constantly make our students feel as if they know nothing and will never get to the point where they feel knowledgeable? Do we constantly point out their insufficiencies? Do we focus more on what they can’t do rather than acknowledge their strengths? Or do we unconsciously send the message that all they need to do is graduate and that is the end of their education. It seems like we focus too much on telling these kids they don’t know enough and need to try harder to meet the standards that our state sets. Then when they passed the exit exam to graduate, my students felt like, “Okay, my learning is done. I’ve mastered what they said I needed to know.”

I want my students to know that learning will take place throughout their lives. I want to teach them how to go about learning something new that they want to learn. I want them to know where to look for information, where to go for help, and how to find the support they need. Nothing is more frustrating than wanting to learn how to do something but not knowing how to go about doing so.

I also want my students to know that they do not have to know the same amount of “stuff” that someone else knows and know it all by the same time. I demonstrated this to my class when I was trying to learn how to juggle (I just thought it would be a neat thing to learn how to do) and had so much trouble learning. Finally a student had to show me over and over before I finally got the hang of it. Then I explained that here was someone younger than me that knew different things than I did and that was okay. This was a perfect time to talk about different strengths and interests that people have and that it was okay to cultivate them. That is why a car mechanic works on my car and not an eye doctor. Of course I don’t want a car mechanic to perform eye surgery on me either. Yet I don’t feel that one profession is “better “than another because both were extremely important to me.

I explain to my students that even with all my college degrees, it doesn’t make me “better” than them. I only have more book knowledge than them and I am there to help them find their way in the world. They need to find a career that will make them happy and independent. This was impressed on them when my car’s oil pan was leaking and needed to be welded back together and a former special education student fixed my car for me. All my college degrees would not have helped my car get fixed quickly enough for me to use it. Eventually I might have learned how to fix it myself but I would have had to do without transportation for a lot longer than I could afford.

Sometimes it is hard to see success when you are the one climbing up a mountain. But when you get to the top and look down, you can feel proud of your successes. I hope that I can help my students reach the top.

Original image: 'AgullesAmitges.jpg' http://www.flickr.com/photos/29624180@N04/2846595888 by: Xavier Varela

Carnival of Education 4/29/09

The Carnival of Education is up on the midway at Jason’s Perspective. Don’t miss out on all the fun! See what is going on in the Edusphere. My article on Explain Your Answer is there but there are lots of other great articles to read too! See you there and don’t eat too much cotton candy!

Wanting to Learn

In Waiting to be Taught versus Willing to Learn from Langwitches, she asks, “Is being a life long learner a characteristic of a “good teacher”? Can you still be a good teacher if you are not a learner yourself? “

I couldn’t resist answering this so here it is:

I think we all learn throughout our lives, whether we are a teacher or not. A good teacher recognizes that this learning is important and tries to use it to better his/her instruction. I also think by modeling that we learn throughout our lives, we are showing students how we can use this learning to better our lives.

Then this had me thinking about my students. I have heard so many teachers say that their students just don’t want to learn. I really have a hard time believing that. I think the students really do want to learn but have hit some road blocks that keep them from learning. By saying that they don’t want to learn, they are using this as a defense mechanism. When teachers say this about the students, we are giving them an excuse not to learn when the learning is difficult. In fact, I felt this was just a bad habit that my students had gotten into and I had to change this habit.

The first thing I did was to come up with a class motto that I used for over 20 years. I had every student write, “I am a born winner.” on any paper they turned in for a grade. This was very simple but the kids resisted it. When I stuck to my guns and refused to accept any paper without this, they relented and by the end of the year, it became a habit. Yet, this simple saying stuck in their minds and helped change their attitudes towards themselves.

Next, we had a frank discussion. I asked the students to brainstorm things that hindered their learning. What made learning new things difficult? I explained to them that even I had trouble learning certain things and had to find the key that made this learning easier. (This is why I tried to learn something new each year and demonstrate my learning in front of my students.) Sometimes we would do this as a group or I would have this discussion one on one with the student. Depending on the student, certain ways would be easier for them to be honest. Then I would post all the items and we would discuss how to overcome these barriers. Sometimes we would think of things the students could do or sometimes it would be things that I could change about my instruction. I didn’t take these suggestions personally and actually felt enlightened by them. The students of course felt empowered and thrilled that I would listen to them and actually try some of the changes.

Then we also talked about how the students could approach other teachers and advocate for themselves in an appropriate manner. Once students tasted this success in my class, they really wanted this change in other classes. Even parents said they noticed the change in their child. I also mentioned this to other teachers that I knew the students were having difficulties with as a way to pave the way for the student. Once the other teachers knew the students were trying to be successful, they were willing to give it a try because they really wanted the student to do well too.

Do you have any other suggestions that can help teachers and students overcome this learning barrier? If so, feel free to let me know!

Original image: 'Leadership' http://www.flickr.com/photos/46944516@N00/1301014184 by: Pedro Simões

Frozen by Fear

In the article A Guide to Beating the Fears That Are Holding You Back from Zen Habits by Leo (and shared with me by Edventures), Leo states

“I think the last one — not being good enough — is actually at the root of all the others. We fear we’ll fail because we’re not good enough. We fear we’ll lose our relationships, that we’ll be abandoned, that we’ll be rejected … because we’re not good enough. We fear intimacy for the very same reason — we might get rejected because we’re not good enough. Even the fear of success is based on the worry that we’re not good enough.”

Leo goes on to give steps on how to fight this fear and they are great ones so if you get a chance to read the whole article, it would be worthwhile.

After reading this, I started to think about my students. Many of my students had failed so much already that they were so discouraged. I felt that many of them had given up and were either withdrawn or were behavior problems. I also felt that many of them feared failing again – one more time- and they just couldn’t deal with that again. They already felt they weren’t good enough, was told they didn’t study enough, was accused of being lazy etc.

I decided I needed to come up with a strategy to help them overcome this fear. Of course, not one of them would ever admit that they were afraid of anything so I had to make sure I kept the words “fear” and “afraid” out of any conversation. Here are some of the things that I would do.

1. Give them short assignments on their level that they could be successful doing.
2. Once they succeeded, ask them to help others who needed help. (great confidence booster)
3. Keep a close watch so as soon as I read any body language that there was a problem, I swooped in to prompt and encourage so they could get the right answers.
4. As they became successful and more confident, move to a more difficult level (but do it in small steps)
5. If they get the wrong answer, help them discover how to get the right answer. Then ask them to try again and give lots of praise when they arrive at the correct answer.
6. Don’t make such a big deal about making mistakes but make lots of fuss about getting it correct.
7. When they get stuck and refuse to go any further, stop and calmly discuss their feelings with them. Ask them – “What is the worse thing that can happen if you try? So you get the wrong answer. I’m here to help you get it right so don’t worry!” Now is the time to use the “afraid” word – “What are you afraid of?” Usually that will get them annoyed enough to try because they have to prove that they aren’t afraid of anything. Of course I need to stay close by so I can help them be successful.
8. As they achieve more and more success, I can back off and let them work more on their own. Once they feel confident, the mistakes just don’t seem as bad as they did and they will try harder and harder things.

When I mention that I need to help them be successful, I don’t mean that I give them the answers. I might steer them into using the right process or help them figure out how to arrive at the right answer. Many times if there is a process that needs to be followed, I post the steps up in the classroom so we can go over each one as they are completed. Once the students gets used to going through the process with my guidance, they usually can get it on their own.

Patience is the key to my student’s success. Students are very sensitive to any impatient tone of voice or body language that I use and they will shut down. I make it very clear to them that I am there to help them and they need to make me earn my money (I’m not talking about the kid who is too lazy to do their work. I’m talking about the ones who really want to succeed and are frozen with fear. You can usually tell the difference.) They usually appreciate when I say this and let me know they are asking for help, only because they feel they are “helping” me do my job.

Original image: '-17°' http://www.flickr.com/photos/75771006@N00/89964780 by: Camil Tulcan

Useful Information In and Out of the Classroom 4/24/09

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!

Who Wants to Be a Millionaire – The Science Game

Study Tag – thanks to Mr. Byrne who states “Study Tag is a good resource for students to study and develop academic skills independently or collaboratively. Study Tag has a fun, motivating aspect for students, a virtual trophy room. Study Tag is organized by lessons and courses. At the end of each lesson and course students can test their knowledge. High scores are rewarded with online trophies that students can display in their Study Tag "trophy room."

Forces of Nature – “Watch a preview of the giant-screen film, find out where to see it, get wallpapers, view lesson plans, contribute to our Forces of Nature grant fund, and more.”

Reach the World – geogames

Mind 360 – scientific brain training games

Original image: 'With this screwdriver bit set... I can take apart the universe' http://www.flickr.com/photos/37996580043@N01/2182059775 by: Chris Metcalf