Learning From The Experts

I just read an interesting article titled, “Are They Ready to Move Up?” by Caralee Adams. In it, Adams explores the transition middle schoolers experience as they leave the safety of elementary school and enter a much bigger and scarier world. My favorite part of the article is where Adams interviewed 40 middle school students about their experiences in middle school and their suggestions to teachers. I figure college prepared me pretty well to teach the content, but who better than students themselves to teach us how to be good teachers? Here are a few of the suggestions:

1. “I would really, really like it if my teacher would call home for a good thing that I do. My dad never seems to realize any good thing that I do; it’s like he’s blind. So if my teacher, instead of calling home whenever I do a bad thing, she would sometimes call home and let my dad know that I actually try hard, then I would do better.” —Amelia 

I’ve heard other teachers says they should call home when students do things well, but they never do. And that’s totally understandable — teachers are always very busy. There may not seem like enough time in the day to make an extra, unnecessary parent phone call, but I think it’s extremely important in keeping the classroom morale up. I would have loved for my parents to hear from my teachers that I was doing well (I would like that even now!).

2. “There’s not an ideal, perfect teacher. So teachers should maybe take a survey, like a quarter of the way through the semester. ‘How’s my class going? Should I explain things more clearly? How can I make you a better student, or how can I help you learn better?’ Just so students can tell them what to improve on and what was good.” —Gabe

I actually did this in my Student Teaching and plan to do it every year. Students wrote a teacher report card with 3 components: my overall grade, how I was a good teacher, and how I could improve. I was amazed at the reflection that took place as students graded me, and not one was inappropriate!  I only wish I had done it sooner — I got some valuable information!

3. “Sometimes we come to school upset about something, just not in the mood, and it does affect a lot of things. Teachers do not even ask to see what’s wrong; they just ignore it completely. Then they wonder, ‘Why are you guys not paying attention?’” —Alma

Guilty. In an attempt to maintain absolute professionalism, I would do all I could to stay away from the drama during my student teaching. I could be a little more sensitive to the issues in my students’ lives.

4. “Many times, the kids who behave good in school, teachers don’t know them that much. You have to do something bad so the teachers will know your name, so the teachers will think you’re somebody.” —Amelia

I think Amelia is a good kid who gets overlooked. Just as in #1, it’s easy to overlook the good kids because they’re not a threat to your classroom management. When kids do well, we should take a second to acknowledge their hard work.

5. “I had a math teacher and she wouldn’t sugarcoat it for people. She would actually sit you down to look at all your grades, and show you what would happen. She would bring you down to reality; give you the straightforward of what would be the end result. But the way she would speak about it, you wouldn’t be hurt or offended; you’d have a good mindset.” —Geoffrey

I did this to one student during my Student Teaching, and I found it very valuable. One student came to our class in mid-September and failed to complete any assignment. By mid-October, she had a 42% in our class. I called her to the computer to show her her grade and explained (not lecture — I acted like a concerned adult)  that all the missing assignments were the cause of her failing grade. Her face dropped. She didn’t realize that assignments really did matter that much. She worked very hard after that, and by the time I left in December, she was passing the class. I think the key for this to work is to not lecture the kids or let them think there’s no hope. Act very concerned and reassure the student that hard work will help them improve. Kids like to know that we care, but nobody likes to be talked down to.