Chapter 1-Know Where Your Studentsd Are (Pages 27-40)
How many of us know Keisha? The one who totally is turned off in my class, but is performing for someone else. Why is that? We have the same students, but we see her in a completely different light. I like the idea of capital and currency. Getting students to understand the currencies in our classes allows them the opportunity to gain capital. I like this statement " Most classroom problems have at their root a disconnection between the teacher's preferred form of currency and the students' ".
How do we view our teaching - as gardening, coaching, shaping or leading on a journey? I think Dr. Sedlacek's 8 characteristics are very good points on page 35-36. The exercise on page 37 is very interesting with students bringing in unlabeled shopping bags about themselves and their interests.
The "study group"on page 38 is interesting. Students helping others with all types of problems, in and out of the classroom. I know how many times you are asked what the homework assignment was from Johnny who has missed the last 3 days. What if Johnny went to his supprt group for that info?
Last thought for the day because this really hit home. As an English teacher, I harped on things like subject-verb agreement and proper uses of nouns and pronouns. I then went out on the football field and usually broke every rule I had emphasized that day. Only did I let students see me in a "real" light, did I have success with this. Their is a proper way to use the king's english, but by golly, you do not have to carry on in an unrealistic way to get the message across.
Through for the day. Will pick up later this week to finish up Chapter 1. Many thanks to all of you who have gotten involved. Keep up the good work
I'm with you on the capital and currency. We forget that students come to the table with a whole different persective than we do, and it is up to us to channel it properly. I like two statements in particular on page 43 that relate to helping students value classroom capital. The first is about creating a classroom community where students can have ownership over the routines and protocols of the classroom. This is difficult for most teachers, I would think. We have this issue with "control"! But when you stop to ponder this for a minute, it really does make sense! The second statement is directly related to this one by helping our students connect what they value to the classroom captial.
ReplyDeleteInteresting note on page 39 -Explicitly teach teh academic vocabulay. Cudos to our state DOE for recognizing this important strategy! The resource is there, are we using it????
I totally loved the peanut butter sandwich story...something so very simple was such an incredible act. If we could only step back sometimes from our total focus on standards and realize that we are dealing with real children with real needs. Those needs have to be realized before our kids can even think about the standard of the day. When we can touch them where they are, the rest will fall into place much easier.
ReplyDeleteCapitalize! (And I don't just mean in English class).
Alisha
I am enjoying this book so very much. There are so many good points being brought out. I totally agree with the proper English being used throughout the day. I really liked the study group idea.
ReplyDeleteHi friends,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed chapter one.
I liked how she pointed out the “soft skills” :
how to take notes
how to read the textbook
how to study effectively
how to distinguish what information is important
how to answer multiple choice questions …
I also agree that we must teach these skills in our classroom.
Another point that I really am interested in exploring is her suggestions for helping students personalize their learning goals. She suggested that we ask the students to look at the learning objectives on the board and try to think of a specific area where they can apply this knowledge to something that is important and interesting to them.
Hello all! A few points from chapter one that I found enlightening:
ReplyDelete1. “Just because students use alternate forms of intellectual and cultural currency does not mean that they are less capable.” We shouldn’t see these as deficiencies but rather areas of which we can tweak or reshape our teaching methods. This is why we should strive to use a vast variety of instructional methods and techniques to reach each learner, and if we notice they are just not getting it the way we are presenting then we keep adjusting until we find what works for each learner.
2. I liked the “Artifact Bag” idea on page 37 to help us and our students get to know one another.
3. Lastly, one of my absolute favorite tips was found on pg 44: Actively listen to your students and demonstrate interest in their lives. By listening to our students we get a feel of their background knowledge, life experiences, and their enjoyments. When we can tie instruction into something they can relate to students are more apt to enjoy learning and feel motivated to work harder in our classrooms.
I am thoroughly enjoying the book and look forward to further reading!
Laura Carter
One of the "Try this" ideas I really liked was to allow students to identify 3 areas in which they felt like an expert. Then compile a list using these currencies, and use these throughout the year. This would allow students to become more involved and use their abilities at the same time.
ReplyDeleteI also really like the idea of having students adapt the learning process to their own skill set and needs. Some are visual learners, auditory learners, etc. Why should we make every student learn and internalize material the exact same way? Besides, it is necessary to teach them to know themselves and their own learning styles so they may be more successfull later on in their education.
Exciting book with a lot of nifty ideas!
I think we have all had students like Keisha. It is so true that all students, especially students like Keisha, just want to be understood and valued. Usually, these students have had a bad experience with school at some point where they didn't feel valued as an individual. I think it is important to allow these students a little time to express themselves. A little time goes a long ways and can save instructional time in the future.
ReplyDeleteI really like the idea of student support groups. I think this would be beneficial in so many ways. Students would probably be more likely to go to their peers for their missing work. Also, that would be one less thing that we have to worry about.
When reading the portion about speaking correct English, I thought of several times that I have devalued a student's way of speaking or doing something else when in reality I don't speak correctly all of the time (how hypocritical!). I will definitely use her method in the future for correcting students. They will be more likely to listen with that explanation any way.
With the correct English part, it is important for studnets to use it correctly, but we help them alot by modeling it also. Just like with correcting any wrong answer they give, I think it is important what we actually say to them in front of the class or not in order to steer them in the right direction. Such as, well...part of that was right, but don't forget... or well who can help her out..or just giving them clues to help them figure it out. If we lead the horse to water they will drink and we can help how they feel about themselves and us as their teacher....therefore, they listen a little more next time.
ReplyDeleteAlso, although our time is very limited, most of the time, we can just speak directly to the child about anything other than "school stuff"..ask them how they are doing...or compliment their new hair cut...anything almost...just something to let them know we see them as a human being...not just a drone.
A support group is a good idea. Many times we do this anyway by asking a student to help out another...this could be done more and with more students.
A comment on pg. 32 really stood out to me.."Rather than see them as deficient, we should reshape out apprach to instruction so that we capitalize on students' currencies rather than overriding or negating them." I think many of us are trying to be innovative in the way that we teach but still view "that student" in a negative light because they are not what we see as "A" grade material. If we would just take the time to see what they value for currencies it could make everything run more smoothly.
ReplyDeleteSidenote: An email came to mind while writing the above...I'm sure you all have seen it...the one where it list all of the duties of a teacher: monitor dress code, monitor test scores, teach the standards, grade that papers, communicate with the parents, be a parent to many of the students, etc. and the list goes on and on....I know many teachers feel--"what else is going to be added to my to do list"...."why can't I just teach?" I think the currency idea is not just "another thing to do" - it could be very beneficial for the troublesome students. But again I think...how many hours are in a day? Baby steps right??!!!!