I was posed with a very interesting task at my school this
year. All teachers were assigned
students in a homeroom class that is meant to be a mentoring block at different
times throughout the school year. I have
20 students that I do not know very well and was asked to try and help them
with their grades and get on track if they were falling behind. I decided that more important than just telling
the students what kinds of things that we have to help them, it is just as
important to find out why they are struggling in the first place. I have not been able to get the ensuing 20
minute conversation off of my mind since.
The student number one issue was the relevance of the
information that they were being taught.
Most of the students said that they did not understand why they needed
to learn chemistry or what happened at different dates in history, which by the
way where the two subjects that students struggled with the most. They also said that it was boring and that
they did not wish to ever do anything with this information again in their life
anyway. I could very easily relate to them, as I once
to felt the exact same way.
I think that a big part of the problem is that we have
become so wrapped up in what the education system wants us to give them that we
have forgotten what our number one goal should be, teaching and learning. We are so concerned with grading, assessment,
discipline, grading, numbers of students, seat time, grading, dress code, meetings,
grading, accommodations, and the list goes on, that we have forgotten about
teaching and learning. We have too much
to do and not enough time, the average excuse, is not good enough for me. Making information relevant is a must, and if
it cannot happen then we need to cut the material. I have many ways of doing this such as
relating history to current events, using chemistry in an everyday setting with
household materials, explain were information will be important not for school
but for life, etc.
I can remember being told on many occasions, and unfortunately
have said this to my son before, this is just something you have to do. Just pass the course and move on and you will
not need to worry about it again. WOW,
what a statement in education. This goes
on all the way through college, I can remember asking where I would use
information and the teachers were not able to tell me. This needs to change and our schools will
change. I am going to give you a few
things that I think can change the school and system for the better from both a
student perspective and a teacher perspective.
Please feel free to comment and let me know your thoughts.
10 must for the classroom teacher:
- Create a comfortable learning community, were everyone works together for the good of the class. Grades are not nearly as important as you think they are. Learning should be the most important thing and that should be reflected in the grades.
- Make sure to show your students the relevance of what you are teaching and be passionate about the content. If you can’t do that, then it may be time to think about your impact and a career change.
- Motivate, motivate, motivate. Getting the students excited about what you are teaching them will take all the pressure off of you; they will learn it all on their own. They may even drive you crazy wanting to know more.
- Use real world problems, full of your content, that make students think. If someone needs to memorize something, have them do it because they see it so many times in context that they can’t forget it, not from studying flash cards. When students are thinking, they are learning.
- Give only meaningful assignments and assessments. If a student doesn’t see relevancy in what they are doing, make sure they do.
- Encourage students to not give up and to revisit information until they get it. Sometimes students get behind and don’t see the point in even trying anymore.
- Make sure that students know that you are in this for them and that you are a team. IF the student really feels like you want them to know the material and will not give up on them it makes a huge difference.
- Don’t just be a facilitator of knowledge, that is what the internet is for. Point the student in the right direction and get them excited, they may pass you and your understanding of the material.
- Everyday make sure the students know the following 4 things: What are we learning? Why are we learning it? How are we learning it? and How will we know we are getting it right?
- Make sure that you give students all the resources you can possibly think of to help them, then go find more.
5 must for a high school student:
- It is not just about the grade, it is about what you know when you leave.
- You have to go to school, why not learn something. Don’t waste your own time.
- There are people who care about you and your learning, find them and let them help.
- Find out how you like to learn and what you like to learn about, it is different for everyone.
- You are more responsible than anyone for what you learn. No one in the world will benefit more from you knowledge than you. Own it and don’t let others hold you back. Sometimes a teacher may not be willing to help, but they are not the only holder of information anymore, go and learn it for yourself.
