I’ve always found qualitative literature so easy to fall into – I get quickly wrapped up in reading about others and the stories of their life. This piece was no different - I just wish I could have read more about Daniel and Zonnie. One of the most glaring things that seemed to come up over and over again is how the schools seemed to miss out on significant pieces of their students’ lives. Noticing this made me think about how often this happens. How often do we as teachers look at a student’s academic ability and assume that they are ‘mediocre’ underachievers? How often do we fail to really learn about our students and the beautiful qualities that they bring to our classroom and school? An article like this one really makes you think about taking the time to just be with our students, to learn about them, to talk to them, to be human with them. To know a student we have to be willing to take time out of our busy day to show them we want to know them by asking questions and allowing them the time to share with us.
This piece also made me think about the purpose of schooling and how I believe that there are times when we pull away from what we as teachers are meant to do. Our job should be t help our students become life-long learners. We want our students to leave our classrooms wanting to learn more and actually take the initiative to learn more. Daniel and Zonnie both had interests outside the classroom that they wanted to learn more about. Daniel’s love of music and Zonnie talent for poetry became their reason for interacting with language. When they saw purpose in using language, they used it. In school, they had a hard time finding reason behind the assignments. They didn’t see the purpose of completing an arbitrary worksheet because the only product that resulted was another grade for the grade book. Yet, when they knew their product would be a new poem or a new musical score, they worked hard to create it. Thinking about this made me realize that we as educators may need to reevaluate our curriculum and find ways to develop authentic learning that will make a difference in our students’ lives. We need to show them the why and how so they can see the reason behind the work we ask them to try.
Amie Snow
Comments (3)
It is sometimes hard for me to make assignments that have a real purpose. My 8th graders just wrote letters to the principal asking for a field trip to the high school. He granted it! That was definitely real. However, my undergrad teacher prep classes did not prepare me for this kind of teaching. Students do see the difference between school work that has purpose and things that are more busy work. I am really trying to use writing as a tool to think and plan before students speak about something. I think that is teaching my students that writing can have purposes other than the 5 paragraph essay.
Ashley Catlett
Posted by Ashley Catlett | February 27, 2009 9:27 PM
Posted on February 27, 2009 21:27
Amie-
I agree with your post. I believe everyone of us is gifted in something. Sometimes the giftedness may occur in the realm of academia, sometimes it may not. Daniel had a gift of music, Zonnie a gift of putting thoughts into poetic forms. When a student's gift falls outside the language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies lessons that occupy our rooms, it is vital to find a way to connect or allow their area of expertise in. We talk about building connections when we teach reading, it is a universal method for education. Connect what one is successful at with that which seems more difficult. I struggle with science. In all of my schooling, if a teacher would have taken this noticeable struggle and linked my deficiency in science with my proficiency in my successes in reading and such perhaps this area would have made more sense. We know our students, or we desire to know them. Attempting to incorporate what they excel at with what they struggle with will bring more success. Again, I beleive this falls back to the investment of time. In this field, the more we invest, the greater the return. Somedays time is there to invest, other days we need to create the time. I am still trying to figure out balance with this. Thank you for always provoking my thoughts with your posts.
Posted by Stefoni Shaw | March 1, 2009 6:59 PM
Posted on March 1, 2009 18:59
Amie,
I like that this article prompted you to think more deeply about the purpose of schooling. It is interesting to think about the current political climate and how that climate almost forces teacher to ignore the personal and focus only on achievement -- rather than integrating the two. And I agree with you that our schools are in desperate need of curriculum reform!
Posted by Alecia Jackson | March 17, 2009 1:15 PM
Posted on March 17, 2009 13:15