Every student wants to feel empowered in school: the growing confidence a child feels when he/she engages in successful learning experiences. The problem is that many children lose their feelings of empowerment because the curriculum is moving too fast and is over their heads. They can't keep up with the pace that is expected to learn in order to be successful in the classroom. It seems foolish for the "powers that be" to expect all children to develop and progress at the exact same rate, and at the exact same age. Some children need more time to learn concepts and skills, while others catch on and understand during the first lesson. I don't understand why the people in charge of setting educational standards for children don't seem to acknowledge that every child is unique and needs to progress at a rate that fits his/her stage of development and style of learning.
I can identify with what happened when Laurie was unable to make the necessary progress at the expected rate to read the Houghton Mifflin basal reader in first grade. When I first started teaching, every child was expected to read the same Houghton Mifflin basal reader. The book was easy for some students, just right for some, and too difficult for others. I didn't feel good about the reading instruction I provided, with what I felt was a limited resource, because it failed to meet the individual instructional needs of all of my students and was more or less "hit and miss" reading instruction. Thankfully a few years ago our school system adopted a guided reading philosophy. Now students in my class are placed in flexible reading groups, according to their reading ability, and receive guided reading instruction in literature books that match their level of reading. Possibly in spite of the material and social stresses she dealt with at home, Laurie's first grade literacy experiences could have had a more positive turnout if her first grade teacher had access to our guided reading training and bookroom containing hundreds of guided reading books from all different reading levels. Maybe then, the pace of learning would have been just right for her.
On the other hand, maybe the key to ensuring success for all students, regardless of how quickly they progress, is helping them to feel social success and confidence, which hopefully will "spill over into their academic work". We teachers need to avoid the mistake of being overly attentive to a child's academic performance while ignoring the child's needs for attention and nurturing. Balancing these elements is not an easy task that definitely requires tact.
Comments (5)
Vickie, I completely agree with you about educators needing a balance between looking at a student's academic performance as well as social growth. This is becoming an increasingly difficult task to perform, especially with the pressures of testing that we have now. When we as teachers are so pressured to ensure academic success (shown by a number on a piece of paper), it becomes easy to let our relationship with the child fall by the wayside. I usually try to stay very in tune to this, because this is absolutely not something that I want to do in my classroom. If I alienate myself from my students by only focusing on their academic performance and not their social and emotional growth, my students will not be as open to my teaching. I once heard the phrase, "They don't care what you know until they know that you care." I think this is so true in our classrooms. If my students don't see me taking an active part of their lives outside of school and showing them that they are important to me (like going to dance recitals, choral concerts, basketball games, and birthday parties), what I say to them inside the classroom will hold no weight. ~Allison Reese
Posted by Allison Reese | June 12, 2007 10:54 PM
Posted on June 12, 2007 22:54
Vickie,
I so agree with you about how we have become a testing society and are labeling children from a test score instead of looking at every child's unique needs to progress at a rate that fits their developmental stage and learning style. No Child Left Behind has forced educators to push students to produce scores with the same standard for every child in America. NCLB should be called No Child Left Untested since testing is what NCLB is all about. You are right that children don't develop and progress at the exact same rate, so why are we expecting this of them?
I agree that Laurie's teacher could have benefited from guided reading training that teaches how to select materials that meet each individuals reading level. I feel bad for those students my first two years of teaching. I did use the basal and expected all students to progress at the same rate. Now through lots of training I too group my students for reading instruction acording to their ability level. I believe that all teachers need to teach reading this way since students are not all at the same level of learning.
Linda Younts
Posted by Linda Younts | June 13, 2007 4:43 PM
Posted on June 13, 2007 16:43
Vickie,
We also have a bookroom at our school containing many guided reading books. I too believe guided reading would have been better for Laurie if her first grade teacher would've had guided reading training. She could have taken Laurie at the level she was at and more than likely she would have progressed. I like what you said about teachers don't need to ignore a child's needs for attention and nurturing. It is so true and it is a difficult task when you have twenty or more children in your classroom. The class that I taught this year was a very needy class. I did my best to meet their needs but I know they still need more.
Posted by Dawn Thomas | June 13, 2007 8:31 PM
Posted on June 13, 2007 20:31
Vickie, I agree with you about ever child needing to feel empowered and how the pace of the curriculum is affecting so many. The policy makers and people in the state who make the decisions about curriculum know that every child does not learn the same nor do they progress at the same rate, but over the last few years something has happened and people seems to have forgotten that educating a child is more than every child grasping the same skills at the same time. We need to look at the whole child to determine what they need and how we can help them grow and develop at the rate they need to. I think that once we begin to focus more on the whole child then we may see changes in their academic and behavior performance.
I know people feel there is not time to teach the standards, give tests and assessments, and help develop children’s affective domain, but if are not more proactive in dealing with children’s emotional and developmental needs we will continue to see more and more decline in school performance which we lead to even more time being spent teaching standards and testing. We have to try a different approach. It is impossible to try the same thing over and over again and get different results. I think it is good that more focus is put on differentiated instruction and using guided reading materials to teach skills. Even with the materials available to teachers now, if we do not focus on what a child needs I think all the work we do will be unsuccessful overall. You are right. Children need to feel successful and confident in order for it to show in their work. I like your last statement and thinks it sums up your point well. “We teachers need to avoid the mistake of being overly attentive to a child's academic performance while ignoring the child's needs for attention and nurturing.”
Posted by Danielle Griffin | June 13, 2007 10:24 PM
Posted on June 13, 2007 22:24
Vickie,
I believe both scenarios you gave (the academic and the emotional) are equally important. It's like yin and yang in a complementary fashion, don't you think?
And, perhaps those in power who make decisions about curriculum materials should read this book!
Alecia
Posted by Alecia | June 14, 2007 9:52 PM
Posted on June 14, 2007 21:52