RE_5539

Hi Dawn,
Now that I have read this book I am very sad that contemporary teaching practices do not advocate the idea that we should ‘know’ our students. Unfortunately contemporary teaching practices are all about test scores and AYP. Our job is to look at students past performances on standardized tests and gear instruction to meet their weaknesses. My school has not met AYP for the past two years. Therefore, our focus the past two years has been two identify the subgroups that struggle and make sure that we focus on their improvement. Maybe if we would take time to get to “know” our students and parents our test scores would come up at a faster pace. Many of our parents are not highly involved at the school; therefore, we do not know a lot about our student’s home lives. Maybe instead of worrying about AYP we should be more focused on parental involvement and how it could change our attitudes and relationships with our students.

Kelly Mabe

dawn,

i too was placed in non college track high school classes. unfortunately i was assumed to never make it to college. all my friends were in the "smart" classes and i struggled with the children that were placed with me...we all were just not meant to make it. there was always a blah feeling in our classrooms. i had been told in the eighth grade by one of my teachers that i would make it so i kept trying. as one who lived it, i must say that it can be depressing sitting in a classroom filled with people that just dont care and a teacher that feels the same. it is definately a difficult experience to placed in classes based on test scores and not one's will and determination.

donna byrd-wyatt

Dawn, it is amazing how belonging to a certain class can affect the path one may have to take. It is unfair, but until people’s perceptions change this will be a part of this nation’s thinking. I think the way we think and view people are so backwards and it may never change. My hope is that is will and everyone will be valued for who they are and the potential they have. Rose’s idea that he wanted to be average did not come from him. I am convinced it had to do with what previous teachers view of him, what they said to him or about children like him, and even from his environment or family’s way of thinking. Some people still feel that cannot do certain things because of their race or class status. They impose this thinking on their children and they grow up believing the same thing. It’s true. I have seen it happen in my own family. Not that my siblings and I held on to what was said, but the way our elders think and feel about being African American and what they are reluctant to do is sad. It’s hard to change your way of thinking after it has been embedded in you for so long.
We as educators have to cross boundaries in order to reach all children especially in you work with children in poverty or working class families as I do. We have to learn about them and their families as well as their environment to understand them and relate to them. If we get them to trust us then true learning will not take place until they get that one teacher who is willing to listen to them and truly know them. It’s all about relationship.

Dawn-
I also remember reading the section on the "moral shift" that teachers must make. It is important to be open to seeing those that are different than you. This made me think of my teachers from K-12 because I moved around so much as a child. Just a thought here.... it seems as if elementary teachers are much more open to knowing children on a personal level, than middle or high school teachers simply because we have more of an opportunity. High school teachers may have over 100 students and it is overwhelming to think about getting to know each of them on a personal basis-to understand their backgrounds and situated histories is much more of a task. I feel fortunate to have younger children in my care whose parents are involved and willing to support their child at school.

Dawn,

I agree with you about crossing boundaries. You stated, “We have to cross these boundaries to reach the poor and working-class children. If we understand children's situated histories then we can move toward literacy practices in the classroom”. Now, aren’t we diagnosing (just like a doctor) a situation and then we have to believe and advocate for that child (just like a lawyer), when we go to administrators to promote that student to the next grade when that student is not on grade level. We have to show data, documentation of student’s work and parental interest and involvement for promotion. I often wonder why, we aren’t considered professionals like doctors and lawyers. The doctors and lawyers take the test and an oath, and then they are left to go practice their profession. We, as educators take the test and are hired to educate students, however, we are told what to do, how to teach, and what to teach. No one ever considered we have to connect and bond with our families to entrust us to do our jobs. We have to take what we learned from those families and devise plans to accommodate their learning style. We can not teach the whole class, we must teach the child, who comes to you with their own “situated histories” and in “the skin that they speak”.

Dawn,

I agree with you that it is unfortunate that we place students in certain social tracks based on a test score. Students know where you have placed them, motivation and self confidence are at stake here. This can be a reason for school drop-outs later on.

You are right that we are going to have to change and cross boundaries to reach poor and working-class students. I am going to try so much harder this upcoming year to learn the situated histories of my students because I now see how important this is to their learning.

Linda Younts

Dawn,

I also have learned many important things about teaching that I had never considered before. As teachers, we are ambassadors for literacy and everything else that is expected from students in school. Therefore, our responses to students are critical, and we need to control and monitor our responses carefully since they can positively or negatively shape students' attitudes about school and their responses to instruction.

Vickie Howell

I think that we have to pay really close attention to all of our students and get to know them on a very personal academic level. My high school does a really good job of this because every single teacher has an advisory group and when it works, which is most of the time, you will be with the same kids for their entire four years of high school. This way you know what they have accomplished in the past and what they are capable of in the future. We also have access to their three week progress reports and report cards and the advisories are very small. This year I had only 11 students and it was great. We meet every month at least once and make sure that grades are looking good and set up tutoring sessions if they aren't. It really is a great system we have there.

Great post! Thank you so much for sharing. This was a very fulfilling read