We all have students like Jake. He is a smart child who just struggles. Jake doesn’t seem to understand why he must participate in reading and writing. At such a young age he already knows that one day he will take over the family business. It is probably confusing for Jake hearing his mother talking about him going to college and his father thinking that he doesn’t need to. As a child, he thinks going to school less is the best idea. Of course he doesn’t want to go. His attitude may change when he gets older. I think that Jake has gotten pretty good at pretending to read. When his mother was asking him questions, Jake doesn’t really use the book in his lap. He answers his mother but with previous knowledge. His mother seems concerned and wants the best for her son. Jake sees reading in his house. When it is a topic that Jake loves, then he pays attention. As teachers, we need to find the interests of our students. I had a student who would only read books about horses. I went to several libraries trying to find books for this little girl. She would actually read them. It may have taken more work on my part, but it was worth it to me. If I had to do this with all 29 of my students it would have been more difficult.
Jake lying his head down during class is bothersome. He was pretending to sleep during a math lesson. Jake is very imaginative and can come up with excuses. During read aloud one day, Jake was making a connection to his own life. That is what we want him to do. Jake learns in a different way than most children. Jake catches on quickly at home, in things he is interested in. I feel sad for Jake though because it seems like he is just going to get farther behind each year.
It’s great that Jake will read a book about Nascar but he will have to read about other topics in life as well. Reading about Nascar for a while is fine, it will build his confidence and it definitely couldn’t hurt him. I’m not sure if these books build a strong sight word vocabulary though, but at least he is reading. There are things that we don’t like to do that we just have to. I didn’t like taking science, but I did it anyway. Jake is going to have to face other topics eventually and he needs to be prepared. If I were his teacher, I would let him write about topics that he wants. Why not? If he isn’t going to write any other way, then by all means let him write about something that he wants if it gets him writing. Eventually he will begin to write on other topics. If he doesn’t begin writing now, he will just get even more behind. You have to be flexible with some students. I had a student who would only do work sitting under a table (she was bi-polar). With my administrators’ approval, she was allowed to sit under the table as long as she would work. If she quit working she had to come out from under the table. It may seem crazy, but she did her work. Some kids need individualized plans/activities.
Dana Eudy
Comments (6)
I agree that Jake will have to read things he doesn't like if is to be successful in school, but I am not sure his life plan requires success in school. There are people who are successful who did not do well in school. As educators it is our job to make school meaningful, but we should also be open to understanding that meaningful is different for different students.
Posted by Shannon Keough | June 30, 2009 1:05 PM
Posted on June 30, 2009 13:05
Hi Dana,
I agree that finding materials suited to each individual child’s needs is very difficult to do. However, I would argue that as adults we tend to read only what we want to or what we feel is valuable. I would much rather be laying beside the pool reading My Sister’s Keeper right now instead of waiting for my 4-hour class to start. However, I have a vested interest in my own education and in the educational and occupational advancement this masters program will provide.
Sometimes I don’t think that we always have to provide interesting or personally exciting texts for students, but we do need to find the place to start the spark. This year, my students and I decided that the EOG is deliberately boring both because NC isn’t able to afford copyright on expensive & fun new stuff and to push us to focus our thoughts on more difficult texts to “prove” how smart we are.
I think the underlying message of your post is that we have to make allowances for the individual. I love to read lying down with my feet up. I will—clothes choice considered—curl up in my teacher chair and prop my feet on the desk during our silent reading time. If we make little allowances that celebrate our quirks, then our students are more likely to use these quirks as talents that will push them to higher levels of thinking and foster more expansive interests.
You also mention that you use the library. I use the public library near my home. Several of the librarians are former teachers who have expansive knowledge of books, topics, and student motivation. Strike up a conversation with your public library folks. You’d be amazed at the wealth of info they can provide.
Posted by Ruth Johnson | June 30, 2009 2:37 PM
Posted on June 30, 2009 14:37
Good job on finding something that would fit your students interest in reading. Doing that can be difficult when you have struggling readers who don't care for reading, especially when your readers are in the upper grades and read on a low level. I have found that many of my boys LOVE Diary of a Wimpy Kid books and you probably know there is a series of them now. I do believe it is important in finding out about our students interests, however we won't always be able to suit each child's needs. I have found that doing projects that provide them with choices usually helps to motivate the unmotivated.
Posted by Heather Houston | June 30, 2009 3:57 PM
Posted on June 30, 2009 15:57
Heather's right; giving students choices is empowering and creativity building.
Someone please tell me how we make them do what we want. As I said, I am the mother of a 10th grade non reader and if someone figures out how to make them do, please let me know. Yes, the kids love Diary of a Wimpy Kid. Yes, I dug up every book on hunting, guns, trucks, building and anything else I could think of. Gary Paulsen saved our butts many times (Hatchet series). So last semester, this bright eyed young teacher assigns Elie Wiesel's Night to my then 9th grader...the second week of May. Any wonder my kid didn't understand these words? Talmud, rabbi, mysticsm, and other Yiddish and German vocabulary. Any wonder he didn't finish the book? Where were 1) purpose for reading? Background / prior knowledge? Setting? Plot? None of it. Truly, I saw the emails with the assignments. There is some less than exemplary teaching going on out there!
Posted by Annie Croon | June 30, 2009 5:02 PM
Posted on June 30, 2009 17:02
You know Dana, I didn't like taking science either, but like you, I did it anyway, and there's a lot to say about the characteristic of discipline in this statement, you know? Certainly school should not be a drudgery from all sides, but there are just some things in this life that we're not going to like, and we're just going to have to do them anyway--like science and math (for me, anyway!) There's so much simple truth to this and the opportunity to teach our students healthy habits and discipline when we share during a teachable moment about how "life is good, but then there's science." HA! You know what I'm saying...But hopefully we do all we can to really tap into what gets our students revved up and learning for understanding!
Posted by erin farrington | June 30, 2009 11:43 PM
Posted on June 30, 2009 23:43
You know Dana, I didn't like taking science either, but like you, I did it anyway, and there's a lot to say about the characteristic of discipline in this statement, you know? Certainly school should not be a drudgery from all sides, but there are just some things in this life that we're not going to like, and we're just going to have to do them anyway--like science and math (for me, anyway!) There's so much simple truth to this and the opportunity to teach our students healthy habits and discipline when we share during a teachable moment about how "life is good, but then there's science." HA! You know what I'm saying...But hopefully we do all we can to really tap into what gets our students revved up and learning for understanding!
Posted by erin farrington | June 30, 2009 11:44 PM
Posted on June 30, 2009 23:44