How many times as an educator do you hear “boys will be boys?” For me I hear this quite a bit and I get really frustrated. I think that the problem with Jake in school was that there is very little structure in the home. They allowed Jake to jump from one thing to the next and that is hard for anyone to do. I think that boys at a young age need to be taught to finish one thing before they start another. I think that Jake’s parents should have made him sit down to do constructive work every day. Yes Jake had a hard time focusing but if they did it in very small increments he would slowly improve. I have parents that come to me and tell me that their son is very rambunctious at home because he is a boy and I have a hard time with that. I tell my parents that they need to have structure at home so their son can get used to the structure at school. I still have parents, just like Jake’s, that do not make their boys sit down to read or do anything constructive and it hinders the way that they work in school. I think that if you give your child more structure while they are at home they will have a much easier time adjusting when they get to school.
I think that boys are very visual people. I think that if they have something in front of them to write with they should be allowed to use it. I was so upset at the teacher when she took away Jake’s cars while they were supposed to be writing. Did she know that Jake loved Nascar? I think that if you have a child that has a love for something and you take that away from them it devastates them. Why did she not allow Jake to write about those cars he had? It sounded like at the time they were free writing anyways, so was writing about Nascar so wrong? If writing about what you love to write about makes you enjoy writing then I would completely allow my students to bring something in. I should try that next year! I think I am going to allow my students to bring in any toy that they want to write about. I would be very interested to see how well they do.
I love what Hicks says in chapter 6 on pg 153 “Some have described the role of teachers as one of creating instructional scaffolds that help to bridge students’ primary discourses with middle-class literacies (eg., Lee, 1993; Tharpe & Gallimore, 1988). I cannot agree with this statement more. We as teachers need to do our best to make sure that our students have a good bases in order to help them succeed in life. We need to create that “scaffold” to make sure that every child succeeds in every way possible. We need to reflect and “draw on our own histories as they construct readings of children’s experiences”. We need to make sure that as educators we are giving these children the background knowledge that we can to help them understand every text that they read.
Natalie Enns
Comments (4)
I love your idea about letting the students bring in a toy to write about. I hadn’t thought of doing that before. In the past, I have only done Show and Tell. Students love to bring toys in and tell about them. I think I am going to try your idea next year. This would be a great way to help bridge the gap between home and school. It is also another way for me to learn more about what my students are interested in so I can gain more insight into how to help them learn.
Posted by Trish Edwards | June 28, 2010 6:12 PM
Posted on June 28, 2010 18:12
I agree with you about the teacher taking Jake’s car. This showed me that Jake’s teacher did not know very much about his interests or she would have known how important Nascar was to him. Children do need things to visually help them with their writing. I have had children bring in a favorite toy or object to write about. I have guidelines and rules but the children enjoy sharing something they love with their classmates. I think if you find something that makes children want to write use it. I have also brought in objects such as pumpkins or apples for the children to write a descriptive piece of writing. Anything that makes writing more exciting and less boring is worth the effort on the part of the teacher.
Posted by Ashley Caldwell | June 28, 2010 7:04 PM
Posted on June 28, 2010 19:04
Natalie,
This year I had 14 boys and 6 girls in my class. I loved the boys, but at times I thought I was going to pull my hair out. They were so active. Sitting down to quietly read or write was nearly out of the question. In order to make learning meaningful for all my students, I believe I should make my instruction interactive using movement and manipulatives. However, I agree with you that having a schedule and structure at home is very important, not only in adjusting to school, but also in growing a healthy, well-adjusted child.
Laura Corbello
Posted by Laura Corbello | June 29, 2010 6:59 PM
Posted on June 29, 2010 18:59
Boys are visual, active creatures. I loved your idea about having Jake write about the car. Jake's teacher should have considered it more than just a toy, and she definitely demonstrated a lack of knowledge about him. That is sad because in a elementary classroom you have merely 25 students at most. I feel guilty not knowing my students as well, but I have 80 total that I only see for 55 minutes a day. Writing about nascar would be something he could've geniunely enjoy. While I know it is impossible to cater to every child's preferences and needs there are better ways to approach that with students. It is amazing how deeply Jake was effected by discontent he felt with the "institutional system of middle-class practices and the life worlds he embraced." I want to keep this in mind as I consider those students who are disengaged how can I scaffold their growth?
Posted by Amy Hardister | July 2, 2010 11:11 AM
Posted on July 2, 2010 11:11