This past week's parent-teacher conferences have taught me a valuable lesson: Sometimes parents can be absolutely amazing, cooperative, and genuinely concerned about their child's progress...and their students can be completely disinterested in passing or even pretending to try. From 3:30-7:00, parent after parent came to visit with my CT and I about his/her student's grades. Each and every one was was completely supportive of our positions and methods of administering grades and discipline. In fact, many parents encouraged me personally to stay on their students in hopes that I would be the catalyst to what were some rather disheartening academic careers. This kind of situation makes you realize that teachers and parents really are a team when it comes to student success...and sometimes we aren't always as successful as we would like to be, especially when it comes to young adults who are receiving letters from the district after their 18th birthdays informing them that they no longer have to let their parents know about their academic performance. As official "adults," they are legally able to keep their records private. And people wonder why classroom management has become such an issue of late...
Speaking of which, my seniors got their fist taste of what I expect from a class this week. The result was "The student-teacher was very cantankerous in class today" as one of their vocabulary test sentences. I couldn't help but smile. At least they know what the word means, right? :)
Similarly, the juniors have begun to realize that I'm not someone they can easily push around. After 2 days of being held after school, a new seating arrangement, placing students on tally systems, and a pop quiz, they might actually be getting the point: The Great Gatsby isn't going away. It's boring to them...and my mentors at my school keep reassuring me that it is a common response from students nowadays. All I can do is involve as many different forms of learning as possible...aural, visual, kinesthetic...individual, partner, small group, whole group...ugh! They're bored. And we've got 6 more chapters to go. And it makes them squirrely, which is difficult to punish them for. How can I punish them for finding my unit boring??
I completely understand where you are coming from with students that have an "I don't care" mindset. Throughout the semester so far my CT and I have offered many students the opportunity to come in during lunch or advocacy to make up or get help for assignments they are missing that are upsetting their grades. Yet even though our assistance is readily available, some students don't seem to want to make the effort. Sending home failing letters has created some incentive for the students, however, when their parents do get involved. We have parent-teacher conferences this week but the parents I have met want what's best for their student to succeed, and thankfully that common goal has helped to try and create motivation.
ReplyDeleteA little side note that my CT has advised me over when students get squirrely: let them stand and get a drink break. Class periods are quite long (at least in block scheduling) and sometimes the activity of getting out of the classroom for just a few seconds can help them to refocus!
Hmm. Last week my CT assigned some reading with a work sheet and I counted about 5 students that were falling asleep in class. They could care less about the assignment points. However, when an extra credit assignment was introduced to those who were finished, I saw quite a few speeding up, excited about the fairly simple extra credit assignment. The extra credit: to look up the definition, a synonym, and an antonym of 10 words that they were unfamiliar with in the reading and provide a sketch for the word as well. Ironically, they groan when they are given vocabulary words. I think they're confused,personally, but the point is that extra credit might be a motivation because after conferences their parents are probably pushing them to bring home better grades.
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