Whew, this week has been BUSY!
I just wanted to touch on some of what we learned from our New York friends last week. I really like what they said about what they wanted from their teachers. Don't play favorites. That's a good one, and sometimes it's really hard to avoid because we tend to like certain people more than others, but I think we definitely need to make a conscious effort to treat our students equally and not point out that we have favorites...even if we do.
Second, they said that they should get rewards when they do well. Ya, definitely. I'm always so worried about discipline in the classroom, but what about the kids who do well consistently? I had a teacher who celebrated the students who always worked hard for good grades, and it was so cool to be recognized for my efforts. And I want to reward the kids for improvement too. And it's not just a piece of candy for the right answer. Rewards come in the form of encouragement and praise for participation in discussion. We could have a day of games and pizza in the classroom. There are lots of ways to do this.
I also loved that they told us not to try to relate to them. We see it all the time, the parents who want to be cool, so they forgo responsibility in order to get their kids to like them. Their kids still think they're dorks though, and they become resentful that they weren't parents and never respect them. This is the same for teachers. Our priorities should be their education and well-being, not getting them to like us. Respect is much more important, and that is achieved through taking care of their needs.
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Very nicely said, Brittany...and I'm glad that you found the conversation with Lauren and her students to be helpful. There's a chance that we might be able to bring Lauren back for a 504 (or other MAC) class sometime later in the year, and I hope that we can do that.
ReplyDeleteIn any case, a teacher I've worked with for a long time is always telling me that even as we place a value on hard work, and diligence and accomplishing things, we should also make time to celebrate significant accomplishments. Sounds like you're already thinking in these terms. It is easy to overdo treats as rewards on a day-in, day-out basis, but recognition of accomplishments is REALLY important.