CLICK HERE FOR BLUM'S ARTICLE
After reading the article, please respond to each of the following questions:
1. What were the "aha" moments for you in this article? What did you learn?
2. How can these learnings be applied in your classroom or in our school?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
My “aha” moment after reading this article resulted from the article stating that 40%-60% of students by the time they hit high school do not feel like the adults care about their learning or about them as individuals. This really made me ask myself the questions: Do my students know I care about them as individuals? And what I am doing overtly to show them that I care about them as individuals. So often, I get caught up in the planning, the grading and the managing of behavior that I don’t take the time to make sure my students know that I care about them. I am not saying that I need to be gushing over them, but I do need to make sure that I am there for the important events in their lives when appropriate. I need to make time to go to their events outside of school. I need to write them a little note when they have performed well at an assembly. I need to give them the opportunity to write about things that are important to them so I can learn more about who they are. In my class (and outside of my class) I will definitely work more on doing the things I mentioned above. It does take time, but I believe it will be time well spent. If I don’t spend this time, I may be wasting my time planning and teaching lessons to students who don’t feel connected enough to be engaged.
ReplyDeleteDeb says...This was one of my favorite articles because it confirmed the old cliche, Kids won't care how much you know if they don't know how much you care. When you combine a caring teacher with a teacher who is a strong instructor, real growth happens in the lives of children. I,too, am reminded that I need to be at our children's events and be that presence in their lives, not only during the school day, but in the community.
ReplyDeleteMy daughter had a very difficult time when she transitioned to high school. Her school is quite large (1200 students) and she was not connected to that building in any way. Once she discovered theater and her talent with sound and lighting, she found a reason to go to school and (almost) like it. She is an artist and, fortunately, has formed bonds with her photography teacher, her Latin teacher, and the theater tech advisor. Otherwise, I doubt that she would be passing anything.
ReplyDeleteOne of the great advantages we have here at SciTech is that we have only 400 students and the sense of community among the faculty is very strong. This is celebrated at our assemblies and we even start the year celebrating community and even call ourselves the "SciTech Family". This "family" concept is important for the success of our school. We all feel the pain when we lose a student to a "better placement".
I have taught at building in this district where the community was strong. I have also taught were there was no sense of community and the building was simply out of control. It really starts with the attitude of the faculty and the support of the administration. The students are very sensitive to the relationships (or lack thereof) between the adults with whom they spend most of their waking moments.
Eric said...
ReplyDeleteMy "aha" moment came when I recalled a quote I heard many years ago. "Students will only care when they know how much you [the teacher] cares about them. I fully believe this and this is echoed throghout the article. I actually have made this a cornerstone in the way I teach my students. I have found that when you relate to your students and they can relate to you as a human being rather than just a teacher, their motivation and their learning increase exponentially. I hadn't ever fully realized that there was formalized research to back this premise up.
As for how we implement this, I think we already do on a number of fronts. When we look at all the bulleted suggestions made by the author of the article, we already to a number of those things here at SciTech the ones not already in use, have been discussed as ways to implement in the future. I do really feel that the majority of our students do feel connected to their school here at SciTech. I remember all too well when we first started that there was a bit of a stigma for the kids who went to SciTech and there was even a great deal of internalized prejudice against themselves for attending SciTech. Luckily those perceptions are changing and I think that is large in part due to the fact that our students are more connected and take pride in their education here at SciTech. With continued effort by the staff and the administration, I can honestly see this place where everyone wants to come to learn, to teach, and to grow.