Week 2 Blog Post
My favorite part of this week's reading was the "In their own words" section of the online article, "Middle School - Are they ready to move up?" I thought the teacher advice was great, but I really enjoyed reading the advice directly from the students. It put into perspective their needs and wants for their teachers, and I found a few pieces of advice in particularly touching.
The one piece of advice that really stood out to me, and will probably stick with me for awhile, was:
"I would really, really like it if my teacher would call home for a good thing that I do. My dad never seems to realize any good thing that I do; it’s like he’s blind. So if my teacher, instead of calling home whenever I do a bad thing, she would sometimes call home and let my dad know that I actually try hard, then I would do better.” -- Amelia
I do believe this could become a huge undertaking - trying to call every parent expressing something really positive or good about the student, but I do think there are probably ways that this can be done with minimal effort. Maybe a monthly newsletter is sent out to parents, and every month students are called out for achieving something great. Or maybe it's a quick and short email to a parent expressing something wonderful their child did in class. It saddens me to think that students only feel like their parents are constantly hearing about the "bad" and not about all the great things they do as well. I would imagine this would only prohibit students from feeling motivated and encouraged to do great work.
Another piece of advice from a student that I felt very relatable was:
“Teachers say it’s okay to raise your hand. Sometimes I want to ask the question but I don’t want to seem like I’m dumb. Or I’m not sure if the teacher said it already, and I don’t want to get the teacher on the wrong side.” —Gabe
This is something I've personally fought with, during my own school experience, and even while working in corporate America for over 10 years. I'm also afraid of asking a "dumb" question. I wish teachers and colleagues would really encourage people to genuinely ask any question they have on their mind, rather than not asking and fretting over what the right thing to do is. I personally could have saved so much time, if I had just asked the professor the question that was confusing me, bothering me, or holding me back from completing really great work. It's taken me many years, but I've finally gotten to the point where I care less about what someone will think of my question, and I care much more about getting the information I need so I can move on with my work.
I think teachers need to continue to encourage students to ask questions on the side privately, or through email, if they're truly too embarrassed to ask in front of the class. I think it's also important for a teacher to think about the way they're answering a student's question in front of the class. It should never be answered with sarcasm, or any sort of tone that would make a student embarrassed for asking it in the first place.
The last quote I wanted to discuss (though there are so many good ones) is the following:
“Sometimes we come to school upset about something, just not in the mood, and it does affect a lot of things. Teachers do not even ask to see what’s wrong; they just ignore it completely. Then they wonder, ‘Why are you guys not paying attention?’” —Alma
I could not relate more to this quote. I've always been very cognizant of how I treat others at work, especially because the corporate culture of my work has turned into a very negative environment. I always try to remember that everyone is going through something, so even if I'm dealing with a person who is difficult to work with, I try to always treat them with respect and kindness. I think the year 2020 has allowed us to realize just how difficult the world can be. The underlying stress of covid, politics, social injustices, on top of family struggles, financial issues, and general anxiety is a lot for people to manage on top of their jobs or, in the case of students, on top of their classwork.
I really think it's more important now than ever, to ask people how they're doing, and do our best to get to know them on a personal level. When a personal relationship is established, it becomes easier to ask questions people might be hesitant to talk about, like what's bothering them. We still need to hold students accountable for their schoolwork, just like we are still accountable for going to work and completing the duties of our jobs. But, understanding that everyone is going through something, and having conversations about what that something is, brings people together. From personal experience, I've always felt more inclined to make my boss proud when I know my boss truly cares about me. I feel less motivated to do great work when I don't feel that same support, and I'm sure the same goes for students and the relationship with their teacher.
The one piece of advice that really stood out to me, and will probably stick with me for awhile, was:
"I would really, really like it if my teacher would call home for a good thing that I do. My dad never seems to realize any good thing that I do; it’s like he’s blind. So if my teacher, instead of calling home whenever I do a bad thing, she would sometimes call home and let my dad know that I actually try hard, then I would do better.” -- Amelia
I do believe this could become a huge undertaking - trying to call every parent expressing something really positive or good about the student, but I do think there are probably ways that this can be done with minimal effort. Maybe a monthly newsletter is sent out to parents, and every month students are called out for achieving something great. Or maybe it's a quick and short email to a parent expressing something wonderful their child did in class. It saddens me to think that students only feel like their parents are constantly hearing about the "bad" and not about all the great things they do as well. I would imagine this would only prohibit students from feeling motivated and encouraged to do great work.
Another piece of advice from a student that I felt very relatable was:
“Teachers say it’s okay to raise your hand. Sometimes I want to ask the question but I don’t want to seem like I’m dumb. Or I’m not sure if the teacher said it already, and I don’t want to get the teacher on the wrong side.” —Gabe
This is something I've personally fought with, during my own school experience, and even while working in corporate America for over 10 years. I'm also afraid of asking a "dumb" question. I wish teachers and colleagues would really encourage people to genuinely ask any question they have on their mind, rather than not asking and fretting over what the right thing to do is. I personally could have saved so much time, if I had just asked the professor the question that was confusing me, bothering me, or holding me back from completing really great work. It's taken me many years, but I've finally gotten to the point where I care less about what someone will think of my question, and I care much more about getting the information I need so I can move on with my work.
I think teachers need to continue to encourage students to ask questions on the side privately, or through email, if they're truly too embarrassed to ask in front of the class. I think it's also important for a teacher to think about the way they're answering a student's question in front of the class. It should never be answered with sarcasm, or any sort of tone that would make a student embarrassed for asking it in the first place.
The last quote I wanted to discuss (though there are so many good ones) is the following:
“Sometimes we come to school upset about something, just not in the mood, and it does affect a lot of things. Teachers do not even ask to see what’s wrong; they just ignore it completely. Then they wonder, ‘Why are you guys not paying attention?’” —Alma
I could not relate more to this quote. I've always been very cognizant of how I treat others at work, especially because the corporate culture of my work has turned into a very negative environment. I always try to remember that everyone is going through something, so even if I'm dealing with a person who is difficult to work with, I try to always treat them with respect and kindness. I think the year 2020 has allowed us to realize just how difficult the world can be. The underlying stress of covid, politics, social injustices, on top of family struggles, financial issues, and general anxiety is a lot for people to manage on top of their jobs or, in the case of students, on top of their classwork.
I really think it's more important now than ever, to ask people how they're doing, and do our best to get to know them on a personal level. When a personal relationship is established, it becomes easier to ask questions people might be hesitant to talk about, like what's bothering them. We still need to hold students accountable for their schoolwork, just like we are still accountable for going to work and completing the duties of our jobs. But, understanding that everyone is going through something, and having conversations about what that something is, brings people together. From personal experience, I've always felt more inclined to make my boss proud when I know my boss truly cares about me. I feel less motivated to do great work when I don't feel that same support, and I'm sure the same goes for students and the relationship with their teacher.
Hi Ashley,
ReplyDeleteOne of the students comments that also stand out to me was Amelia. The calling of home is always link to something bad and unfortunately it is always used school wide as a step of misbehavior. Her comment made me think of parent- teacher conferences and how teachers should always start the conference by saying something positive to the parents first instead of the negative. Although, I believe that waiting until conference to have that positive interaction with the parents it might be a little too late. Using parents to tell them positive about their student would help a lot to build the positive relationship between the parents, student, and the school. It will also help build that teamwork relationship with the parent and the teacher.