They point out mutual respect is nonnegotiable and I think that if you are fair from the beginning and draw lines you will not cross students will more readily accept it, and will make a more productive classroom. Rather than trying to have different rules for different people. Where respect is given, respect is returned.
I had a lot of notes in the margin on this chapter - I feel many kids are used to teachers working harder than they are: teachers round them up, sit them down, help them one-on-one complete late work, etc. When they are expected to do it on their own - they don't know how to. I have seen this been going on since the middle school (where I taught for 4 years) up to the high school (where I've taught for a while). We give these kids this "crutch" early on and they don't know how to "WALK" without it. They don't know how to complete work on their own b/c they've never had to. I know that sounds awful, but that's how I perceive it. Plus this chapter pointed out about fairness - "fair means trying to make sure each student gets what she needs in order to grow and succeed" (23). This is near impossible when the state department expects everyone to get the SAME thing for state/national testing so we can compare with other states/countries.
I had one more point in this chapter: p. 26 When students select their own task partners they often select their friends, who are also unmotivated students who fail to turn in work. However, if a teacher assigns the pairs/groups, motivated students paired with non-motivated students do all the work for the group b/c they don't want their grade to suffer and the slacker sails through again- it's a no win situation. I can't tell if flexible grouping is good or bad.
April- I get what you are saying on flexible grouping and I think it will prove to be more successful in hs than next when I am in middle school. When I use it I tell them not to pair with someone who won't work and sometimes they listen, sometimes they don't. Sometimes this leaves the kids with the attendance problem working alone which I know is bad, but at least they will not drag others down or get a grade for nothing. It is hard to grade based on class work or else I would employ daily grades to increase participation. However, I find it difficult to make a note every time a student is off task and the second we don't write it down we will be hearing from a parent and wish we had. But I think from this discussion we can see the areas that we can grow from in this, which is how to successfully use flexible grouping to where students get the grades they earn and open the doors for students who usually wouldn't participate.
I agree with your statement about the mental laziness as well. Students often don't bother to read the directions and just wing it with very little reference to materials, charts, or data that they need to answer a question. There really needs to be an effort among elementary, middle, and high school teachers to make kids learn things for themselves. DI could really help with this when used in earlier grade levels because it requires teachers to have a firm classroom structure and for kids to learn things independently. Imagine if all teachers used a true DI once or twice a week, by the time students got to use they would be accomplished self learns and I bet most of them rather than the minority would read the directions.
They point out mutual respect is nonnegotiable and I think that if you are fair from the beginning and draw lines you will not cross students will more readily accept it, and will make a more productive classroom. Rather than trying to have different rules for different people. Where respect is given, respect is returned.
ReplyDeleteI had a lot of notes in the margin on this chapter - I feel many kids are used to teachers working harder than they are: teachers round them up, sit them down, help them one-on-one complete late work, etc. When they are expected to do it on their own - they don't know how to. I have seen this been going on since the middle school (where I taught for 4 years) up to the high school (where I've taught for a while). We give these kids this "crutch" early on and they don't know how to "WALK" without it. They don't know how to complete work on their own b/c they've never had to. I know that sounds awful, but that's how I perceive it. Plus this chapter pointed out about fairness - "fair means trying to make sure each student gets what she needs in order to grow and succeed" (23). This is near impossible when the state department expects everyone to get the SAME thing for state/national testing so we can compare with other states/countries.
ReplyDeleteI had one more point in this chapter: p. 26 When students select their own task partners they often select their friends, who are also unmotivated students who fail to turn in work. However, if a teacher assigns the pairs/groups, motivated students paired with non-motivated students do all the work for the group b/c they don't want their grade to suffer and the slacker sails through again- it's a no win situation. I can't tell if flexible grouping is good or bad.
ReplyDeleteApril- I get what you are saying on flexible grouping and I think it will prove to be more successful in hs than next when I am in middle school. When I use it I tell them not to pair with someone who won't work and sometimes they listen, sometimes they don't. Sometimes this leaves the kids with the attendance problem working alone which I know is bad, but at least they will not drag others down or get a grade for nothing. It is hard to grade based on class work or else I would employ daily grades to increase participation. However, I find it difficult to make a note every time a student is off task and the second we don't write it down we will be hearing from a parent and wish we had. But I think from this discussion we can see the areas that we can grow from in this, which is how to successfully use flexible grouping to where students get the grades they earn and open the doors for students who usually wouldn't participate.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your statement about the mental laziness as well. Students often don't bother to read the directions and just wing it with very little reference to materials, charts, or data that they need to answer a question. There really needs to be an effort among elementary, middle, and high school teachers to make kids learn things for themselves. DI could really help with this when used in earlier grade levels because it requires teachers to have a firm classroom structure and for kids to learn things independently. Imagine if all teachers used a true DI once or twice a week, by the time students got to use they would be accomplished self learns and I bet most of them rather than the minority would read the directions.