Welcome to Teachers At Risk
An honour
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Edublog AwardsAug
23
Many of the kids I teach have difficulty paying attention to what’s going on in my class. I’m not really surprised by this, since that’s why they are in my class in the first place. But…….. I’ve had twenty kids in my class, and on some days I’d have to teach the lesson twenty one times. No kidding! That’s my life, or it was until I discovered The Buddy System.(Thank you Noreen Hardwick) You’ve just got to love it. It helps keep me sane saner, helps improve the kids’ listening skills and helps improve the kids’ social skills.
First, I explain The Buddy System to my students, and why I use it. I tell them two heads are better than one. So, I want them to work with two heads-theirs and a buddy’s. They are to pick a buddy, or sometimes buddies as the case may be, to work with and sit next to during class. Now when someone has a question, he is to ask his buddy first. I will only answer a group question. If someone asks me a question, I answer by asking, “Is this a group question?” If the student says no, then I tell the student to ask his buddy. If it is a group question, then I answer it. Simple. This cuts down on many of the silly questions I used to get that drove me crazy. You know the ones like, “What do we have to do?” after I just finished telling them what I want them to do. Oh yes, it does take a little while to train them to use The Buddy System, but it’s worth it. Their listening skills improve, as do their social skills. And, I get to live another day.
Aug
21
I’d almost finished teaching the lesson when she blurted out, “Miss, are you going to be a real teacher next year?” That stopped me in my tracks! Am I going to be a real teacher next year? What was she talking about? I am a real teacher. I’m a Learning Strategies teacher. I’m a Student Success teacher. I’m her teacher. What was she talking about? I wasn’t sure what she meant. I told her that I was a real teacher. Now she was puzzled and said, “You know, a real teacher like a math or English teacher”. I thought about what she had said for a moment, and then her statement made sense. Of course!
I’m a Learning Strategies teacher. I’m a Student Success teacher. What kind of subject is learning strategies or student success? Often kids don’t even know that there’s such a thing as a Learning Strategies course, until they’re sitting in front of me. They know about math, English, history, geography, science- but Learning Strategies. What is that? Well, it’s about learning styles, about multiples intelligences, about characteristics of successful people, about metacognitive reading strategies, about self advocacy skills, about dealing with difficult people as well as other things more traditional things like study skills, writing tests and organizing notebooks. It’s about a lot of things.
More or less, a learning strategies class is a class that supports students who have difficulty with certain aspects of learning. Usually, but not always, these students have been identified as having a learning disability of some sort and have an Individual Education Plan, or I.E.P. that outlines their strengths, needs and the accommodations teachers need to make so that the students can be as successful as possible. The students in the learning strategies class have average or above average intelligence but find school a struggle because of the way their brain is wired. (Mel Levine in his book A Mind at a Time explains this extremely well.)
One of my responsibilities is to create the Individual Education Plan using my expertise as a Special Education Specialist and the feedback I get from the students themselves, their parents, teachers and other interested parties. After creating the I.E.P., I share it with the student, the student’s parents and the student’s teachers. Then, I monitor the student’s progress throughout the semester by getting feedback from the students and their teachers hoping to nip any problems in the bud. At the end of the semester, I complete an I.E.P. Progress Report that is sent home to parents or guardians.
I’d like to think that with all the support learning disabled students are entitled to, they would do well in school. I’d like to think that, but remember I used to be naive. I’m not naive anymore-well maybe a bit too optimistic. Like I tell my students: students are human beings first and students secondly; teachers are human beings first and teachers secondly- me included. Some students buy into the program; some don’t. Some teachers buy into the program; some don’t. What can I say? I just keep being a real teacher and hope for the best.
Aug
14
I Used to Be Naive
Filed Under Goals | 2 Comments
If you were to ask me what my goals for my at risk students are, I’d have to say the answer would pretty much depend on which day you asked me. On a good day, most days thankfully, I’d say I want my students to be happy, self-actualized persons. On a bad day, I’d say I just want them to be taxpayers. On a bad day, I don’t care if they’re happy or not. I just want them to graduate and pay taxes. Pretty cynical, I’d say. But, I never used to be like that. I used to be naive.
When I first started teaching, I wanted my students to love poetry. Yes, poetry. I “knew” that if I introduced poetry to them in the just right way, they’d love it as much as I did. (See, I told you I used to be naive.) When I told my Department Head one of my goals was to get my students to love poetry, he looked at me somewhat sternly and advised me that my goal should be to make my students taxpayers. If I made them taxpayers, I would be doing my job. I was appalled. What a cynic! I hoped I’d never be like that. Ironically, today my goal is to help my students become taxpayers, but with a twist- taxpayers happy in their jobs and in their lives.
How do I go about doing this? I spend a lot of time helping my students get to know themselves. In class, they discover their strengths and weaknesses and how to use this knowledge to help themselves become successful, in school and out. My students discover that :
- Successful people have goals. Having a goal is something to aim for, something to do, something to look forward to.
- Successful people know their strengths and weaknesses. They use their strengths to help them be successful. There’s no point in working at a job that entails a lot of math if you hate math. You’re not going to be good at it or happy doing it.
- Successful people persevere until they reach their goal. They don’t quit when the going gets tough. They dig deep and keep going until they succeed.
- Successful people have emotional support. They have people in their lives who are there for them in the good times and in the bad. You can’t do it alone.
- Successful people advocate for themselves. They stand up for themselves and make sure that what has to happen does happen.
Once my students are aware of the characteristics of successful people, I give them the opportunity to develop and strengthen these characteristics. My lessons are all about: discovering strengths, weaknesses and interests; setting realistic goals; developing and practicing perseverance; improving people skills; and, developing and applying self-advocacy skills. My grade eleven and twelve students use what they have learned to plan for the future of work or post secondary school; my grade nine and ten student use what they have learned to help them stay in school and graduate. Now, I’d like to be able to say that all my at risk students graduate, get jobs they like and are happy with their lives. I’d like to say that, but remember I used to be naive.
Aug
12
Don’t Blame the Lettuce-Blaming Doesn’t Help
Filed Under Behaviour Management, Special Education | 10 Comments
Don’t blame the lettuce. What? Earlier this week, I was in my local book store poking around in the books on a table at the back of the store, and I came across Thich Nhat Hanh’s book Peace Is Every Step. I picked it up, opened it at page 78 and started to read
When you plant lettuce, if it does not grow well, you don’t blame the lettuce. You look into reasons it is not doing well. It may need fertilizer, or more water, or less sun. You never blame the lettuce. Yet if we have problems with our friends or our family, we blame the other person. But if we know how to take care of them, they will grow well, like lettuce. Blaming has no positive effect at all, nor does trying to persuade using reason and argument. That is my experience. No blame, no reasoning, no argument, just understanding. If you understand, and you show that you understand, you can love, and the situation will change.
Since I’m an avid gardener, this caught my eye. It’s true. I don’t blame a plant when it doesn’t grow well. Why would I? It’s also true that blaming family and friends when I have a problem doesn’t help much either. Hanh’s got that right!
If a plant isn’t thriving, I examine it carefully to determine its needs and then change the care I have been giving it so that it can grow well. Sometimes I water it more; sometimes I water it less. Sometimes I even change its location. I do everything in my power to help it thrive. I certainly don’t blame it.
If students aren’t thriving, I try to do the same thing. I try to determine their needs and then give them the care that is necessary for them to thrive. I try not to blame them. Blaming doesn’t help. Kids and plants- for me it’s the same thing.
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