Dec

23

It’s finally finished.

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Access the graphic organizer for a supported opinion essay here. I finally finished it.

Dec

23

What a Surprise

Filed Under "At-risk" students, Learning Strategies | Leave a Comment

open doorMy classroom was packed with kids. It was the last class before the winter break, and kids had been coming and going all during period 5 wishing me and each other a happy holiday. At one point, I look up towards the door, and in they both walked. What a surprise! I hadn’t seen them since last June when they’d come to visit and tell me that their first year after graduating from high school had gone well. Now, they had come to visit again.

I was so pleased. I remember them fondly. When I first met them in my grade nine Learning Strategies Class they were two little round pegs that did not fit well into the square holes of high school. I can’t begin to tell you how many “talks” we had in the hall over the years outside my classroom about making better choices for better consequences, about how they needed to grit their teeth and hang in there because it really wasn’t that much longer, about how their learning disabilities made it difficult for them in high school because high school values strengths they don’t have and ignores the strengths they do have. Yes, we had many talks. I would talk; they would listen. They would talk; I would listen. They learned. I learned. It was quite a journey.
After a few moments of chit-chatting, I introduced the two of them to my grade nine students. Then, what a surprise! They started to give my grade nine students advice:

  • Stay in school. You need to graduate if you want to get anywhere. (This, from kids who hated school and talked about quiting all through grade 9, 10 and 11)
  • Take co-op, it’s the best. ( I had talked one of them into going into co-op because he hated school so much. I told him that co-op was perfect for kids who hated school. He loved co-op and started an apprenticeship which he is still pursuing. He told me he got his second raise.)
  • Don’t complain about doing all that writing in class. Doing all that writing in class really helps with the writing you’ll have to do at work. (All that writing? I had them write eight sentences into their journal every day. They complained constantly. That little bit of writing made that much difference. Who was to know?)
  • Don’t quit until your finish. (That’s actually quite funny now. I remember that they often didn’t even want to start the work I gave, let alone mind finish it. I talked and talked and talked about perseverance being one of the characteristics of succesful people. I even had posters up saying that. I never gave up.)
  • Make sure you’re organized. (Are they kidding. They used to come to my class like rock stars expecting to find personal assistants to take care of all the little details like pencils, pens, erasers etc.)

My grade nine students were sitting there quietly listening and asking them questions. It was great to watch. These nineteen year olds were mentoring and giving back some of what they had gotten. I told them that they had an obligation to help the younger kids because they had gotten help. They agreed and offered to come and speak to the other grade nine students. Their voices will be more readily heard than mine. That’s,  not a surprise!

Dec

20

He Shoots. He Scores. He Passes.

Filed Under "At-risk" students, The Way I See It | Leave a Comment

basket ball“Make me want to come to school,” a student once told me when I asked him how I could help him learn. Make me want to come to school. That’s exactly what two of the basketball coaches at my school have done. They have made some of my at risk students want to come to school.

When Doug Armstrong first told me about the P.A.S.S. program ( Promoting Athletics and Student Success) that he and Kent Sykes were instituting this semester to try to motivate kids to do well in school through basketball, I thought it was great. What a wonderful idea. The motto of the program is “you have to pass before you play”.
It’s really very simple, but ingenious. How well the players do in the classroom determines how much time they get on the basketball court. Notice, the kids aren’t kicked off the team if they are failing any courses. Instead, Doug and Kent use the kids’ love of basketball to motivate them to improve their performance in the classroom. If the kids pass all their courses, they get more time on the court. If they are at risk of failing or are actually failing a course, they’re still on the team, but they don’t get as much time on the court. To be able to get more playing time, they have to attend study hall and raise their marks until they’re no longer at risk of failing any of their classes. The deal is, if their marks are in the 50’s, they attend study hall for two hours a week until they are no longer at risk of failing. If their mark is below 50, then they have to attend study hall three hours a week until they are no longer at risk of failing. Simple. Nice and simple.

Doug and Kent spend hours and hours of their time coaching these kids on and off the court. They talk to the kids, and they talk to their parents. They talk to teachers, and they talk to administrators. They supervise and organize the study hall and keep detailed attendance records. Doug and Kent do a lot. I’ve seen how much time and effort they spend mentoring these kids, and I’ve seen how it works. I teach some of these kids, and I’ve seen positive changes in their behaviour and attitude. Doug and Kent are making a huge difference. They are making these kids want to come to school.

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