Welcome to Teachers At Risk
An honour
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Edublog AwardsAug
10
Respect in the classroom is a two way street
Filed Under "At-risk" students, Behaviour Management, Computers In The Classroom | 11 Comments
Script for my podcast
Dustin Swanson hit the nail right on the head in his blog when he wrote “Teaching is an art; it involves emotions .” This fact is especially important to realize and appreciate now that the new school year is fast approaching. I can have the best lesson plans in the world and be organized to the nth degree, but if I don’t pay attention to my students’ emotional well being it’s not going to go well for me or my students.
I have been teaching at-risk kids for over 20 years and have learned the value of spending the first few weeks of school developing a positive relationship with my students. I have found that these kids do not automatically give me respect just because I am a teacher. Those days are long gone. Far from it. It’s not the 1950′s anymore. The tables are turned. The at-risk teenagers I teach demand respect from me first before they are prepared to respect me as a teacher. They watch me carefully those first few weeks to see if I really do respect them, if I walk my talk.
I’ll have to admit when I first realized this I was stunned. I would have to prove that I respect them before they would respect me? That didn’t seem right. They weren’t even going to give me the benefit of the doubt! I would start with zero respect and have to work my way up.They tell time and time again that they hate teaches. I don’t know who they think I am when they tell me this. I had one grade eleven student tell me that she hasn’t talked to teachers since she started high school. Talk about being disconnected from school.
How do I earn my students respect ? I follow the golden rule. I treat them the way that I would want them to treat me. It really works. I have few rules but they are all about showing one another respect. I don’t mean the kind of respect that when I tell them to jump, they ask how high. I honour them, how they feel, what they say and do and I expect them to do the same to me and their fellow classmates.
You know that part of the problem is that they don’t exactly know what it means to be respectful or how to be respectful. I’m not kidding. Some times when I tell them that it wasn’t respectful to do whatever, they are blown away. They don’t necessarily mean to be disrespectful but don’t know that they are being disrespectful.
I spend the first few weeks working hard at being respectful to kids who aren’t necessary respectful to me. I basically model day in and day out what it means to be respectful and how to approach problems by being respectful. Now I’m not always successful. The kids are quick to tell me that I’m not always respectful. It’s true. Sometimes I absolutely loose it. I apologize and then tell them that teachers aren’t perfect. I’m not perfect. I’ll be the first to admit it. Teachers are human beings first and teachers secondly and because they are human they make mistakes like losing it once in a while.
Kids need to know that teachers are not perfect. Kids need to know that not being perfect is something they have in common with teachers. When I tell kids this they are a bit surprised. They tell me that some teachers think and act like they are perfect. We talk about why teachers and other people act like they are perfect. These and the other numerous discussions we have interfere with the curriculum I’m supposed to be teaching. But, if we don’t get to the bottom of whatever is disconnecting these kids from school and life they will never learn despite my excellent lesson plans . They can’t learn math or whatever until they reconnect with school and teachers. My students are absolutely amazed at what they can and do learn by the end of the semester. I work hard at the golden rule.
Just an aside here, I remember early in my career working into the wee hours of the morning creating absolutely wonderful lesson plans, lesson plans that I could be really proud of. Then the next day in class those wonderful lessons would bomb. That’s when I learned to have emergency lesson plans and activities ready so that I could just switch gears when I need to and continue merrily on. One day a thought came to me- sometimes my students get in the way of my wonderful lessons. If it wouldn’t be for those students, those lessons would be wonderful. Then I have a good laugh. Because, well … I find it helps not to take oneself too seriously. I love finding the irony in things. It’s a wonderful coping mechanism.
Aug
8
The unexpected consequences of blogging for one year
Filed Under Blogging in and out of the Classroom | 3 Comments
Whoa, this week is Teachers At Risk’s first anniversary. Imagine that! A whole year has gone by. I’ve written 164 posts and created 19 podcasts on a variety of topics. What a learning curve it’s been- exciting and energizing for sure. I’ve had wonderful support from Lisa and Chris. Thank you both. Together, they gently but firmly pushed and pulled their mom into the digital world of blogging. Lisa, bless her, rescued me from the unintended consequences of typing the wrong key for the umpteenth.
I’ve also had amazing support from Jason. Thanks Jason. Jason really knows what he’s doing when it comes to producing podcasts. He kept encouraging me to start podcasting and spent his valuable time helping me with some of the technical aspects of producing my podcasts. We talked on Skype, and he showed me using the camera in his computer how to do things and then sent me a hard copy of the instructions as well. It didn’t matter that there was an ocean between us. It was so cool! He’s an excellent teacher, by the way.
I encourage you to check out A Buddhist Podcast that he does with Karen, his wife. I look forward to listening to each new show. There’s always something inspiring to take away. It deserves an award. In fact, A Buddhist Podcast is in the running for an award. Take a listen and then vote for A Buddhist Podcast. Karen also has her own daily podcast, Joyrise. I enjoy listening to the quotations and the music that goes with them. Listening to Karen read the quotations makes me stop and relax for a few moments and gives me something to think about.
What did I expect when I started blogging last year? I didn’t really know what to expect. I just wanted to share what I’d learned during my teaching career. I’ve been teaching a long time and absolutely love working with the troubled, troubling and troublesome teenagers I see all the time. I wanted to share the insights and strategies that have enabled me to continue to love teaching despite everything that goes on in and out of the classroom.
Much to my surprise and delight all kinds of other wonderful things happened. Not only did I get to share what I know, but I had the opportunity to dialogue with some great people that I would have never met if it wasn’t for my blog and podcasts. I met Jason through his podcast. It’s interesting to see that people from different parts of the globe have more things in common with one another than differences. I think sometimes we forget that, but if we just scratch the surface a bit we see that we are the same in important ways. We all suffer the vicissitudes of daily life and just want to want to be happy.
While writing my blog, I’ve often wondered is anyone really reading this, and if so do they find what I have written of any value. I’ve gotten lots feed back in the form of comments and emails and that’s great. Feedback is so motivating. Recently, much to my delight, I was approached by a publisher who was interested in using two of my articles from my blog in an upcoming book. Of course I was flattered, but I was really pleased because the book when it’s published will enable me to share my insights and strategies with even more people. That’s important to me. That’s why I started my blog. I didn’t expect to make any money by blogging. But it turns out I did, and that was another unexpected consequence.
I wonder what surprises Teachers At Risk has in store for me this year. I can hardly wait.
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