Kids hate school because they hate they way they are treated by the people at school. For many students, school is not a positive, useful, or even educational experience. Sometimes it’s other kids, sometimes their teachers, sometimes it’s just they way they see themselves in the context of the school they attend. The problem is not learning. Kids love to learn. They love to feel successful. They soak up knowledge like sponges, when they are equipped to do so. But our students do not come to school equally equipped. Sometimes it’s obvious, sometimes it’s not. Kids can be expert at hiding their disabilities and feelings of inadequacy. So what are teachers to do?
Well, we can take the neo-conservative attitude that the kids' problems are the kids' problems and not our problems. Or we can take the liberal position that we need to change the type of human beings the students are. Both approaches feel like no-win situations to me, and here’s why. If teachers consider themselves to be conduits of information only, and that the success or failure of the student is solely the student’s responsibility, then the teacher is not teaching. This is how Dictionary.com defines teaching. Yes, the teacher “imparts knowledge,” but skills are achieved through doing, not listening alone. The fourth definition, “to cause to learn by example or experience,” says that we need to get involved in the learning process with our students. We need to get our hands dirty and our feet wet working with our students. To teach students how to learn, we need to be involved in the learning process ourselves, right along side our students. Some of the best teaching years I’ve experienced have been when I’ve taught new courses where I literally kept “one step ahead” of the pupils. I learned along with them. Sure, those were not years of polished lectures, and perfect assignments, but I was actively involved with my kids, and that made the experience better for them and me. There were no manufactured “ah-ha!” moments, but instead we shared our discoveries. Now I don’t advocate that every teacher teach like this every year, but there is a benefit to both student and teacher when learning happens organically.
However, teaching is a profession, and that means fewer “organic” moments and greater standards, structure, and discipline. True, our students do not come to school perfect people. More true is that teachers are never going to make students perfect people. It’s not within our power, nor is it our responsibility. Really, teachers are just there to teach. Everything else is extra. And today, there are a lot of extras. But that is where NCLB and California’s focus on the Content Standards come in. Used to be that teachers could pretty much do anything they wanted to in their classrooms when the bell rang and the door closed. That’s when teaching was “fun.” Sure, the students may not have scored over 1200 on the SAT, but hey, they had a great time learning about making masks for the Greek dramas. As students achievement, especially in California, fell further and further behind, a renewed emphasis on strict, and focused classroom instruction arose. Whether you like NCLB or the Content Standards, or not, the goals established (higher test scores and greater student achievement) are beginning to be met. But many classroom teachers will tell you that curriculum today is dry, and that “teaching to the test” is not the best way to be an effective educator.
So a happy medium? How does a teacher present dynamic engaging lessons full of authentic learning experiences while striving to raise test scores? Post your great ideas and useful links below and lets find out.
It’s important because we want kids to love, not hate school. I teach elective courses. Core teachers often look at elective courses as meaningless fluff, and some are. But my courses, and those of my colleagues, challenge our students to use and apply all that they are taught in their core classes. In English, students learn to write essays; in electives, they write essays about what they have created. In Algebra they learn to used mathematical equations; in electives they use math to calculate a variety of equations and apply their results. But most importantly, the students have fun while they learn. Perhaps it’s easier to structure an elective course around enjoyable learning. However, I use the Content Standards in all of my lessons, and all students need to be prepared to take the same end-of-course, and standardized tests. I don’t believe that just because the subject matter is dry that the course needs to be boring. School can be fun and effective; as I have already written here: School is suppose to be fun?
Kids who are connected to campus like school better and achieve better success. I believe that a big part of a students’ success at school comes from their overall experience at school. If they hate school, they will not be successful. Students who are less involved tend to enjoy school less, and are less successful students. Those who play sports, an instrument in the school band, participate in a club, or act in the school play tend to love school. They are connected with the campus and other students. They feel like they belong to something bigger than themselves. Furthermore, their participation in extracurricular activities requires them to maintain their grades (at our school a 2.0 GPA is the minimum). One of the beefs I have with NCLB and the Content Standards are the lack of recognition for the importance of extracurricular activities.
Unfortunately, not all students can participate in everything a school can offer. For some, the only time they can spend on campus is during the school day, moving hourly between our classrooms. So the experience of every student in each one of our classrooms is vitally important. If students think that you don’t care about them personally (and no, caring personally about students is not in the job description) then many of them will not strive to achieve. Already faced with learning disabilities, problems at home, and very few successful scholastic experiences, they will simply shut down and fail. They will hate school. They won’t achieve, they won’t learn, they won’t succeed, and all your time and effort invested in teaching will go without positive constructive results. We can’t do the work for them, we can’t change their lives off-campus, but we can make their experiences in our classrooms positive, useful, and even educational.
Please post your comments below.
January 01, 2006
December 25, 2005
How to motivate the students?
There are many effective strategies that can be used to motivate students, probably as many as there are teachers. But what will work for the students you have to teach? That depends on what kind of people the students are. Most kids are not internally motivated (neither are most adults). Those who already see the value in a successful scholastic experience are not a problem for the teacher or tutor responsible for preparing them. But then, those aren’t the ones who need our help.
A Google search on student motivation reveals this: search results.
A colleague of mine, Stephen Caperton, who has experience preparing and motivating students for the SAT wrote this:
“One of the things I point out to student is that the SAT counts for a third or more of college admissions just a little under GPA. Then I point out that it takes thousands of hours to create a GPA, and several hundreds of hours to change your GPA, while you can prepare for the SAT in about 80 hours spread over a month or two. Secondly I find that many students think that the SAT is a test that you can't prepare for or that it is tough. I then point out that the most advanced math is basic algebra, and almost every math problem can be solved using arithmetic. The key to doing well is understanding the question which takes a little bit of retraining to translate the questions.”
For me it’s a question of motivated teachers. A motivated teacher will motivate students, even those who don’t want to play along. Motivation and enthusiasm for learning is infectious. A teacher who is passionate about learning will attract the attention of their students. The students begin to appreciate and get caught up in the teacher’s joy in the process. Soon, they too are motivated to succeed. The reverse is equally true, a crabby, jaded, apathetic instructor will do little more than confirm the students’ suspicions that school “sucks” and that being educated is neither important nor worth their time. The teacher’s job is to light the fire for learning within the student. How can a teacher light a fire when his or her own was snuffed out long ago?
But simply being fired up is not enough. Teachers face a challenge today that is unlike any in the past. We must educate ALL students to success. ALL? Yep. How? How do you motivate someone who hates you because you want to help them? How do teach algebra to a students who can’t add? How do you guide a pupil through a series of clearly defined steps when the pupil can’t read the instructions? This is the world we teach in. Sadly, there is no single one-size-fits-all answer. The military is very success at motivating soldiers, all types of soldiers, to do all types of jobs. Why can’t public education do the same thing? Why can’t we be as effective? Well, the military is voluntary, one must sign up to be motivated, which would indicate a certain base level of motivation to start with. Public education is a requirement. Kids must go, whether they, or their parents, are motivated to do so, or not.
One place to start is by focusing on the student’s belief in themselves. Some of our kids have been severely knocked around by life. Metaphorically speaking, many are bruised and some are still bleeding. Their self-esteem is in single digits, and they just don’t believe that they are going to be successful at school, or even at life. It’s an epidemic in some groups. Can teachers overcome the failure disease? Well, the more opportunities we can create for students to experience success, even the smallest opportunities, is a start. I’ve written about spoon-feeding. We must understand that many of our students have grown up without a strong foundation. They lack the basics from proper nutrition, to a consistent place to sleep. It’s hard to be motivated when you’re hungry and exhausted. Many schools now offer free-food programs, but I’m not aware of any overnight on-campus shelters. The classroom teachers needs to be able to focus on teaching the lessons, but understanding these deeper issues can help us make appropriate adjustments.
Students need to know that you are a real human being, and that you genuinely care for their own well-being. Learning their names quickly and using their names frequently seems like an obvious start, but you may be surprised by how many teachers never take the time to do even that. Asking the students about themselves, focusing assignments that help them discover and develop who they are as people can be very effective. It is possible for students to use themselves as a focus, and yet still teach them the standards. Once the students begin to develop a finer sense of self, the next step is challenging them to service. I was recently reminded of an assignment I use to give seniors to go out and perform 20 random acts of kindness. I believe that the more we serve others, the more we invest in ourselves, and the greater becomes our self-esteem.
Developing relationships with parents is also a very effective motivator for kids. If the students know that you, their teacher, connect regularly with their parents, they will be more likely to be more cautious and make better decisions. Email is so easy. I currently teach over 200 students. No, I have not established relationships with every parent. But I have made connections with the parents of many of the students I have who are struggling. Our conversations are not always positive, but they are always constructive. It’s good for parents to know that you truly care about their children.
The bottom line is that your students must understand that you, their teacher, mean it. You mean it when you say, “how are you doing?” You mean it when you say, “you can pass this class if you work hard and complete your assignments on time.” You mean it when you say, “I will be there for you when you need my help.” The students are a blessing in our lives; we need to treat them that way.
For further discussion please check out this post.
Please post your comments below.
A Google search on student motivation reveals this: search results.
A colleague of mine, Stephen Caperton, who has experience preparing and motivating students for the SAT wrote this:
“One of the things I point out to student is that the SAT counts for a third or more of college admissions just a little under GPA. Then I point out that it takes thousands of hours to create a GPA, and several hundreds of hours to change your GPA, while you can prepare for the SAT in about 80 hours spread over a month or two. Secondly I find that many students think that the SAT is a test that you can't prepare for or that it is tough. I then point out that the most advanced math is basic algebra, and almost every math problem can be solved using arithmetic. The key to doing well is understanding the question which takes a little bit of retraining to translate the questions.”
For me it’s a question of motivated teachers. A motivated teacher will motivate students, even those who don’t want to play along. Motivation and enthusiasm for learning is infectious. A teacher who is passionate about learning will attract the attention of their students. The students begin to appreciate and get caught up in the teacher’s joy in the process. Soon, they too are motivated to succeed. The reverse is equally true, a crabby, jaded, apathetic instructor will do little more than confirm the students’ suspicions that school “sucks” and that being educated is neither important nor worth their time. The teacher’s job is to light the fire for learning within the student. How can a teacher light a fire when his or her own was snuffed out long ago?
But simply being fired up is not enough. Teachers face a challenge today that is unlike any in the past. We must educate ALL students to success. ALL? Yep. How? How do you motivate someone who hates you because you want to help them? How do teach algebra to a students who can’t add? How do you guide a pupil through a series of clearly defined steps when the pupil can’t read the instructions? This is the world we teach in. Sadly, there is no single one-size-fits-all answer. The military is very success at motivating soldiers, all types of soldiers, to do all types of jobs. Why can’t public education do the same thing? Why can’t we be as effective? Well, the military is voluntary, one must sign up to be motivated, which would indicate a certain base level of motivation to start with. Public education is a requirement. Kids must go, whether they, or their parents, are motivated to do so, or not.
One place to start is by focusing on the student’s belief in themselves. Some of our kids have been severely knocked around by life. Metaphorically speaking, many are bruised and some are still bleeding. Their self-esteem is in single digits, and they just don’t believe that they are going to be successful at school, or even at life. It’s an epidemic in some groups. Can teachers overcome the failure disease? Well, the more opportunities we can create for students to experience success, even the smallest opportunities, is a start. I’ve written about spoon-feeding. We must understand that many of our students have grown up without a strong foundation. They lack the basics from proper nutrition, to a consistent place to sleep. It’s hard to be motivated when you’re hungry and exhausted. Many schools now offer free-food programs, but I’m not aware of any overnight on-campus shelters. The classroom teachers needs to be able to focus on teaching the lessons, but understanding these deeper issues can help us make appropriate adjustments.
Students need to know that you are a real human being, and that you genuinely care for their own well-being. Learning their names quickly and using their names frequently seems like an obvious start, but you may be surprised by how many teachers never take the time to do even that. Asking the students about themselves, focusing assignments that help them discover and develop who they are as people can be very effective. It is possible for students to use themselves as a focus, and yet still teach them the standards. Once the students begin to develop a finer sense of self, the next step is challenging them to service. I was recently reminded of an assignment I use to give seniors to go out and perform 20 random acts of kindness. I believe that the more we serve others, the more we invest in ourselves, and the greater becomes our self-esteem.
Developing relationships with parents is also a very effective motivator for kids. If the students know that you, their teacher, connect regularly with their parents, they will be more likely to be more cautious and make better decisions. Email is so easy. I currently teach over 200 students. No, I have not established relationships with every parent. But I have made connections with the parents of many of the students I have who are struggling. Our conversations are not always positive, but they are always constructive. It’s good for parents to know that you truly care about their children.
The bottom line is that your students must understand that you, their teacher, mean it. You mean it when you say, “how are you doing?” You mean it when you say, “you can pass this class if you work hard and complete your assignments on time.” You mean it when you say, “I will be there for you when you need my help.” The students are a blessing in our lives; we need to treat them that way.
For further discussion please check out this post.
Please post your comments below.
December 21, 2005
Why do students get “left behind”?
Teachers, administrators, parents, and most importantly, the students themselves all play a role in the life of a child who gets lost in the curriculum, and left behind to fail. (I would suppose that grade school is different than high school, so please understand that I am writing from the perspective of a high school teacher.) After many years in the classroom watching a handful of students each year fail my courses, I’ve come to the conclusion that some students will fail despite the best efforts of their teachers. A student’s success is based on more that simply whether or not the teacher does a “good job” in the classroom.
Teachers are not solely responsible for the failure or success of their students. The same lesson taught by the same teacher in the same classroom during the same hour to two different students will produce different results. What makes the difference? The student. The preparation of the student, whether or not they are prepared for the lesson at hand, and the dedication of the student, their attendance habits and their commitment to their own success make a larger difference than the lesson, teacher, or setting. Assuming this is true, what can a teacher do to ensure the student’s success? Nothing will absolutely work for every student the same way, which is why teaching is both an art and a science.
The teacher’s job is to reach out to and deliver instruction to whatever students appear on their roster. This requires the teacher to be creative in both their personal approach to the classroom and their teaching methodology. Today’s students often refuse to work for teachers they do not trust, or cannot relate to. Once upon a time a teacher could stand at the bully pulpit and preach away. It was the pupil’s responsibility to understand and interpret what they heard. There was little instructor/student interaction and it was not the teacher’s responsibility to change. This is no longer a successful teaching model.
More and more we teachers find ourselves serving as not only instructors in the lives of our students, but also as counselors, friends, and sometimes, substitute parents. The modern instructor/student relationship would be considered irregular and inappropriate 50 years ago. Yet here we are. With so much being asked of teachers it’s easy to understand that we get tired, cranky, and exhausted of juggling so many different roles and responsibilities when all we were “hired” to do was teach. But today’s teachers are more than simply instructors, we are mentors who receive less respect than we deserve and at the same time are asked to raise an entire generation. The parents who should be raising their own children are too busy working 80 hour a week jobs and negotiating custody schedules. But where else are struggling parents to turn for help with their kids? Television? Professional athletes? Other struggling parents?
Teachers do not leave students behind, parents do. However the parents are not the ones held accountable by the government, teachers are. I am not blasting parents, but rather pointing out that when a child falls behind in class it is not because of lack of instruction, but rather because of lack of participation by the student and their family. In my classroom, the only students who fail are those who do not participate either through poor attendance, or through lack of follow-through on assignments (they don’t complete or turn in their work). These students receive very little support at home for either doing their homework or even going to school at all. Parents are too busy to help their kids with homework because they are working to support their child’s education? Or is it to pay off the credit card debt, or the boat loan, or make the alimony payments? Sounds so judgmental. There are plenty of exceptions to what I am describing here. But I have participated in too may Student Study Team meetings with too many parents of struggling kids who are clearly overwhelmed by life and the choices they (the parents) have made. Time for their kids? Not today. So their kids, knowing their parents don’t place them at or even near the top of their personal priority lists react by not placing themselves or their scholastic success at the top of their own personal priority lists. Phone, friends, xbox, getting high, and random silliness all place higher than schoolwork. And so they fail and get left behind.
The current educational environment is focused on making changes in the school day to help aid student success. Teachers and administrators committed to improving test scores and graduation ratios are making progress. But this is not enough. It’s not even the right fight. Until we win the battle at home, the scuffles in the classroom will continue to be ugly bloodbaths where those who would otherwise excel are ignored while those who are in the greatest need are given undo attention. Undo? Well, they do need our help, but so do “our best and brightest.” Aren’t they all “our best and brightest?” They should be. But until students are equally prepared not only at school but at home as well, there will be no equity in achievement. The current belief is that “all can learn, all can achieve.” I support that. However the truth is that not all will learn or achieve at the same level, or at the same pace. If we educators continue to focus all of our resources on compensating for what is not going on at home, then we are failing a different population of our students, and ultimately, our global society.
I am not suggesting that we leave anyone behind. What we need is RADICAL reform and change to our public education system and our societal values. Here in California we have a high population of second language learners, and a high population of students not performing well on their standardized test? Connection? You decide. We need to meet the needs of all of our kids regardless of who they are. But instead of demonizing the teachers for environmental factors outside our realm of influence, we need to look beyond the classroom for support. Changes need to be made in our society that demand that family units stay intact, that kids are a much higher priority, and that education is not a dumping ground full of baby sitters, but an institution for improving all our students, our world, and our futures thats given a fighting chance to leave no one behind.
Teachers are not solely responsible for the failure or success of their students. The same lesson taught by the same teacher in the same classroom during the same hour to two different students will produce different results. What makes the difference? The student. The preparation of the student, whether or not they are prepared for the lesson at hand, and the dedication of the student, their attendance habits and their commitment to their own success make a larger difference than the lesson, teacher, or setting. Assuming this is true, what can a teacher do to ensure the student’s success? Nothing will absolutely work for every student the same way, which is why teaching is both an art and a science.
The teacher’s job is to reach out to and deliver instruction to whatever students appear on their roster. This requires the teacher to be creative in both their personal approach to the classroom and their teaching methodology. Today’s students often refuse to work for teachers they do not trust, or cannot relate to. Once upon a time a teacher could stand at the bully pulpit and preach away. It was the pupil’s responsibility to understand and interpret what they heard. There was little instructor/student interaction and it was not the teacher’s responsibility to change. This is no longer a successful teaching model.
More and more we teachers find ourselves serving as not only instructors in the lives of our students, but also as counselors, friends, and sometimes, substitute parents. The modern instructor/student relationship would be considered irregular and inappropriate 50 years ago. Yet here we are. With so much being asked of teachers it’s easy to understand that we get tired, cranky, and exhausted of juggling so many different roles and responsibilities when all we were “hired” to do was teach. But today’s teachers are more than simply instructors, we are mentors who receive less respect than we deserve and at the same time are asked to raise an entire generation. The parents who should be raising their own children are too busy working 80 hour a week jobs and negotiating custody schedules. But where else are struggling parents to turn for help with their kids? Television? Professional athletes? Other struggling parents?
Teachers do not leave students behind, parents do. However the parents are not the ones held accountable by the government, teachers are. I am not blasting parents, but rather pointing out that when a child falls behind in class it is not because of lack of instruction, but rather because of lack of participation by the student and their family. In my classroom, the only students who fail are those who do not participate either through poor attendance, or through lack of follow-through on assignments (they don’t complete or turn in their work). These students receive very little support at home for either doing their homework or even going to school at all. Parents are too busy to help their kids with homework because they are working to support their child’s education? Or is it to pay off the credit card debt, or the boat loan, or make the alimony payments? Sounds so judgmental. There are plenty of exceptions to what I am describing here. But I have participated in too may Student Study Team meetings with too many parents of struggling kids who are clearly overwhelmed by life and the choices they (the parents) have made. Time for their kids? Not today. So their kids, knowing their parents don’t place them at or even near the top of their personal priority lists react by not placing themselves or their scholastic success at the top of their own personal priority lists. Phone, friends, xbox, getting high, and random silliness all place higher than schoolwork. And so they fail and get left behind.
The current educational environment is focused on making changes in the school day to help aid student success. Teachers and administrators committed to improving test scores and graduation ratios are making progress. But this is not enough. It’s not even the right fight. Until we win the battle at home, the scuffles in the classroom will continue to be ugly bloodbaths where those who would otherwise excel are ignored while those who are in the greatest need are given undo attention. Undo? Well, they do need our help, but so do “our best and brightest.” Aren’t they all “our best and brightest?” They should be. But until students are equally prepared not only at school but at home as well, there will be no equity in achievement. The current belief is that “all can learn, all can achieve.” I support that. However the truth is that not all will learn or achieve at the same level, or at the same pace. If we educators continue to focus all of our resources on compensating for what is not going on at home, then we are failing a different population of our students, and ultimately, our global society.
I am not suggesting that we leave anyone behind. What we need is RADICAL reform and change to our public education system and our societal values. Here in California we have a high population of second language learners, and a high population of students not performing well on their standardized test? Connection? You decide. We need to meet the needs of all of our kids regardless of who they are. But instead of demonizing the teachers for environmental factors outside our realm of influence, we need to look beyond the classroom for support. Changes need to be made in our society that demand that family units stay intact, that kids are a much higher priority, and that education is not a dumping ground full of baby sitters, but an institution for improving all our students, our world, and our futures thats given a fighting chance to leave no one behind.
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