About Me

Name: Waski_the_Squirrel
Biography
Loading...

Create Your Own Blog Find Other Townhall Blogs

Comments

Archives

Search

Children in the Real World

Posted by Waski_the_Squirrel on Monday, September 29, 2008 11:21:06 PM
Parents and schools are stuck with two contradictory responsibilities. On the one hand, we need to protect our charges. On the other hand, we must prepare them to face the real world and all of its challenges.

If we insulate them too much, they will not be ready for the world. They will never develop maturity, inner strength, confidence, and the ability to think long-term. If we don't protect them, they are eaten alive by a world they aren't yet equipped to handle.

The trick is to prepare them in an age-appropriate way. This is also the challenge. It's even more of a challenge because each child is an individual with different strengths and weaknesses.

Today I had a student who grew angry with me because I asked him to put his cell phone away in class. This has happened before and I have begun documenting it. A couple weeks worth of records should illustrate the problem to an adult. To him, there is the moment. He claimed that it's not my problem if he doesn't listen. Now, I don't argue with students, so the discussion stalled right there.

Here is the truth: an adult recognizes tradeoffs and consequences. I may choose not to correct papers one night. I am well aware that my work will be double tomorrow night or that something may come up tomorrow night that makes the situation worse. For this reason, I rarely put off work. The child wants to do something now and then is shocked at the consequences. As adults, we make good choices for our children when they won't make good choices.

This particular student is right that he bears the responsibility to learn. He seems to have forgotten that I've been down this road with him before. Responsibility will turn to my shoulders. He won't blame his lack of attention or effort. Nor will his parents. The administrators at school will suggest that I think I'm teaching college. Also, other students will see the lack of effort on the part of one student and will follow suit. Then they will be surprised at the consequences.

Rather than allow it to snowball, it's a lot easier to stop it now. Let him be angry. As an adult he may come back and thank me for caring enough about him to stop him doing what he wants. I'll wait.

Email ItEmail It | Print ItPrint It | CommentsComments (0) | TrackbacksTrackbacks (0) | Flag as offensiveFlag as Offensive

Improving Math

Posted by Waski_the_Squirrel on Tuesday, September 23, 2008 12:04:54 AM
It seems California is making a mistake (there's a surprise).

Recently, California decided to require that all 8th graders take Algebra 1. Like, dude, that's totally tubular! (The humor gets lost without my voice to go with it.) I can just imagine myself as an 8th grade math teacher. I think I would be ready to cry.

Some legislator or bureaucrat decided to create something brag worthy. Research, student needs be darned! They decided to require Algebra 1 because it is something to brag about. The trouble is that it may sound good, but it is not a good idea.

Not all kids are ready for Algebra 1 in 8th grade. The majority aren't. I suppose that it could be argued that this requirement will force schools to do a better job in the lower grades, but the truth is it won't. The result will be a dumbing down of Algebra 1.

North Dakota has it right. We don't require Algebra 1 in 8th grade. In fact, many schools don't even offer that as an option. Oddly enough, we score quite well on the math portion of the NAEP -- second among all the states. In fact, a recent study by the Brookings Institute has noted that 8th graders in Algebra 1 are doing worse than those who are not yet enrolled in Algebra 1.

My experience tells me that many 8th graders aren't ready for Algebra 1. They need another year of maturity or work on foundational skills. I've taught both 8th grade math and Algebra 1 (as well as some higher courses). The higher level work does no good to a student who isn't ready for it.

My thought is this: allow the student who is ready to take Algebra 1. Allow the rest some time to get ready.
Email ItEmail It | Print ItPrint It | CommentsComments (0) | TrackbacksTrackbacks (0) | Flag as offensiveFlag as Offensive

A Risk that Failed

Posted by Waski_the_Squirrel on Tuesday, September 09, 2008 2:22:41 AM
A couple of years ago, I read an article by Harry Wong that described a business teacher who used folders to great success in his class. Each student had a folder which was picked up at the start of class and returned at the end of class. They were good for attendance, for handing out papers, and for collecting papers.

The teacher put any handouts and all the work for the day in the folder. The kids picked up the folder and did the work. They were submitted in the folder. Nothing was lost and it all worked out great.

I thought this was clever, so I tried it.

Kids would forget to grab their folders. Kids would leave every single paper in their folders (so I couldn't find the new ones). Kids would claim papers were stolen from their folders. Folders had nasty stuff written on them. Kids would grab someone else's folder and hide it. The list goes on.

I felt it would be an organized way to handle papers. It was a disaster. Worse, because each paper was in a folder, I took home huge stacks of stuff because the folders added to the thickness of the piles. It was a disaster all around.

It's a small risk that failed. I'll admit that I'm not good at discussing my failures, except in general terms. Perhaps after I list a few successes in future posts, I'll build up the nerve to describe a big failure.

Remember, though, that only those who take risks will fail. Folders are a small risk and they failed, but I did learn a few things about classroom management, namely that it wasn't as good as I thought it was.

Email ItEmail It | Print ItPrint It | CommentsComments (2) | TrackbacksTrackbacks (0) | Flag as offensiveFlag as Offensive

Risk Taking

Posted by Waski_the_Squirrel on Monday, September 08, 2008 1:17:51 AM
People get rich by taking risks. People discover new opportunities by taking risks. My father discovered a wife when he took a risk and asked the shy secretary in his office to date him. People also lose all their money by taking risks. People can lose everything in a risk. That's why they're called risks. If that shy secretary had laughed and said, "I can do better than you," there would be no Waski_the_Squirrel to write this blog.

Personal

Risks involve...risk. I took a risk 10 years ago when I moved to a state I'd never visited. It worked out quite well. 4 years ago, I took a risk and moved from a small school and town I loved to a larger town. What a disaster that was! I lasted a year and quit.

The risks added up to great things, even when bad things happened. Failure has made me stronger. I have never been a union member. That one year in a bad school helped show me why. That bad school gave me perspective for the days my current school upsets me. My risk of buying a car on a loan rather than cash taught me to pay cash for the next one.

Risks can turn out very badly, but they can also leave us as big winners. I won because I'm in a great school in a great part of a great state. I'm currently risking myself by taking on a new class: Calculus. It's a college course, so I'm doubly at risk. I may fail terribly and drag my students with me. If I succeed, I get to be an adjunct professor at a nearby university and I get to teach it to several schools next year.

Mound ChurchToday I chose to take a risk and try out a new church. It's 26 miles away, far back a gravel road, has no plumbing, and is lucky to have electricity. It may close and take all the money I tithe with it (along with my emotional investment and all the time driving bad roads). It may turn out to be the spiritual home I've been seeking for the past 4 years.

Education

Education is risk averse. Many people are attracted to education because it is a "safe" job. It's hard to be fired and it's quite predictable. It is not a profession that rewards risk-taking. In fact, risk-taking can be punished or even forbidden. Some schools go so far as to use scripts for teaching.

Therein lies the problem. A profession which fears risk may not have dramatic failures, but it won't have successes either. It will go along, do its job, and have no real impact. That is why our schools are so mediocre. The successful schools and teachers have dared to try something different.

Get out of your comfort zone. Try teaching without a textbook. Try a unique book. Try inquiry. Try something new. If you're afraid, start with a small risk. The failure (or success) will be small, but it will leave you hungry for more risk. You will succeed and you will fail. Ultimately, you will learn from both and become a far better teacher.

Your colleagues will fight you. They will harass you, threaten you, and make your life miserable. They will do everything to drag you down to a comfortable level. When you fail, they will throw it in your face. You will feel they are justified because your students will fail as well. They will make you doubt yourself. It will be so tempting to return to the mediocre and safe.

Be strong. It is only by taking risks that you will turn education around. Failure is part of success. Both are part of risk taking. In the end, you will be a leader and you will change the lives you touch for the better.

I'm hoping to look at some of my successes (and failures) over the next few entries. I want to give some specific, useful advice that other teachers can use. Some of this is going to be quite embarrassing for me.

Email ItEmail It | Print ItPrint It | CommentsComments (0) | TrackbacksTrackbacks (0) | Flag as offensiveFlag as Offensive

Focus

Posted by Waski_the_Squirrel on Thursday, September 04, 2008 12:31:48 AM
Did you ever try to help someone? While helping them, was their mind is jumping all over so much that they can't even follow what you're doing?

"See where the line crosses the y-axis..."
"Is it going to rain?"
"That's the y-intercept."
"What? You're confusing me. This is hard."
"Look at the problem we're on."
"Which problem are we on?"

I won't go into ADD or ADHD. I will go into lack of discipline and focus. It happens to the best of us. A tax example in my Calculus book lost me because I could not hold my focus. In fact, it was so bad that when I used it, it never occurred to me that two figures in the example were not related to it. Not an impressive teaching moment!

What is needed is focus. Channel your mind on the task at hand and shut out distractions. Focus requires discipline. Force those stray thoughts or distractions aside. Several things may help. Some people like music. Some like silence. One girl asked if she could sit in the back corner of my Physics class during her study hall when she has serious work to do. She's not there to flirt with the boys. She really does work! For whatever reason, my class is better for her to study than her study hall. She says it's because we're never quiet. We're actually quite interactive and rarely stay in our seats for the whole period. It works for her.

(I asked because I was concerned that her study hall had the opposite problem.)

I like music or talk radio...unless I'm doing math work or writing a test. Then I want silence. Right now, I'm listening to a sermon by Alistair Begg. When I write my Physics quiz next, I'll be sitting in a quiet house.

I hate quizzes. I hate correcting them. I hate writing them. I have to force myself. It takes discipline.

My hypothetical student above isn't really so hypothetical. I changed my words in case he reads this! His words are intact. He has trouble disciplining himself. He can't concentrate unless he has a reason. He can do amazing work when he gets a bad grade. That provides the incentive to have some self-discipline. I have known him to "text" under his desk as I try to answer a question he has asked. He wants the question answered, but he gets distracted that easily!

Why are other students able to find that self-discipline? What is in them or in their experience that creates that ability to focus?

Email ItEmail It | Print ItPrint It | CommentsComments (0) | TrackbacksTrackbacks (0) | Flag as offensiveFlag as Offensive
« Previous1Next »