Gosh that was a great video, and I was definitely in need of some inspiration today!! I am noticing throughout all my classes that my students are stifled. They are terrified to make mistakes, which leads to them demanding answers instead of taking responsibility for their own learning. It kills me when I ask them to hypothesize or tell me what they think about something, and they won't say anything because they might be wrong. The classroom just seems like a place where students are on a one-way path toward the goal of getting a good grade, and not interested in actually developing and growing. The video said it correctly, education is preoccupied with certain types of abilities, and that type of education is failing. Students cannot like science if they are so stressed into memorizing information that they can't make relevant to their lives. It is sad!
As one teacher, I can help my students deal with the issues facing them. I want so badly to take emphasis off getting the good grade, and place it where it should be--learning and growing from mistakes. Students should have the opportunity to correct their work...that's how science is done! Students should have the opportunity to deal with information in a variety of ways so they can find out what learning style works best for them. A teacher should be the gardener that he was talking about...creating the conditions in which growth can occur and then watching it happen. I have seen this week how teaching can be a thankless job, and I've left school a few times wondering if I can really do anything real for these kids. We have to remember that we're not stumbling into this profession, we're doing this because we're good at it and we care. And students might not be able to recognize the value of their education now, but they will some day!
I sgree with you and your take on how the video described education as being preoccupied with certain types of abilities. I have the same response in my classes when the students are asked about "what they think" or "what will happen in the lab". All they care about is the correct answer. They over-look the thinking process and most often will whisper what they think. I have found that calling on anyone I even hear a whisper out of when I ask questions will show the students that I am not judging them based on their answers and I am curious as to what they think.
ReplyDeleteI like what you said about students having the opportunity to correct their work. Are you using any strategies for allowing students to correct assignments in your placement?
I actually have the opposite problem. My students have no problem saying something wrong, partially because my ct has done a really good job of establishing a supportive classroom, and also due to the fact that they have no problem saying the first thing that comes out of their mouths because it is wrong. I try to tie what we're learning to previous information but many days it seems like they loose the idea in the 5 minutes between when we work the concept out for the first time and when I tie that concept back in with a later idea.
ReplyDeleteIt's frustrating to be exhausting ourselves to give our students the best lesson and they seem to not care. I know they have so many things to deal with, things I can't even comprehend, but I just wish they knew how much we care about their futures.
I waffle many times each week about whether or not I have the skills to give my students the education they deserve. I'm still working on that while trying my best to find the best activities and remembering that being the best teacher I can be is exactly what the students need.
My students are not afraid to answer, but they just don't bother to answer. Some of students finish the activity sheets and they just don't turn in, because they don't want to walk to the box where they usually turn in their work. Some of students look puzzled when I asked them to write their opinion. They were asking me if they were getting graded on correction and completion. Although there are some lazy students, a lot of my students are concerned about their grade. I wish we could give something other than grades, so students can enjoy what they're learning, but how else will we evaluate or assess their learning? Also, the SOLs and college entrance exams just get the students to focus on the grades. Numerical result for their knowledge kind of puts some students in disadvantage of thinking of whether they will get the correct answer or not. We can't really do anything major, but giving some non-graded work that students could enjoy in classrooms might help the students get a little less stressed about the correctness of the work.
ReplyDeleteI teach three sections of biology. Two are college biology and one is honors. The honors class is very concerned about their grades. (Grades where part of the criteria for the students to be accepted into the honor's program). As a result of their attention to their grades, many have A's. The other day, however, we did a lab in class. In the two college sections of biology students were looking in microscopes and enjoying themselves of comparing and contrasting the moss. In the honor's class, some students never even looked inside the microscope. Not once! What are they learning by just coping some answer down? If this was my classroom, I would have not given those students credit at all.
ReplyDeleteI agree students should be exposed to a variety of learning styles, but what about when that isn't enough? I have students who stay up until the am playing video games, and so they sleep in class. What am I supposed to do? After days spent trying to keep them awake and telling them to go to bed earlier, I've given up. I'm afraid that "some day" may be too late for them to appreciate their education.
ReplyDeleteMy experience is that my seniors are thinking about the information. They are quick to tell me when none of the answers are correct for a test question (which is awkward when they're right and the teacher's wrong btw). I had them do a creative writing assignment and the response was wonderful. My point is, though it may be challenging at first to get them used to thinking about more than the answers, it's doable. When you have your own class, you will be able to spend the majority of the school year (after the first few months) teaching as you wish. Teachers just need to be aware of this teaching style and implement it and hopefully we'll see change.
I agree, if these students were exposed to the learning style I'm encouraging at the beginning of the school year, I would have completely different reactions. We are all creatures of habit, and these students do not want to go outside their comfort levels, but we can't really fault them for that. They've had the same teacher and way of doing things all year, why should they want to change it so I can get my experience?
ReplyDeleteAnd I've seen through a lot of our responses that we're running into students who just won't take their education seriously. I think we need to realize that appreciation of education is a really abstract idea and the kids just won't grasp it until later. I definitely didn't. My students whine and complain about a lot of what I have them do, but I'm trying to learn not to take that personally, because they're going to whine about everything. I just taught a lesson right before break that I thought they would hate because there was a lot of work (arts and crafts mostly) involved, and they want to be spoon fed. They acted like they were annoyed at first but most responded really well and put in so much effort. I was so pleasantly surprised. Even if these kids aren't showing us outwardly that they are benefiting from what we are doing, I believe that they are. It's a thankless job, that is for sure.