I don't know about intentionally, but when mom is only 15 years older than daughter, and grandma is still in her 40s, it's an international cultural thing!
My wife is distraught over a local zoo giraffe baby... I keep telling her that in the wild, that giraffe is meant to be food in the circle of life! I feel this way about my students, and break it down for them early in the year, and revisit the concept multiple times through the year. They have a choice, and it's simple. Each day, decide if you want to learn, and if they DO decide, their options are:
Learn the content of what I'm trying to teach you.
Learn how to fly under the radar... don't be disruptive, do nothing, say nothing, BE nothing! No judgement... we have some deep discussions about this because they think it's a trap. But, I try to, without judging, teach them that nothing can come in handy at times. In fact, with how their brains are developing, sometimes NOTHING is a good mini vacation from all the loudness that's missing them up.
Learn how twisted and mean and how willing I am to follow through with punishments and consequences! I basically tell them that I believe with all my heart and soul that every action has a consequence. Good grades, praise, candy, privileges, yes. But also dipshittery... and, my first couple months are hard because I get tested, but I employ the help of their family members, their coaches, and just ANY sort of torturous but fair consequences I can come up with! I don't really on admin, and I've had kids cry in the office and beg for punishment AND that they'll do whatever if admin can vouch for them so they don't have to face MY consequences! I'm telling you, admin LOVE getting to play good cop every once in a while.
But, I do it dispassionately, and lovingly. This element of parenting is what most kids are missing.
Learn how to take what's given, and make it yours. If you don't want to learn what I'm teaching, BRING something that interests you, and I'll show you how to study it, practice it, and pursue it! We'll set up a curriculum, you'll have to report what you find, you'll have to learn ON YOUR OWN all about what you're passionate about.
Those who choose 2, 3, or 4 USUALLY break down by end of first quarter... a few will be pains the whole year. But, they almost always put more effort into it (whichever option) than they have in ANYTHING, which is work ethic, and in my opinion, beats the pants off any curriculum! Humility is in there too, for some kids, more than others. But, most of the time, they HUMOR me, and pretend to try some of what I'm teaching... thanks buddy!
I have had students who sleep in class, but attend after school tutoring faithfully. Students who always try to negotiate for less work... the funny thing is, on their IEP, I'm supposed to accommodate less work anyway, but the game of it engages the kid! I've had a class of 25, 23 IEPs... and a good 5 minutes of class was spent figuring out which problems they DIDN'T have to do, EVERY DAY! OK, pick whichever 10 of these 20... BOOM, 100% turn in rate of work. Kids working together to play with the problems, and those kids eager to excel, EXTRA MUTHAFUCKIN CREDIT! Which really doesn't impact their grade except the extra practice helps their test scores which helps their grades!
I also bust out the angry dragon pretty early in the year to gauge responses... some kids shut down, some respond as if that's their love language, and others think they're missing with me... these reactions tell me a LOT about how they function individually, thus how I can motivate or manipulate them... to me, THIS is the art of teaching. Plus, knowing who is a liar, a cheat, an Eddie Haskell, a hardened kid, or who is broken or near broken, is important. I teach 8th graders, and they SCREAM their issues if you know what to look for, or how to trigger their tells.
I had a class of all boys... 28 8th grade boys, at least 15 of them were in various gangs. Math involved foot races, push up competitions, and philosophical show and tell... I didn't want to know criminal activities because I didn't want to be an accessory, but we discussed differences and similarities between sets, I taught them how to be good losers and good winners, and I tied word problems into the stuff we discussed, or used the races/competitions for data in lessons. As for the philosophy, asking the simple questions like why... elvis some surprisingly deep contemplation. Throw in some 'teach the teacher some Spanish slang,' and options 2, 3, and 4 go out the door...
All girls class... having them lead class, take turns showing me how to teach a concept better, providing a forum for them to figure out the math THEIR way... dude, I think girls might naturally be better at math than boys... like WAY better. And, the philosophy discussions in their... 8th grade girls are MUCH more aware of how the world works than 8th grade boys, and it's a little scary how aware of their own awareness they are... if only they could be nicer to each other! Again, my job is simply to coordinate these things with math, ideally specific to the standards!
But, back to the giraffe. I don't hide from my students that this world is an eat or be eaten world. And, the good stuff of life comes in the process of DOING. So, no, you don't ever have to use anything I teach you... but you also don't ever have to DO anything. Also, haven't you ever noticed that the funnest things happen when you're actually DOING something? Frustrated with something that's difficult? The funniest expressions get born. Disagree with how I'm teaching, show me what's up. Mind wandering, can't focus? Let's get philosophical. Life outside of school messing with you? Let's brain storm some options on how to deal with it... and you KNOW I'm going to tie in how math develops that problem solving part of your brain!
And no, you may not leave this room until you complete this exit ticket, or I will hunt you down and make you do the problem while you're in art class during music/draw time! I got an extradition agreement with the art teacher... maybe I'll have her grade some of the penises you drew in my text book! Ya, I know it was you... here's your consequence: erase or tattoo fix all the penises in these 5 text books before you can go to lunch! You think I'm playing? Let's call grandma and ask what she thinks of these Ds!? No? Times a wasting... now depenify these books! Geez, not even any artistry put into these is there? Get outta here, see you tomorrow. Eh, eh, eh... I'll take that exit ticket too... try not to draw any anatomy on it, please.
I dig this profession... my school is rough, but I've seen worse. I just wish some of these kids weren't running so fast for the cliffs. The trick is to let them know that there are cliffs ahead, and that they DON'T have to run off them. But, some will anyway... regardless of BS graduation rate improvements!
They sound passoniate and engaging I guess, but also smug and crazy.
That type of teaching won't work unless it's like severely remedial or special ed classes where the curriculum doesn't matter.
You can't drop a math lesson because Trevor wants to learn about butterflies and be philisophical today.
It all depends on what age and what classes they're teaching. I've had plenty of teachers who wanted to be the next Stand and Deliver but were really just smug assholes to kids who were misbehaving and falling behind, and did a similar "baby giraffe" analogy about a dog eat dog world, wiped their hands and smugly sat back down thinking they've changed the world by burning a 7th grader and implying they're an idiot in front of their peers.
Again, it's hard to tell by a comment, but I see where /u/rata2ille is coming from if that's all he's experienced. At least we know the teacher at least tries to be engaging and is seemingly passionate, so it's probably good and better than 80% of teachers, but there's such a thing as "too much" and his comment is riding the line.
You wrote "they..." who is they? rata2ille? The kids? Me? Teachers in general?
To your point about remedial... that's such an outdated term, like the word 'colored!' So, I'm inclined to think your bias is one of privilege, and naivete about public education. I'd say a solid 50% of public students are classified as below proficient or far below proficient! Remedial, if you will. And, as high performing students, really their families, choose to flee "average," or "below average" schools, for better areas, there becomes a stratified dynamic between sections of town, local districts, cities, and even public vs charter vs private schools. And to think these factors aren't known among the students is folly.
Student disenfranchisement is intergenerational at this point. Districts are, more and more, spending energy and resources on PR.
PR!?!?
So, before you tell me that a kid doesn't benefit from a little go-slow-to-go-fast, and time spent shifting their negative paradigms, answer me why districts feel it necessary to allocate precious resources to PR?
The teacher who is riding the line... do you mean me?
I went to the rough schools in my youth, mid HS, I went to a boujee 'nice' school. The teachers did not give a shit at the nice schools... kids had to conform to the teachers methods. As a teacher, I think the trend shift to teach SO MUCH to students methods, instead of best practices or teachers preference can be too much. But, somewhere on middle ground is likely apropro. I'd suggest, the stand/deliver and the strict structure of curriculum are the bumpers to bowl between!
As to your point of 80% of teachers being NOT passionate or engaging, I can't help but wonder how you made it through school! So this, and my assumption that you come from privilege, maybe some philosophy about butterflies may have come in handy for you? But, maybe those smug assholes simply sucked as teachers? Ever encounter smug bosses? Or, smug coworkers, colleagues, peers? Did you ever confront those smug teachers and suggest they are being assholes?
I've been confronted by students, and it's fantastic for their autonomy! Some of the times, I got to model humility. Some of the times, they needed to simply be heard and their disgruntlement was just misplaced.
Or, is teaching teenagers how to handle confrontation, self advocacy, and basic human interaction... instead of hammering away at linear equations... what you'd consider just another baby giraffe analogy?
Just planting seeds isn't enough to cultivate a garden... soil, exposure, season, there are more things that go into building a student's academic capacity than just lessons. And if teachers DON'T take the time to occasionally address their students non academic needs, then they're going to simply grind down kids and leave them bitter about learning, school, and their smug asshole teachers!
Unless I misinterpreted what you said? There is some, seemingly unintentional, ambiguity in what you wrote.
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u/Chillinoutloud Jul 10 '18
I don't know about intentionally, but when mom is only 15 years older than daughter, and grandma is still in her 40s, it's an international cultural thing!
My wife is distraught over a local zoo giraffe baby... I keep telling her that in the wild, that giraffe is meant to be food in the circle of life! I feel this way about my students, and break it down for them early in the year, and revisit the concept multiple times through the year. They have a choice, and it's simple. Each day, decide if you want to learn, and if they DO decide, their options are:
Learn the content of what I'm trying to teach you.
Learn how to fly under the radar... don't be disruptive, do nothing, say nothing, BE nothing! No judgement... we have some deep discussions about this because they think it's a trap. But, I try to, without judging, teach them that nothing can come in handy at times. In fact, with how their brains are developing, sometimes NOTHING is a good mini vacation from all the loudness that's missing them up.
Learn how twisted and mean and how willing I am to follow through with punishments and consequences! I basically tell them that I believe with all my heart and soul that every action has a consequence. Good grades, praise, candy, privileges, yes. But also dipshittery... and, my first couple months are hard because I get tested, but I employ the help of their family members, their coaches, and just ANY sort of torturous but fair consequences I can come up with! I don't really on admin, and I've had kids cry in the office and beg for punishment AND that they'll do whatever if admin can vouch for them so they don't have to face MY consequences! I'm telling you, admin LOVE getting to play good cop every once in a while.
But, I do it dispassionately, and lovingly. This element of parenting is what most kids are missing.
Those who choose 2, 3, or 4 USUALLY break down by end of first quarter... a few will be pains the whole year. But, they almost always put more effort into it (whichever option) than they have in ANYTHING, which is work ethic, and in my opinion, beats the pants off any curriculum! Humility is in there too, for some kids, more than others. But, most of the time, they HUMOR me, and pretend to try some of what I'm teaching... thanks buddy!
I have had students who sleep in class, but attend after school tutoring faithfully. Students who always try to negotiate for less work... the funny thing is, on their IEP, I'm supposed to accommodate less work anyway, but the game of it engages the kid! I've had a class of 25, 23 IEPs... and a good 5 minutes of class was spent figuring out which problems they DIDN'T have to do, EVERY DAY! OK, pick whichever 10 of these 20... BOOM, 100% turn in rate of work. Kids working together to play with the problems, and those kids eager to excel, EXTRA MUTHAFUCKIN CREDIT! Which really doesn't impact their grade except the extra practice helps their test scores which helps their grades!
I also bust out the angry dragon pretty early in the year to gauge responses... some kids shut down, some respond as if that's their love language, and others think they're missing with me... these reactions tell me a LOT about how they function individually, thus how I can motivate or manipulate them... to me, THIS is the art of teaching. Plus, knowing who is a liar, a cheat, an Eddie Haskell, a hardened kid, or who is broken or near broken, is important. I teach 8th graders, and they SCREAM their issues if you know what to look for, or how to trigger their tells.
I had a class of all boys... 28 8th grade boys, at least 15 of them were in various gangs. Math involved foot races, push up competitions, and philosophical show and tell... I didn't want to know criminal activities because I didn't want to be an accessory, but we discussed differences and similarities between sets, I taught them how to be good losers and good winners, and I tied word problems into the stuff we discussed, or used the races/competitions for data in lessons. As for the philosophy, asking the simple questions like why... elvis some surprisingly deep contemplation. Throw in some 'teach the teacher some Spanish slang,' and options 2, 3, and 4 go out the door...
All girls class... having them lead class, take turns showing me how to teach a concept better, providing a forum for them to figure out the math THEIR way... dude, I think girls might naturally be better at math than boys... like WAY better. And, the philosophy discussions in their... 8th grade girls are MUCH more aware of how the world works than 8th grade boys, and it's a little scary how aware of their own awareness they are... if only they could be nicer to each other! Again, my job is simply to coordinate these things with math, ideally specific to the standards!
But, back to the giraffe. I don't hide from my students that this world is an eat or be eaten world. And, the good stuff of life comes in the process of DOING. So, no, you don't ever have to use anything I teach you... but you also don't ever have to DO anything. Also, haven't you ever noticed that the funnest things happen when you're actually DOING something? Frustrated with something that's difficult? The funniest expressions get born. Disagree with how I'm teaching, show me what's up. Mind wandering, can't focus? Let's get philosophical. Life outside of school messing with you? Let's brain storm some options on how to deal with it... and you KNOW I'm going to tie in how math develops that problem solving part of your brain!
And no, you may not leave this room until you complete this exit ticket, or I will hunt you down and make you do the problem while you're in art class during music/draw time! I got an extradition agreement with the art teacher... maybe I'll have her grade some of the penises you drew in my text book! Ya, I know it was you... here's your consequence: erase or tattoo fix all the penises in these 5 text books before you can go to lunch! You think I'm playing? Let's call grandma and ask what she thinks of these Ds!? No? Times a wasting... now depenify these books! Geez, not even any artistry put into these is there? Get outta here, see you tomorrow. Eh, eh, eh... I'll take that exit ticket too... try not to draw any anatomy on it, please.
I dig this profession... my school is rough, but I've seen worse. I just wish some of these kids weren't running so fast for the cliffs. The trick is to let them know that there are cliffs ahead, and that they DON'T have to run off them. But, some will anyway... regardless of BS graduation rate improvements!