I can handle the battle against standardization. I can deal with the fact that beauracrats treat me as if I am not a professional. However, I am sitting here grading assessments and feeling depressed.
Part one of the assessment is a paragraph response. Most kids nail this part and do a decent job defending their answers. I feel, at this point, that I am succeeding at my goal of developing critical thinkers. Part two of the test is a concept map. One out of three students fails this entirely, making me wonder if I did a piss poor job teaching the American Revolution, or if kids are not very good at creating maps. Either way, I feel down about it. Unlike other subjects, I have no opportunity to re-teach past information.
I'm wondering if I am trying to do too much, with the murals and the community service, the websites and the documentaries. Perhaps I am not teaching the information well. Maybe I'm trying to go with the higher level thinking without attempting to see if students understand the basic concepts.
Which leads me to my second point. I am considering teaching self-contained, which means I would teach a class of thirty students for all subjects. Although I am not crazy about math, I like the idea of setting my own classroom schedule, being creative about grouping and feeling like I know students well. I want to know how each student learns on an individual level rather than feeling like I am perfecting a daily sales pitch. It means that, in the long run, I might end up teaching in the fifth or sixth grade.
So, that's where I am in my thinking right now. Any thoughts?
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
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The views of this blog are those of the author only . . . and a few people crazy enough to agree with him. They do not in any way represent those of the Cartwright School District or its staff. If you find something offensive, please e-mail me at socialvoice@gmail.com and we'll engage in a respectful dialogue.
3 comments:
Funny you should post about this. I know where you are coming from. I teach gifted kids (top 1%) and yesterday we started a curriculum on inventors. After an introduction 6th grade students were to pick an obscure inventor, research by reading three websites, writing two paragraphs and including 2 pictures. It took some of them over 2 and a half hours!! Remember these are the brightest kids in their schools! I couldn't believe it, my co-teacher and I brainstormed the problem and came up with some possible reasons.
1. Scripted reading and math programs (preparing for high stakes testing and state assessments) have turned kids brains to mush.
2. Kids cannot think for themselves because they have not been given opportunities in the classroom.
3. They can't think in higher levels synthesis, analysis and evaluation-- aren't given enough practice in earlier grades.
4. They can't type, keyboarding time has gone out of favor since so much reading and math is being taught. Many do not know how to save an image, and wrap text around it.
5. Student assignments are formulatic with everybody doing the exact same things.
6. They can't focus--this is part of our classes' problem. When given the freedom to explore on their own they have no skills to get down to work.
That's all we came up with but I'm sure you are seeing the same thing. I didn't mean to imply that this is the situation in your classroom but that you are feeling the past "mistakes".
Self contained at 5th and 6th is good, you'd like it. Read Teach Like Your Hair's On Fire by Rafe Esquith. It will make you realize what is possible. Later N
Hey there,
I've been reading your blog for awhile, but I've never been compulsed to comment until now.
I teach advanced ninth grade English in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Throughout the year, I struggle with myself throughout the year on what is "important" to teach- basics of composition and literature or a more upper-level analysis of writing and texts. I side heavily in this class towards the higher order thinking skills. I wonder constantly if I'm neglecting basic skills that my students may or may not have yet.
I take solice in the fact that by the end of the year, my students can read a difficult text and not only understand it, but make connections to their lives. They can see the characters in the novels and discuss if they are accurate gender or race portrayals. They can watch movies and tv with a critical eye rather than just with an entertainment one.
I've been truly inspired by what you write in here. I teach a few social studies classes throughout the day as well, and I would say that community service is exactly what is at the heart of social studies standards. Are we trying to teach students names, dates, and events that bog them down with homework that they have no connection with? I hope that the goal of any social studies education (or any American education for that matter) would be to produce engaged citizens. Students that understand history to the point that so they know where they fit in, so that they can understand how their story is part of the larger American narrative.
The type of learning that you describe going on in your classroom exceeds that expectation 100 fold. If more teachers shared your passion for enabling students to be active in their communities, we wouldn't have students that disengaged from school-- they would recognize their place in it as a larger social tapestry.
I guess my point is keep doing what you're doing. Keep engaging with your kids on a truly meaningful level. Your passion is contagious.
-Pete
i struggle similarly in regard to higher level thinking. i feel that i brush too quickly over basic concepts, and then get frustrated when students fail at higher level thinking (analysis, etc). so, i'm making a conscious effort to spend time on basic concepts, assessing to be sure that students grasp those concepts, and then moving on to the higher level thinking. after all, i'm sure they get just as frustrated as i do.
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