Tuesday, November 14, 2006
Students Teach the Teacher
Many people do not have high expectations for at-risk students. They are seen as delinquent, low-achieving students by teachers, advisors, administration, their peers, and even themselves. However, when positively challenged and held to high expectations, these students can excel beyond all expectations, tackling literature one their own and bringing themselves to the text. As teacher Kay McSpadden learned from her at-risk students, if you have high expectations they may just surprise you.
My other class of seniors, a group of at-risk students with various learning disabilities, are not only reteaching me the importance of seeing students as individuals, but they are challenging me to see beyond their limitations. Though none of them are fluent readers, all of them are tackling the daunting British literature textbook with reasonable grace and good humor.
Their difficulty interpreting written text can make them appear dull and lazy, but in fact each one -- even the most handicapped -- is a capable thinker. On a recent essay test about Shakespeare's "Much Ado About Nothing," for example, I asked them to speculate about why one of the main characters, Beatrice, turns down the prince's proposal of marriage. Some echoed what Beatrice herself implies, that she is not in the same class as the prince, but many also included their opinion that, contrary what Beatrice says, she is still in love with another man, something we had not discussed as a class but which Beatrice's later actions confirm.
Most poignant of all was one girl's response. During the test she raised her hand and called me over to take issue with the question. She was hunched over in her desk, sniffling with one of her frequent colds, bundled in the same torn clothes she wears every other day.
"This part of the play isn't realistic," she said, and when I asked her what she meant, she went on. "No poor person like Beatrice is going to turn down marriage to a rich person like a prince."
As demonstrated in the article, looking beyond limitations and setting high expectations for these students helps prevent the self-fulfilling prophecy of low expectations. These students thrive with expectations and when held to these they will meet them. As McSpadden learned and re-learned herself, people need to see these students as individuals, not as their label. Labels can shut down learning; however, if generally treated like any other student in regards to expectations, these students will not fall short.
This was demonstrated to McSpadden by her sniffling test taker. This student read and understood the text and felt empowered enough to draw her own conclusions and question the text. Similarly, the rest of the class commented on textual evidence alone as well as drawing their own conclusions beyond the text. These kids can get it; and not only can they get it, they can do things with literature that "regular" kids can. This shows that these kids are not their limitations.
I have seen this first hand through my volunteer experience with at-risk students. You get what you ask for from these kids. If you don't expect much, you don't get much. However, when held to high expectations, as much as they grumble, these kids will meet your expectations. I've seen countless times where I've worked on papers with my at-risk juniors and seniors at Orion that are mediocre. With a little discussion about what they've written and what they are capable of writing, both their skill level and for the assignment, they give me more in the second draft.
By keeping the lessons that McSpadden learns over and over again every year in mind, educators can do more with the students who are mis-labeled as incompetent. Many things are done in the name of at-risk students, but maybe the biggest thing educators can do for them is to expect from them what they would expect from any other student.
Article from:
McSpadden, Kay. "Students teach the teacher." The Charlotte Observer. 7 October 2006. 14 November 2006 http://www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/news/opinion/15701249.htm>.
My other class of seniors, a group of at-risk students with various learning disabilities, are not only reteaching me the importance of seeing students as individuals, but they are challenging me to see beyond their limitations. Though none of them are fluent readers, all of them are tackling the daunting British literature textbook with reasonable grace and good humor.
Their difficulty interpreting written text can make them appear dull and lazy, but in fact each one -- even the most handicapped -- is a capable thinker. On a recent essay test about Shakespeare's "Much Ado About Nothing," for example, I asked them to speculate about why one of the main characters, Beatrice, turns down the prince's proposal of marriage. Some echoed what Beatrice herself implies, that she is not in the same class as the prince, but many also included their opinion that, contrary what Beatrice says, she is still in love with another man, something we had not discussed as a class but which Beatrice's later actions confirm.
Most poignant of all was one girl's response. During the test she raised her hand and called me over to take issue with the question. She was hunched over in her desk, sniffling with one of her frequent colds, bundled in the same torn clothes she wears every other day.
"This part of the play isn't realistic," she said, and when I asked her what she meant, she went on. "No poor person like Beatrice is going to turn down marriage to a rich person like a prince."
As demonstrated in the article, looking beyond limitations and setting high expectations for these students helps prevent the self-fulfilling prophecy of low expectations. These students thrive with expectations and when held to these they will meet them. As McSpadden learned and re-learned herself, people need to see these students as individuals, not as their label. Labels can shut down learning; however, if generally treated like any other student in regards to expectations, these students will not fall short.
This was demonstrated to McSpadden by her sniffling test taker. This student read and understood the text and felt empowered enough to draw her own conclusions and question the text. Similarly, the rest of the class commented on textual evidence alone as well as drawing their own conclusions beyond the text. These kids can get it; and not only can they get it, they can do things with literature that "regular" kids can. This shows that these kids are not their limitations.
I have seen this first hand through my volunteer experience with at-risk students. You get what you ask for from these kids. If you don't expect much, you don't get much. However, when held to high expectations, as much as they grumble, these kids will meet your expectations. I've seen countless times where I've worked on papers with my at-risk juniors and seniors at Orion that are mediocre. With a little discussion about what they've written and what they are capable of writing, both their skill level and for the assignment, they give me more in the second draft.
By keeping the lessons that McSpadden learns over and over again every year in mind, educators can do more with the students who are mis-labeled as incompetent. Many things are done in the name of at-risk students, but maybe the biggest thing educators can do for them is to expect from them what they would expect from any other student.
Article from:
McSpadden, Kay. "Students teach the teacher." The Charlotte Observer. 7 October 2006. 14 November 2006 http://www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/news/opinion/15701249.htm>.
// posted by Julie L. Lenhart @ 12:13 PM 
