Entry #17 - Jan. 11, 1999
"We tend to forget, because the students are scarcely ones
to remind us, how much many have overcome to get where they are, and that
these are survivors par excellence, with untapped possibilities that would
make your head spin."
Well, 1999 sure started with a bang! A blast of arctic weather dumped about
34 inches of snow -- just in time for the start of school on the 4th. Snow
days? Not on your life! Up here in God's Country we NEVER have schools closed
for snow.
My district brags it hasn't closed schools for snow since the Great Depression
(or something like that). Never mind if the roads are unplowed, the snow
5 feet deep -- school is open, and teachers must, repeat must, be present.
Many of my co-workers commute farther than I do -- as much as 70 miles one
way (our district covers a HUGE geographical area, with over 300,000 students)
-- but we were all there, greeting the new year with a somewhat diminished
student body. Some parents didn't feel that it was safe for their children
to walk to school in the whiteout conditions, and given that the streets
had snow piled up like the Great Wall of China, drivers would have been
hard-pressed to see youngsters crossing the street.
The break did us all good. One of my students, who has been a surly young
man with a bit of an attitude, seems positively cheerful and is actually
putting some effort into his daily assignments. The Grade 8 students are
starting to think seriously about high school now, and skills they need
to learn before then. We are devoting much of January to fairly complex
projects on geography topics that will bridge the language arts and geography
curricula, and require both a written product (with graph, chart, map, bibliography
and glossary), a model or demonstration, and an oral presentation to the
homeroom class.
After the howls of anguish subsided, the students picked topics (all related
to the earth's crust and its movements), and I am preparing to do my best
Ms. Ogress impersonation as I insist on point-form notes, organization of
information in a certain way, and so forth, in order to walk them through
the steps required to produce a product that is truly at grade level. What
other kids may have picked up at home or from friends, these students need
to be taught, have modeled, insisted on and reiterated so that in future
they will have some idea how to do a "project" on their own.
Sometimes, kids sure do surprise you! I had compiled a list of about 20
topics (related to the unit, and for which I knew we could find sufficient
source material), and included a few that were a little offbeat or less
straightforward.... meaning, a little harder to DO, as well.
One such topic was "Volcanoes: Hazards to Aircraft?" for which
there is little print material in the library, and most of the Internet
material is fairly complex. However, one girl insisted this is what she
wanted to do and she leapt right in, checking out the websites devoted to
airline safety and making notes about some hair-raising incidents involving
jumbo jets and active eruptions in Indonesian airspace. Wow! And this student
has only been in this country about a year, after suffering a complete upheaval
of home, family and more...she is finally landing on her feet and discovering
her strengths.
Six months ago she could scarcely read a word, but with dogged determination,
some decoding skills practice from me, and a LOT of effort -- she was plowing
through those navigational reports like a pro, just "bleeping"
over a word here and there! I remember her homeroom teacher telling me (he
has since changed his mind) that he didn't think she had much to work with
(he meant intellectually), and remind myself that you can never predict
when someone will suddenly "come alive."
We tend to forget, because the students are scarcely ones to remind us,
how much many have overcome to get where they are , and that these are survivors
par excellence, with untapped possibilities that would make your head spin.
Now, if only I had a magic formula for unleashing that "jump start!"
There may be no magic answers, but individual attention, interesting assignments,
and celebration of success can go a long way towards engaging these at-risk
learners! We don't do enough at our school of displaying student work, so
that other students and the community can see what the kids are doing. It
wasn't too hard to reserve some display space in the main hallway for the
kids' completed work. Knowing the world will see has some a bit more motivated
than they were before!
Meanwhile in our area generally we are staggering along trying to figure
out what schools will stay open, and what schools will close permanently.
Some people from each school, including me, were nominated to be on a committee
to develop a "Plan" for our part of the district. I sat down and
made lots of notes -- before I learned that only a few (not one per school)
will be selected.
The items that were on the suggested list of priorities that came from the
head office were all worthy things, but I was disturbed that there did not
seem to be any clear focus on improving student learning. Helping them "feel
good" is not enough. If they are making progress towards goals they
see as important, they WILL feel empowered! That's where I think our focus
should be.
But then, they may not ask me! We'll see!
Read next week's entry >>>
<<< Read last week's entry
Post a comment about this
week's diary entry
Find out more about Susan
Back to Middle School Diaries index