Session Eight Replies
Session Eight Activity Two
Robert,
I see that you answered the first question, but what happened to the rest?
Your view is different than most other people's view and I agree that she
may be a little too stuck in perfectionism, but I am not sure that is all
of it.
Sincerely,
Tara Hernandez
Robert,
Sometimes as a teacher you have no say so in what group of students you are
given, but you can control your response. The principal probably made
an error on judgement,but blasting the principal as incapable is not correct.
If the principal was incapable he would not have chosen someone who he had
seen demonstrate good teaching qualities. Maybe the principal had high
expectations for her and that should not be underrated.
Sincerely,
Tara Hernandez
Valencia,
Maybe it is just me, but I thought we were to write a letter to Joanna.
Am I wrong? Anyway, I think there is some truth in the fact that an
inexperienced teacher should not be given too many at-risk children, but
this teacher has had some experience. Joanna added to her problems
by her attitude and thoughts before she started the class.
Sincerely,
Tara Hernandez
Amanda,
You are correct that Joanna had a part in making sure her professional development
included inclusion. One thing that she could have done was to go to
a workshop on that topic. What other types of activities do you think
that she could have done?
Sincerely,
Tara Hernandez
Mikala,
Wonderful letter. I think you did an excellent job here. Joanna
could have stuck in there and one their trust. At-risk students often
are slow to trust and quick to speak or rebel. In Joanna's case the
students rebelled to see if she meant what she was saying. Thank you
for sharing.
Sincerely,
Tara Hernandez
Jennifer,
It is far too true that this situation could have been avoided and the harsh
reality is that many teachers would rather sit a student in the corner that
is at-risk than educate them. I work at a school for at-risk low-income
students who need a second chance because they made a mistake or the education
system let them down. My students are a handful and nothing could have
prepared me to work with them. At the same time, at-risk students often
have a stereotype that goes with them and that stereotype is not necessarily
true. My students need to see that I won't give up on them and that
I won't take any junk from them. I also expect that my students will
know that I truly do care and I am here for them too. Joanna did need to
hang in there and win their trust.
Sincerely,
Tara Hernandez
Session Eight Activity Three
Robert,
Wow, what an eye opener. Most of those traits characterize my students.
I never realized how bad it really is on them. What I mean is that
I knew it was bad, but I never really realized exactly how scary it truly
must be for them. Thank you for sharing.
Sincerely,
Tara Hernandez
Mikala,
Is there anything that we can do to help students break the cycle of learned
helplessness? I have several students that have been passed to be passed
and expect that many things will be done for them because they have a disability;
when in fact they are more than capable of doing it themselves.
Sincerely,
Tara Hernandez
Amanda,
What you are trying to say is that students with disabilities are those who
need extra help to complete the same work everyone else can do naturally?
I've seen some disabilities created by accidents, genetics, drugs, alcohol,
and many other ways. It was difficult for me, at first, to understand
the view that I need to have about disabilities because I was an AP student
in school. Thank you for sharing,
Tara Hernandez
Jennifer,
This topic really touches me. I grew up feeling alienated at school
and it really hurt my social skills and many of my reading and writing abilities.
Have you ever been alientated? How do you think that compares with
the alienation that is going on with today's youth?
Sincerely,
Tara Hernandez
Valencia,
I did not really consider the fact that alienated students often act out
for attention, but I realize it now. Alientated students are the ones
that are at the extremes: highly aggitated and acting out or quiet and shy.
Thank you for sharing,
Tara Hernandez
Session Eight Actvivity Four
Robert,
Far too true. I think parents often dump their children onto teachers
because they don't know how to parent. As a teacher, I think if we
have to go through training to teach, then parents should go through training
to parent. When did parenting become natural? My mom never had
her mom or dad around to teach her how a parent should be. What makes
us think that our moms and dads know how to parent if their parents were
not being good parents to them? My grandparents were involved with
the war and factories, my mom and her brothers and sisters raised themselves,
and no one knew how to raise me.
Sincerely,
Tara Hernandez
Mikala,
No way could I mirror my classes. My at-risk students heads would be
spinning. I was in AP classes and most of that material was way over
my head. My at-risk students couldn't handle that. Most of my
at-risk students are behind and only a few might be able to handle a challenge
like AP type attitudes and work. Thanks for sharing,
Tara Hernandez
Mikala,
I still sometimes say my myth and then my students turn around and disprove
it. Don't wait to see the reality or it will hurt you. I've gotten
bit a few times by the little devils. LOL.
Tara
I am not sure that I follow you here Amanda. It is possible to have
a democratic classroom set of rules. We created them and they have
worked fine for me. Maybe if you explain a little more I might be able
to see where you are coming from. Thanks for sharing,
Tara Hernandez
Jennifer,
No joke. It is overwhelming the lack of average. We have students
absent, tardy, LEP at various levels, SPED with various disabilities, TAG
at a variety of levels, and we have Pregnancy related services. My
head is spinning. By far it is a joke to think that we are ever going
to be teaching anything average and that requires that we, as teachers, are
not average. I wish my boss got that concept.
Sincerely,
Tara Hernandez
Valencia,
Students can be so disrespectful. Most teachers show respect and are
constantly being disrespected. You have a good myth here.
Thanks,
Tara Hernandez
Session Eight Activity Five
Mikala,
I love that book. That is one of my favorite books. How thoughtful
of you to bring reading into this situation.
Involvement of parents can be helpful with students if the parents are involved
in the students life. What would you do if the student's parent was
not involved and the student was taking care of everything alone? I
have a large number of students that are rough around the edges because they
have no parental guidance.
Thanks,
Tara Hernandez
Jennifer,
It is good that you see the need for the administration to be involved.
Sometimes teachers do not see the administration as a supportive role.
I know that some administrators are not always helpful, but there needs to
be a professional rapport that teachers can count on to get the help they
need to maintain the safety of the classroom environment.
Just a thought of caution, I would be careful about disciplining students
in front of other students because they sometimes feel like they have to
save face. I have had many situations with students that feed off of
other students and taking them out into the hall to discuss the situation
can help prevent embarassment.
Thank you,
Tara Hernandez
Amanda,
I like the idea of getting the student involved in finding a way to make
the class more comfortable for all students and the way you pulled in the
counselor was good too. Do you send students out of the room a lot?
My students feel like they are being ignored, like they are at home by family,
when they are sent out of the room. I have noticed that many students
get used to people not wanting to deal with them and that is why they continue
the behavior to get attention.
Thanks,
Tara Hernandez
Valencia,
Sounds like we had a similar idea in mind for Sally's behavior. I think
it is great that you would make sure that the other students see that it
is unacceptable to bully Sally in return for what bullying Sally has done.
The students need to learn that it is not okay to do to others the bad thing
that they have done to them. What a wonderful lesson!
Thank you,
Tara Hernandez
Robert,
It is great to see that you are using the information from your other classes
and putting it to good use. I have seen a system similar to the one
you are talking about in your response and it is called ARK. The ARK
program talks about how to deal with feelings and it uses positive affirmation
as the key to properly handling trouble. I have to say the affirmations
were a little bit too much, but the program seems to work.
Thank you,
Tara Hernandez
Session Eight Activity Six
Mikala,
I am worried about your school if they are not willing to show you all of
their discipline plan. Did the vice-principal state a reason why you
could only have the "hierarchy?" It would seem to reason that you should
be aware of what you are to be implementing.
Thanks for sharing,
Tara Hernandez
Jennifer,
It looks like DISD has a pretty specific plan as to dealing with discipline.
I like the way it tells you how to handle the situation and what information
should be passed from the teacher to the student. Communication is
a huge key to success in any discipline plan.
Thanks,
Tara Hernandez
Amanda,
Do you find that you have to make your own discipline plan up? You
were so right about this being vague. I wonder how the district expects
you to keep the students behavior in check. Good luck.
Thanks,
Tara Hernandez
Robert,
It is good that AISD sees that the punishment should fit the behavior.
ex. If the student is running down the hallway the student should not
be made to write sentences, but made to go back and walk. The student
will learn that breaking the rule makes things slower because of the consequences
and it it worth doing it right the first time.
Thank you for your sharing.
Sincerely,
Tara Hernandez
Valencia,
I imagine that a community college has the choice of expulsion or calling
the cops when there is bad behavior. I'm sure there is a lot less issues
with behavior because students are paying to go to school. Did you
talk with the campus security and find out if they had any experiences with
mal conduct on campus?
Thanks,
Tara Hernandez