Deeply disappointed in my bunch right now, but I understand that they need another 3 weeks at least before they settle down. Got about 2 1/2 hours worth of work out of them...the rest of time was a waste of time. Why are our Black children sooooo determined to fail? They are such smart kids, but I cannot give them what I have ot offer if they are not receptive. Too disappointed to go into detail, will save it for a special Saturday post. I keep hearing I am doing a wonderful job, but it feels like I am failing right now.
The bright spot is the girl NA. This little girl is so sharp, in a way the others will take years to reach. I can ask a question in a way that is meant to get the kids to really think, and from all but her I get this " Du-oh" Homer Simpson like reaction. But this little girl will stop, think, you can see the wheels spinning and she engages her critical thinking mode and always comes up with the word and answer I am looking for. Amazing, really amazing. The question is how do I get the others to do the same? And a lot of it is my fault, I think. I expect too much, but I know that are smart. However, I cannot find that tap, that spigot, that doorknob that I can turn and make them realize what I have to offer. Right now i am just a challenge, they want to see how much they can get away with. It's disheartening, but I know I have to just keep going. I cannot at this point even employ any out of the box strategies because they just won't get it! Not because they are dumb, but because they don't want to.
Fern you will have bad days and good days. You are a great teacher and a great person. These kids will remember you. You believe in them and not every teacher believes in their kids. Hang in there my friend, I am proud of you!
ReplyDeleteI remember 4th grade fondly because I was in love with my teacher's son, who was in my grade. My mother never approved because they were Jehovah's Witnesses. But that's another story...I remember 4th grade being about bragging because I'd been to Disneyland and I first became aware of my "wardrobe," but it was when my teacher showed us he was smarter than we were that I first came to respect him. How did he do that? Simple, he had us fold a piece of paper into thirds, then we had to draw each third of a picture of an animal on one third of the page and pass it down, so by the time we finished we had, for example, the head of a giraffe on the body of a Lion on the tale of a Dolphin. We all thought it was really cool!
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