Chapter 10. Going Beyond the Classroom

The chapter this passage comes from explains that students can really learn when they are given the opportunity to see things outside of the classroom. Mahogany says, “In ninth-grade science, two times a week we went out to clean up a park with a pond in it. We learned about fish and their environment” page 176.

There is nothing like combining learning with community service. There are so many great things that can come from helping other people, cleaning up the environment that you live in while learning outside of the classroom. I am very passionate about environmental issues/problems and I will enjoy taking my students outside to learn a lot about the environment. There are so many things in science that can be taught outside of the classroom. The value of helping other people can be taught inside and outside the classroom, but the important thing is, that it is taught.

Chapter 9. When Things Go Wrong

“Without giving up their human side, teachers have to put aside their fear and do the job, even as their teenaged students test them again and again.” Then Mika responds with “We’re just gonna crush your hope and pride. Teachers need to get a harder shell. After that, students won’t see that you’re scared” (page 168).

I do not think that teachers need to ‘get a harder shell’ because they are afraid that their students are going to ‘crush their hope and pride’. I think that is a terrible thing to say. You have to make yourself a littler vulnerable to your students, or else why would you want to be a teacher? You do not want to show your students that you are scared to teach, but a teacher should never be in fear of a student. If I have students that are deliberately trying to ‘crush my hope and pride’ I have chosen the wrong career. I think it is important to find the balance between the two extremes of friend and authoritarian, especially in the first few years, but there will be no student allowed in my classroom that makes me fear being there, for any reason.

Chapter 8. Teaching Teenagers Who Are Still Learning English

“My first English teacher in middle school saw me and my friend dancing and she made a class after school for us to teach samba to English-speaking kids. Teachers can make connections for us if they know what we can do” Elaine, page 135.

There are sure to be a handful of English language learners in every class or year of students. It is true with all students, as much as it is English language learners, get to know them, make connections, and allow them show off ‘their stuff’ (what they are good at, things that they like, a unique family tradition, culture difference…etc). If there is a way for your students to teach each other something, give them that outlet. I was able to teach dance in high school, not at school but at my studio and it encouraged me want to become a teacher. I love to dance and that is why this passage caught my eye.

Chapter 7. Teaching Difficult Academic Material

“When things in the textbook seem really boring, do activities that force us to get involved and make connections. In my ninth-grade science class we read about how resources were divided among the world, and he had students act as countries and divide up popcorn in amounts that represented their country’s share of the resources. We have to organize to get enough popcorn for our countries” – Daryl, page 135.

I personally just like this idea. It is an effective way to teach about resources, the problems that this country is facing and the dent that it is making on the world. It gets students up and moving, communicating and visualizing the sharing of resources. Because I am a science concentration, I find that there are not a lot of ‘motivating stories’ about science classes, it catches my eye when I see one, and I use it. Science textbooks are incredibly boring, doing activities like this one can help teach something that is not in the textbook, or can be used to supplement or replace reading for people who are more visual or kinesthetic learners. I also did it in middle school, and it was really fun.

Chapter 6. Motivation and Boredom

Porsche, on page 119, gave a great reason to motivate students to free write or keep a journal (or blog!) “I wanted to write a poem in my English class after I saw that movie American History X. It was so sad that I just had to write about it because it really made me think bad things, so I had to write it down instead of saying something to someone.”

First of all, if you have not seen this film, see it, rent it, borrow it, buy it, Netflix it or steal it. It is a brilliant film and every teacher-to-be should see it, especially if the Freedom Writers Diary touched your heart… at all. Porsche had a great reason to want to write something down. However, if there is nothing that you feel you need to write about in the classes you are teaching, do not expect your students to have anything to say, but if you do, they do, so have them do it. A journal can be a great tool for communication between student and teacher about understanding concepts, or it turn into time consuming busy work.

Chapter 5. Teaching to the Individual, Working with the Group

This passage is a quote by Vance that is on page 88, it is a story about why he lost his motivation to participate. “I never liked chemistry or physics or anything, but one day I brought in a Stephen Hawking book on the history of the universe–I asked the teacher about it. He was talking about light, about how it’s in packets, and how you can use light to turn chemicals into certain things. So I asked: “Couldn’t you theoretically turn something into anything?” And he said: “No. That’s science fiction,” and went on with his class. And I’m thinking: “But Stephen Hawking said that – this is the only thing I have to contribute – I practiced all night to say this–” And so I just put my head back down on the desk.”

I just want to take this opportunity to defend Vance. First of all, Stephen Hawking is a BRILLIANT MAN. He knows more about science theory and math theory than twenty five of Vance’s teacher put together and then some; I would put money on it. Why not dabble in a theory for a second? He would have explained something about theories to students, that they are just that, theories. He could have asked Vance to give a context to his statement and then try to prove it. Open the theory up to the class and play devils advocate, ask questions, get them to think, discuss, debate, fight…anything, make them think for themselves and ask them to explain why. Getting students to think for themselves, believe in something and be able to support what they believe in, is more important to me than anything I could teach them about chemistry or physics.

Chapter 4. Creating a Culture of Success

Chapter four is about things that we can do as teachers, to enable students to succeed. It is full of graphic organizers and evaluations. On page 71 Mika says, “I don’t like when people stare at my grill. My teacher came to me and said: “I don’t understand your frustration, but I’m not going to leave you alone. You have to write down what you have to say, so that by the time we get to you, you have something to say and you won’t have to make anyone wait and look at you.” So now that’s what I do, and it was one of the most important things I ever learned in my high school career.”

I can honestly say that I am not a big fan of the teacher’s attitude in this statement, but I like the simple, but effective idea. Mika might have trouble participating in class, for whatever reason. In an effort to get her to participate, the teacher gave her a way to organize her thoughts. He or she solved the problem by encouraging Mika to organize her thoughts and then write them down, that way she never felt like she was being put on the spot. This technique could help her to build confidence to ask questions, speak up and participate in class, outside of class or even in other situations in the future.

Chapter 3. Classroom Behavior

What jumped out to me in chapter 3 under the headline “What Lies Behind Classroom Disruptions” is when Vance says, “It’s not that we’re going to string teachers up, but most teenagers are insecure about something, and we’ll take it out in different ways–we’ll try to attack before they can attack us.”

I think that what Vance said is a perfect explanation for why kids act out, because it’s truthful and real. He is not blaming it on other people, or certain circumstances except his own insecurities. Teachers do not have the ability to control our students’ insecurities, but we have the responsibility to help our students deal with them, understand them and possibly overcome them. However, along with that responsibility, we must have an environment and attitude that prevents any more insecurities from forming in our classroom, from circumstances that we can control within our classroom.

Chapter 2: Respect, Liking, Trust and Fairness

• Chapter 2

The part that I liked in chapter 2 was on page 27 and it said, “if someone gives you a bad grade, they should tell you exactly why. We have this Spanish teacher that grades Latino kids so hard it’s impossible for them to get As no matter how hard you try.” – Diana. It is all about the respect that comes out of grading students fairly.

My first thought was ‘I cannot believe that there is a teacher that would do that’. I thought more about it and I feel like on top of the importance and the positive outcomes of grading fairly. It is not always important to treat people the same because students have different needs. I personally like explanations for things that are happening, good or bad, so it would be good to give students that outlet to be able to ask those questions and for me to give them answers and explanations for doing what I was doing before the lesson, and then again after.

Chapter 1: Knowing Students Well

• Chapter 1

The part that I thought was most enlightening was asking students about their schedules. The explanation is on pages 12-13. It has a detailed schedule of one student’s activities that happen in one day and a method for asking every student to explain their activities in a single day.

I think this is important because it would help me understand what a reasonable amount of homework to give is. This would be based on the amount of time they have to complete it and do it as I expect it. It would help me gauge how much time that I should give them for class time to complete assignments well. It would also show my students that I care about their learning and not their completion of busy work. I can emphasize that I too, value family time and the importance of extracurricular activities for the social and emotional health of my students.