Critical friends and the like … I warned you in my first posting that I am not computer savvy. Indeed, I managed to effectively keep myself from logging onto my original blog by either losing my password, writing it down incorrectly, or entering an entirely different email address all together. So I must begin anew.
I think it becomes very hard to keep any personal drama away from the classroom, particularly if it is something serious and out of your control. What happens when you simply have no emotional or mental energy to deal with your students – even though they are acting as they have been all semester? I had long week with my 9th grade class last week, and I am happy that I have next week off because it gives me some time to reflect. What do you do when your students flat out refuse to do what you’ve asked them? My first reaction was to say “Do it because I told you.” But I know that if I were in their position, I would get frustrated, perhaps even laugh, at that type of response. In fact, I would probably laugh now. I think the challenge becomes figuring out a way to 1) Make whatever activity you’re doing in the classroom relevant for the students (all things we’ve talked about) and 2) Communicating to the students that the skills they are learning will somehow be important in the future. So I suppose the answer to my questions is figuring out the best way to talk to my students without freaking out. I am not so sure about those answers … any suggestions?
1 comment:
hey,
i think particularly considering your personal issues, and the issues going on at the school, I don't think you should be so hard on yourself with anything that happened last week.
to be honest, I can't help you on the second part of your question, because I actually have the exact same problem with the 11th graders from the same man's class. Sometimes, I really think (as much as I love the man) that his permissivness accounts for a lot of our headaches of today.
obviously, what is lacking for us both is the student trust, that trust that supposedly keeps them from questioning the other teachers that give them assignments and tell them what to do.
As for suggestions (finally in all this rambling) I would start by just telling them, point blank why you are making them do it. "We need to practice this because you guys need some improvement" or "we need to do this because it will be a more interesting way to look at blank and we need it to later do blank"
your guess is as good as mine. don't worry about it either till like, oh, saturday? week off!
I hope you are doing better. see you in class.
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