Please click on the following links below and write your reflections and AHAs (Ideas that made you think of say AHA). Please also respond to one AHA from another student.
Click on comments to leave your response.
http://www.resiliency.com/htm/turnaround.htm
http://www.resiliency.com/htm/build.htm
http://www.resiliency.com/htm/turnaround.htm
http://www.resiliency.com/htm/build.htm
7 comments:
When reading the first on-line article, I was reminded of the possible impact that teachers can have on their students. We have the ability every day to effect the lives of the students in our schools. What an awesome opportunity.
Students need to know that you care about them as individuals, they're not just another student. My real AHA moment in this article came under the section titled "... Provide Connection." The second paragraph in the section talks about "simple sustained kindness," and how a simple greeting lets the students know that you are interested in them. I try to say hello to every one of my students before school begins. In the morning, when the 10 minute warning bell rings and students are allowed to come down to their lockers, I stand outside my door and greet every student I see. Its nice to know that that is making a difference with some of them.
The second article talked a lot about creating an "authentic self-esteem." I agreed with a lot of what this article said. We need to have students focus on their strengths and build towards their future.
I tell my students every year that the only thing I expect from them is great effort. If they give great effort, they will have a successful school year. I can't ask for anything els. I want them to try. They need to focus on their strengths. If it's reading, we'll read. If it's drawing, we'll draw. Whatever they do best, I will try to incorporate that into a lesson. I don't always accomplish this, but trying to differentiate lessons goes a long way with my students.
While reading the first article, I couldn’t help but refer to a particular incident that occurred when I was in the fifth grade. I was struggling in math class, as I normally would (I’m not a math brain by any means) and I finally had the courage during quite work-time to ask my teacher for help because I was embarrassed to raise my hand during the class lesson. I went up to this teacher’s desk and told him that I didn’t understand the math. He looked and me and said he could help. He tried to help me understand by explaining it to me again as he did when he was teaching the class. I told him I still didn’t understand. He then looked at me and said in a very loud voice; “ What are you stupid, how many times do I have to go over this with you?” I was so embarrassed and hurt that I then said I understood the math. I went back to my desk and put my math away and worked on something else. That night I went home and told my parents what had taken place and cried because my teacher said I was stupid. After several hours of crying and my parents helping me understand my homework, I started to really think I was stupid because I didn’t understand my math the way my teacher wanted me to. My dad then took me in the bathroom and made me stand in front of the mirror and say: “I’m not stupid, I’m very smart”. It took me over an hour to finally look in the mirror without crying to say that I wasn’t stupid. This memory sticks to me everyday when I teach in a classroom. It makes me what to be that mentor that kids lookup to and to understand the background of where students may be coming from. I teach my students that we’re all unique and have our strong and weak points and that no matter what we’re all human and learn from each other.
My Aha moment came during the “provide connection” part of the article. Bill I’m like you. I find it very important to stand outside the classroom and correspond with each student before they enter the room at the beginning of the day. Also, at the end of each day (with ages k5-4) I do something that is called “Sunny Spot”. This is a time when I have a ball that is thrown around the room and you can only share if you have the ball in your hand. Each student shares a “sunny spot” (something good that happened during the day) and then they share a “cloudy spot” (something they like). Then they share if their day was sunny or cloudy. It’s really amazing how honest the students are during this time when sharing with their class. I’ve actually seen this part of the day create more communication amongst the students in the hallway after school. I think it’s important to understand how the kids are feeling and that they feel you truly care about them.
Your cloudy/sunny day activity is very similar to what I do on Monday mornings in my advisory class. We go around the room and talk about our weekend and how we have been feeling in school . Students bring up many differnt topics and it usually centers around how they are feeling in school, both positives and negatives come up. It allows the students to tell others how they are feeling and it's almost a sense of relief to get their feelings out in the open.
Bill,
Do you find yourself being amazed with how honest and open the students are with their feelings? Sometimes I can't believe the things that I hear. I was a building sub in a very "hard" school for two years and couldn't believe that the students actually depended on this activity. I would come into a room and do this activity and a month later I would return to the room and the students would remind me that we needed to do that at the end of the day. It's truly amazing how they respond to a teacher when they feel they can be honest and share their personal feelings.
Both of these articles remind me of one of my students, Travis. I had Travis as a sophomore and now again as a senior in a class called Applied English. Travis comes from a home where no one, not his parents or any of his siblings has graduated from high school. I could never really get Travis motivated to get assignments done or to do a speech as a sophomore, even though it was very clear how bright he was. This year, I have tried much harder to connect with him and use humor with him a lot to get him going when he tells me he "needs to be motivated." I never really knew how important my small interactions with him were until one of his case managers came in and told me that Travis trusted me and that the humor made him feel like he mattered to me. The first article's references to at risk kids and their resiliency was my aha moment because I can't believe how right on the mark it is with many students like Travis who finds ways to bounce back even though his home situation isn't too great. Heidi and Bill both commented about the importance of simply greeting their students and showing interest in them, and I have grown more and more aware of the power of these simple connections the older and "wiser" I get.
I truly loved the first article; "How to be a Turnaround Teacher/Mentor." I truly reminds you of how important teachers really are. You are not just an instructor to teach students the standards, but to be a confident and positive role-model and show them how to be caring and how to build relationships. As teachers, we really have the power to make a difference everyday to change our future for the better.
After reading the second article: "The Resiliency Route to Authentic Self-Esteem and Life Success," I agree with the article. I feel as a primary teacher, I capitalize on each of my students specialness and then move on to their unique talents and gifts that each one offers. I also believe in a classroom that any self-esteem building is helpful and not harmful at an early age. They may not receive any from their parents after they get home. Nowdays, parents are often too busy to actually take the time to compliment their children and beef up their child's self-esteem especially if they go between two households. I feel I can never give enough self-esteem building to my students at school.
Heidi,
Hello! After reading your comment about a strategy you use called, "The Sunny Spot and The Cloudy Spot," I do something very similar. I do Good News/Bad News every morning during homeroom. After I greet everyone outside my door of the classroom and when I enter as a class we share Good News/Bad News for the day. My students are happy to share what is on their mind and help others too. My students are more willing to learn after this each day and do not talk out in class at all. :)
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