Hey Gang!
Well....this should be a relatively short post because I only had 2 days of school this week. We were off Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. We're also off on Monday for President's Day.
The two days that I had the classes to myself went well. My co-op watched bits and pieces of lessons and gave me some feedback but for the most part he worked in our department work room and let me have the run of the classroom. I'm sad I didn't get more of that this week but I'm using all my own lesson plans and my own essential questions so I'm feeling as though I'm really in charge of these kids and the classes.
I think since it was such a short week that I want to talk briefly about students who seem uninterested, unmotivated, and don't do their work. I don't have many but I do have a few who seem to only do the minimum amount of work possible and sometimes not even that. I try to make my class as interesting as possible and the course is about mythology which I know the students are interested in. My co-op suggested talking to the student and explaining that he/she must get their work done and that they need to try to contribute to class.I'm going to try that but with this particular student I'm not sure it will work. I've tried talking to the student about interests, asking if he was in need of clarification, etc.. but from almost the first day of class I haven't got work back and I continue to feel that he/she feels disinterested even though I know he/she is interested in the class material.
I'm looking forward to getting back in the classroom on Tuesday and finally getting into the meat of some of my lessons. Hope you all enjoyed your snow day(s) and that you all kept safe and warm. See you all next week for our seminar.
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Ellen,
ReplyDeleteI have similar students in my class who are unmotivated and disinterested. In fact, on Tuesday, I heard one of them say "in middle school, I did nothing and they still sent me to 9th grade. I can fail and still go to the next grade!" Whether there is something going on with your students or they are just delusional like mine, sometimes a little "tough love" might help. Basically, I just told them "Hey, you can choose to do nothing in my class, but there will be consequences." I find myself so stressed about these kids because I want them to wake up! But in essence, the teacher should never do more work than the student. All you can do it keep on them and hopefully they'll just get it through their head!
Ellen,
ReplyDeleteI think you have stumbled on to a mystery that trumps all teachers and that is students who will not do their work. I think that we as teachers can never combat this fully, but need strategies to combat it on the mirco level. One technique that has worked for me is being a positive role model. By just displaying that I am a responsible individual I have noticed the students respond to that. I think it will always be a progressive struggle, but don't stress yourself out. Have a great week!