Ever seen or heard someone give up on a kid?
Yesterday, the case manager for one of my students, who receives special education services, said, “There are some things he’ll just never learn.”
That hurt me and enraged me and baffled me all at the same time.
How can you call yourself an educator if you don’t believe in each and every student’s unbounded potential? And leaders of this school, district, anyone who has any pull or power over hiring: how did you allow this person on campus?!
The child in question needs lots of processing time, yes. They need individualized directions (on top of those written or said aloud to the class) about four times before understanding. They need someone standing there and guiding them in their work, step by step. But they have the full capability of learning and understanding with these accommodations and modifications. They got an 80% on their first quiz that covered my expectations and basic concepts of my content area. That’s proof that they can – and, with support, will – do it.
I can’t help but wonder what your educational philosophy is if you will say the words quoted above. What do you think your purpose is here? To teach students some stuff and then stop before they learn too much? To try and go over the content one time, and when you have students who don’t get it then, give up on them? To work through lessons at a pace and level of rigor that fits you, students be damned? These are real questions.
Part of what keeps me going each day is the continual challenge of teaching and my belief in students’ limitless capabilities. If I allowed a fixed mindset (look up Carol Dweck’s explanation of this) to creep in, I would not work as hard and tirelessly as I do now. I would not have any motivation to better myself, not to mention the terrible example that I’d be setting by settling for mediocre.
Our brains and bodies are amazing things. My favorite thing about being a human is my ability to push myself further and further every day. How can an educator, of all people, not appreciate that – and by extension, offer that appreciate to their students?
#ftk,
BT Bubble Sheet
BT Bubble Sheet (BTBS) is a Dallas ISD middle school teacher. Visit her blog here for more blogs in addition to what she writes for us!
Follow us on Facebook; Twitter; iTunes; Soundcloud; Stitcher
Related Articles:
Special Education in Dallas ISD
Dallas Teacher Blogs from BTBS
DISD and Dallas Education Rundown - September Week 4
That hurt me and enraged me and baffled me all at the same time.
How can you call yourself an educator if you don’t believe in each and every student’s unbounded potential? And leaders of this school, district, anyone who has any pull or power over hiring: how did you allow this person on campus?!
The child in question needs lots of processing time, yes. They need individualized directions (on top of those written or said aloud to the class) about four times before understanding. They need someone standing there and guiding them in their work, step by step. But they have the full capability of learning and understanding with these accommodations and modifications. They got an 80% on their first quiz that covered my expectations and basic concepts of my content area. That’s proof that they can – and, with support, will – do it.
I can’t help but wonder what your educational philosophy is if you will say the words quoted above. What do you think your purpose is here? To teach students some stuff and then stop before they learn too much? To try and go over the content one time, and when you have students who don’t get it then, give up on them? To work through lessons at a pace and level of rigor that fits you, students be damned? These are real questions.
Part of what keeps me going each day is the continual challenge of teaching and my belief in students’ limitless capabilities. If I allowed a fixed mindset (look up Carol Dweck’s explanation of this) to creep in, I would not work as hard and tirelessly as I do now. I would not have any motivation to better myself, not to mention the terrible example that I’d be setting by settling for mediocre.
Our brains and bodies are amazing things. My favorite thing about being a human is my ability to push myself further and further every day. How can an educator, of all people, not appreciate that – and by extension, offer that appreciate to their students?
#ftk,
BT Bubble Sheet
BT Bubble Sheet (BTBS) is a Dallas ISD middle school teacher. Visit her blog here for more blogs in addition to what she writes for us!
Follow us on Facebook; Twitter; iTunes; Soundcloud; Stitcher
Related Articles:
Special Education in Dallas ISD
Dallas Teacher Blogs from BTBS
DISD and Dallas Education Rundown - September Week 4
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