At the very beginning of the aritcle it is as if they wrote out my current thought process and actions, my survival mode. "They plod through the content of the curriculum" I feel like that is exactly what I am doing. Personally speaking, this is the summation of what I do nearly every time I sit down to plan. I get so caught up in "Did I include this GLE" or "Can I fit all of these GLEs in this week". I am contained and limited to the sheet of paper in front of my and its infinite tiny boxes filled to capactity with vague, unclear expectations.
Actually reading this article really cements it in my mind that I need to get away from doing this. I need to focus on what is important. Stop the quick, day to day planning to "knock out this GLE and then that one" What is important and relevant and why?
To keep my ideas as organized as I could I just seperated two phrases with two different posts.
I teach in Livonia (way out in Pointe Coupee Parish) Now in Livonia, most of my studens rarely go outside the parish lines. Therefore, they see nothing of the city or coast or anything we are coving in geography. On page 11 of the article in that top paragraph the line "history can play a criticla role in helping students understand perspectives that are different than their own" is a perfect summation of what I want for my students. Upon hearing I was from New York they flooded me with questions. When we talked about geography and how it played a role in the Battle of New Orlands, conceptually, they could not picture it. My students know rural, they know country life and they know the way people in the country live. This worries me a great deal because this is not how the world is.
It is important for students not to just learn these places or regions in a book or label them on a map. These places have people, they have culture, they have a way of life. My students need to understand this. How can we expect kids to become well rounded citizens and educated if we can't even break through the barries, mentally, that seperate them from all of these places we teach and talk about?
Unfortunately, Mady, this inability to see or even know beyond their environment is not unique to the students in Point Coupee Parish. I remember when I was in grad school in NYC so many of the teachers were frustrated with the short stories on the state tests because they referenced rural life. But what does a kid from Harlem or the Bronx know of this? To an extent, it is not the fault of these students. What resources are available to them to leave their neighborhood. There also has to be a culture in their environment to want to see or experience beyond what they already know. Sometimes I wonder if this is an issue unique to American students. Other times I wonder if it is an issue for students from a poor SES. But I've taught overseas at an international school and I've taught at a private school in BR that caters to the middle/upper class. And I noticed that even among these students, the students who have the means to see the world and who do, yet they still don't make the connections, see the importance, etc. And I think some of that is where they are at developmentally. of course, there are adults who have the mental capacity and are unwilling to go beyond their environment.
When my folks helped me move down here a few years ago we were shocked at how poor a state Louisiana is, given the fact that it is SO rich in natural resources. It made us wonder if there is something in Louisiana culture, religion, or something that enforces, encourages the status quo. My friend works at EA in Ascension Parish and she has found a lack of goals and aspirations prevalent among students, teachers, and parents. They have the potential to be a doctor, but their mom is a nurse, so why do anything else?
I think as teachers of the humanities this is a particularly frustrating issue. Because it is so critical that our students be able to make connections to the world around us, and it is when we can make these connections that I believe we can begin to see changes. Whether it's apathy, ignorance (chosen or imposed upon) this is what perpetuates hate, violence, etc.
i'm all over the place, I'm sure. And probably went off on a tangent, I apologize.
In response to your post on GLEs. It is all too easy to be consumed by the GLEs. After all that's what is used to determine if we're actually "teaching" and the kids are "learning." But GLEs does not guarantee that information is learned, internalized, and processed. It does not mean we did good teaching. But GLEs can also help the new teacher or less confident teacher feel as though they are on the right track, because it is something you can show you did. As you become more comfortable in the classroom I think you may find that you are covering GLEs more often than you think and more of them than you think.
I am a firm believer that if you do good teaching: teach them how to think, teach them skills and strategies while using content to teach these things they will learn. They will not need to be taught to a test. Of course they will need sometime devoted to the test, maybe a week or two, to go over protocol, format, or specific things that you know the test will cover.
Try for a day or two not taking notice of the GLEs. don't try to match your lesson up with anything. Then AFTER you've taught the lesson see if you actually created a lesson that addressed the GLEs. I think you'll be surprised. And I think that may take away some of the pressure and the feeling that your "trudging through the curriculum."
Those of you who already know me too we, will not be shocked by the passage that selected: "In a pluralistic society, we must take account of multiple perspectives on what constitutes common good and how to get there." Close runner up: "Concern for the common good--we simply cannot pursue our own private interests or attempt to impose our will on others."
Both of these passages get to the same point and I feel like a broken record in my class. My "big goal" for my students is to learn how to think outside of themselves for just one minute and appreciate the needs of others around them. In all of my classes, I struggle to connect material with relevance for my students as they see citizenship as a burden...something that limits and distracts from what they truly want.
Yesterday, I had my students watch a video on Saudi Arabia and compare and contrast US and Saudi culture (5 themes of geography). Instead of looking at the intrinsic value of Saudi beliefs and customs, my students focused on stereotypes and condemned Islam. Despite my best efforts to right the ship, these words and beliefs prove to hurtful and short-sighted. Students again passed judgment with ill-informed ideas and an uncanny ability to relate everything back to their own lives. (Moreover, our conversation about the Qur'an burning and "Ground zero Mosque" degenerated into reflections on their own lives and how Islam is a "false religion.")
These conversations leave me feeling increasingly frustrated about this component of social studies education--knowledge/acceptance/conceptualizations of the "other." I fear that my students might enter the workforce/society as a whole unprepared to enter into these conversations in meaningful and open dialogue... something that IS essential and at the same time, incredibly lacking.
Others may not agree with this approach, but I tended to combat stereotypes with more stereotypes. All black men are drug dealers. All the kids at Dunham are spoiled brats. Programs like public education, WIC, food stamps, TOPS are all designed to help the common good, so what would things be like if these disappeared? Everyone who is over weight is lazy. It doesn't always work, but it often gets at least one or two thinking and reconsidering their thoughts and actions.
"In all of my classes, I struggle to connect material with relevance for my students as they see citizenship as a burden...something that limits and distracts from what they truly want. " -What do they "truly" want? Is there a way to impose restrictions on them in the classroom from what they want? You want to sit by your friend? 'm sorry, you're wearing jeans today. All people wearing jeans aren't allowed to sit down. Or, this 1/3 of the room all get an A, just because. Or, I know you studied really hard for the test, earning a 98%, but it's not fair to so and so over there who received a 40%, so I'm going to take 20% of your grade and add it to his. I've got a book or two on teaching social justice, very similar to what you're referring to. It speaks to many of the issues you've addressed, and has some activities you can do in your room. My first year teaching down here was at one of the"elite" private schools, I had also finished my MA at Teachers College where every class somehow revolved around social justice...so I came guns blazing wanting to challenge the idea of white privilege and power. I had them keep a "social justice" journal where they recorded things on TV, news, home, among friends, etc and then wrote a response. some of them addressed their own misconceptions and stereotypes, others became critical of their own environment and friends. May be a place to start.
I would agree, this is one of the most frustrating things about teaching, especially in the humanities. Many teachers simply avoid it, and I think that's a shame and just perpetuates the problem. You'll likely get upset at the kids, what to personally attack them, want to pull out your hair, hold grudges. The ones that are the most frustrating to you probably won't get a clue. Someone will. After all the conversations we had about social justice my first year down here at the end of the year a girl came to me apologizing for her behavior, how she treated me, etc. It took all year, but that's not a small thing for a 10th grader to do. Another girl came up to me mid year after a very heated debate saying, I can't believe some of those people are my friends after seeing their apathy for a very serious issue.
Hey group! I can definitely relate to the comments that both Madyson and Matt made in regards to the article. The article, in many ways, captures the goals, and perhaps vision, that many of us have for our students; especially in the field of social studies.
When I was originally writing my vision for my class, I included in it the desire to see my students become active participants in their communities, and our society at-large. However, it has been extremely difficult not necessarily to get participation in the classroom but to have students express opinions or viewpoints outside of their own individual and selfish desires. Like Matt, I want so much for my students to step outside of their "own private interests," and embrace the idea of the common good. In fact, we are learning about the common good/general will during this Unit.
However, if I could pick another passage or phrase that stood out to me, it would be the threat of "weakening the "truth" of American history" at the expense of defending the status quo, and taking all historical accounts as face value. History is interpretive. And it certainly has been interpreted primarily from one perspective. I want my students to not only be exposed to history from different perspectives and angles, but to learn how to develop the critical thinking skills to interpret history (and civics/enterprise) for themselves.
At the very beginning of the aritcle it is as if they wrote out my current thought process and actions, my survival mode. "They plod through the content of the curriculum" I feel like that is exactly what I am doing. Personally speaking, this is the summation of what I do nearly every time I sit down to plan. I get so caught up in "Did I include this GLE" or "Can I fit all of these GLEs in this week". I am contained and limited to the sheet of paper in front of my and its infinite tiny boxes filled to capactity with vague, unclear expectations.
ReplyDeleteActually reading this article really cements it in my mind that I need to get away from doing this. I need to focus on what is important. Stop the quick, day to day planning to "knock out this GLE and then that one" What is important and relevant and why?
To keep my ideas as organized as I could I just seperated two phrases with two different posts.
ReplyDeleteI teach in Livonia (way out in Pointe Coupee Parish) Now in Livonia, most of my studens rarely go outside the parish lines. Therefore, they see nothing of the city or coast or anything we are coving in geography. On page 11 of the article in that top paragraph the line "history can play a criticla role in helping students understand perspectives that are different than their own" is a perfect summation of what I want for my students. Upon hearing I was from New York they flooded me with questions. When we talked about geography and how it played a role in the Battle of New Orlands, conceptually, they could not picture it. My students know rural, they know country life and they know the way people in the country live. This worries me a great deal because this is not how the world is.
It is important for students not to just learn these places or regions in a book or label them on a map. These places have people, they have culture, they have a way of life. My students need to understand this. How can we expect kids to become well rounded citizens and educated if we can't even break through the barries, mentally, that seperate them from all of these places we teach and talk about?
Unfortunately, Mady, this inability to see or even know beyond their environment is not unique to the students in Point Coupee Parish. I remember when I was in grad school in NYC so many of the teachers were frustrated with the short stories on the state tests because they referenced rural life. But what does a kid from Harlem or the Bronx know of this? To an extent, it is not the fault of these students. What resources are available to them to leave their neighborhood. There also has to be a culture in their environment to want to see or experience beyond what they already know. Sometimes I wonder if this is an issue unique to American students. Other times I wonder if it is an issue for students from a poor SES. But I've taught overseas at an international school and I've taught at a private school in BR that caters to the middle/upper class. And I noticed that even among these students, the students who have the means to see the world and who do, yet they still don't make the connections, see the importance, etc. And I think some of that is where they are at developmentally. of course, there are adults who have the mental capacity and are unwilling to go beyond their environment.
ReplyDeleteWhen my folks helped me move down here a few years ago we were shocked at how poor a state Louisiana is, given the fact that it is SO rich in natural resources. It made us wonder if there is something in Louisiana culture, religion, or something that enforces, encourages the status quo. My friend works at EA in Ascension Parish and she has found a lack of goals and aspirations prevalent among students, teachers, and parents. They have the potential to be a doctor, but their mom is a nurse, so why do anything else?
I think as teachers of the humanities this is a particularly frustrating issue. Because it is so critical that our students be able to make connections to the world around us, and it is when we can make these connections that I believe we can begin to see changes. Whether it's apathy, ignorance (chosen or imposed upon) this is what perpetuates hate, violence, etc.
i'm all over the place, I'm sure. And probably went off on a tangent, I apologize.
In response to your post on GLEs. It is all too easy to be consumed by the GLEs. After all that's what is used to determine if we're actually "teaching" and the kids are "learning." But GLEs does not guarantee that information is learned, internalized, and processed. It does not mean we did good teaching.
ReplyDeleteBut GLEs can also help the new teacher or less confident teacher feel as though they are on the right track, because it is something you can show you did.
As you become more comfortable in the classroom I think you may find that you are covering GLEs more often than you think and more of them than you think.
I am a firm believer that if you do good teaching: teach them how to think, teach them skills and strategies while using content to teach these things they will learn. They will not need to be taught to a test. Of course they will need sometime devoted to the test, maybe a week or two, to go over protocol, format, or specific things that you know the test will cover.
Try for a day or two not taking notice of the GLEs. don't try to match your lesson up with anything. Then AFTER you've taught the lesson see if you actually created a lesson that addressed the GLEs. I think you'll be surprised. And I think that may take away some of the pressure and the feeling that your "trudging through the curriculum."
Those of you who already know me too we, will not be shocked by the passage that selected: "In a pluralistic society, we must take account of multiple perspectives on what constitutes common good and how to get there." Close runner up: "Concern for the common good--we simply cannot pursue our own private interests or attempt to impose our will on others."
ReplyDeleteBoth of these passages get to the same point and I feel like a broken record in my class. My "big goal" for my students is to learn how to think outside of themselves for just one minute and appreciate the needs of others around them. In all of my classes, I struggle to connect material with relevance for my students as they see citizenship as a burden...something that limits and distracts from what they truly want.
Yesterday, I had my students watch a video on Saudi Arabia and compare and contrast US and Saudi culture (5 themes of geography). Instead of looking at the intrinsic value of Saudi beliefs and customs, my students focused on stereotypes and condemned Islam. Despite my best efforts to right the ship, these words and beliefs prove to hurtful and short-sighted. Students again passed judgment with ill-informed ideas and an uncanny ability to relate everything back to their own lives. (Moreover, our conversation about the Qur'an burning and "Ground zero Mosque" degenerated into reflections on their own lives and how Islam is a "false religion.")
These conversations leave me feeling increasingly frustrated about this component of social studies education--knowledge/acceptance/conceptualizations of the "other." I fear that my students might enter the workforce/society as a whole unprepared to enter into these conversations in meaningful and open dialogue... something that IS essential and at the same time, incredibly lacking.
Others may not agree with this approach, but I tended to combat stereotypes with more stereotypes. All black men are drug dealers. All the kids at Dunham are spoiled brats. Programs like public education, WIC, food stamps, TOPS are all designed to help the common good, so what would things be like if these disappeared? Everyone who is over weight is lazy. It doesn't always work, but it often gets at least one or two thinking and reconsidering their thoughts and actions.
ReplyDelete"In all of my classes, I struggle to connect material with relevance for my students as they see citizenship as a burden...something that limits and distracts from what they truly want. " -What do they "truly" want? Is there a way to impose restrictions on them in the classroom from what they want? You want to sit by your friend? 'm sorry, you're wearing jeans today. All people wearing jeans aren't allowed to sit down. Or, this 1/3 of the room all get an A, just because. Or, I know you studied really hard for the test, earning a 98%, but it's not fair to so and so over there who received a 40%, so I'm going to take 20% of your grade and add it to his.
I've got a book or two on teaching social justice, very similar to what you're referring to. It speaks to many of the issues you've addressed, and has some activities you can do in your room. My first year teaching down here was at one of the"elite" private schools, I had also finished my MA at Teachers College where every class somehow revolved around social justice...so I came guns blazing wanting to challenge the idea of white privilege and power. I had them keep a "social justice" journal where they recorded things on TV, news, home, among friends, etc and then wrote a response. some of them addressed their own misconceptions and stereotypes, others became critical of their own environment and friends. May be a place to start.
I would agree, this is one of the most frustrating things about teaching, especially in the humanities. Many teachers simply avoid it, and I think that's a shame and just perpetuates the problem. You'll likely get upset at the kids, what to personally attack them, want to pull out your hair, hold grudges. The ones that are the most frustrating to you probably won't get a clue. Someone will. After all the conversations we had about social justice my first year down here at the end of the year a girl came to me apologizing for her behavior, how she treated me, etc. It took all year, but that's not a small thing for a 10th grader to do. Another girl came up to me mid year after a very heated debate saying, I can't believe some of those people are my friends after seeing their apathy for a very serious issue.
And again, I rambled.
Hey group! I can definitely relate to the comments that both Madyson and Matt made in regards to the article. The article, in many ways, captures the goals, and perhaps vision, that many of us have for our students; especially in the field of social studies.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was originally writing my vision for my class, I included in it the desire to see my students become active participants in their communities, and our society at-large. However, it has been extremely difficult not necessarily to get participation in the classroom but to have students express opinions or viewpoints outside of their own individual and selfish desires. Like Matt, I want so much for my students to step outside of their "own private interests," and embrace the idea of the common good. In fact, we are learning about the common good/general will during this Unit.
However, if I could pick another passage or phrase that stood out to me, it would be the threat of "weakening the "truth" of American history" at the expense of defending the status quo, and taking all historical accounts as face value. History is interpretive. And it certainly has been interpreted primarily from one perspective. I want my students to not only be exposed to history from different perspectives and angles, but to learn how to develop the critical thinking skills to interpret history (and civics/enterprise) for themselves.