May not seem like I am
excited for Student Teaching, but on the contrary; I am very excited! I cannot
wait to start teaching more and getting so much closer to being done with
college and closer to my career of teaching in my own classroom. So as we come to
the middle of the year and a nice little break, I have encountered problems,
which are to be expected. Before I thought technology would be great to use,
then I questioned it and I also questioned my students’ potential with the
honors level. As this semester is coming to an end, I have made the realization
that my students ARE interested in the material and the discussions (they are
so great and fascinating listening to them analyze a text, wonderful!),
however, they are NOT interested in doing their work! These students have
gotten lazy! When they do their work, they produce great things. Such bright
students, but they are just not always choosing to do so. This starts the
process of trying to get my students to do the work. Like I mentioned before, they
are participating in fascinating discussions and getting all the points, if
they choose to read the novel that was given as homework. Some even tell me
that they just will not do their homework because they do not feel like it.
Seems like giving the grades that have been given are not always a motivating
factor. They do not understand or care that their grades matter in the future.
Asking them “do you really want to take this class again next year?” helps a
little when they realize that if they do not get a passing grade they will have
to do just that. What will stop them from just getting a passing grade then? I
went to search for a possibility, it seems that I am not the only one having
issues; most of what I found was a comparison between American students and
Foreign students. This is not my problem at all.
First, let me give the definition of a lazy student from
an article: “defined as a student who has the intellectual
ability to excel, but never realizes their potential because they choose not to
do the work necessary to maximize their capability.” As teachers, we will
always have to deal with a lazy student. How exactly do we do so when the
student is absolutely not going to have it? As teaching.about.com has given
advice to, have the parents support their student with their education. I agree
with this. Having parents become more involved with their student’s education
would be beneficial to both parties. The parents will know what their child is
learning and the student will know that it is important to get an education and
to learn. When parents put an emphasis on it, they will know that they do need
to focus. They may not like it very much, but I’m sure we would see
improvement. Now here lays the other problem, how do we get the parents willing
to be involved in their student’s school work? Not all parents will be up for
this. This is the question I cannot find an answer to. I am open to any
suggestions at this point!
A
quick update about the iPads in the classroom: they are going great now that we
have worked through a few problems! Students love them and are getting their
work done on them. They seem interested still and are invested in using them.
It is great that they get to use them in different ways.
Website used: http://teaching.about.com/od/School-Decision-Making/qt/Dealing-With-A-Lazing-Student.htm
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ReplyDeleteMs. Stone Thanks so much for your blog!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your experiences because I have similar experiences in my own classroom. I think it is great that you focus on getting the students engaged. I know that you are in a freshman’s honors class, as am I, but freshman are different. They seem to need a little extra encouraging in the classroom. This is a subject that I have been reflecting on a lot this semester, because it seems to be such an issue in my CT’s room. Honestly, the only other option I see, which has not been tested, is getting more strict with giving assignment and instruction, while also adding more versatility into the classroom environment. I know as a future English Teacher I have been so focused on cooperative learning, which is a great, but at the same time the students need a variety of learning techniques to reach the different learning styles in the classroom. For example, I am in a class that incorporates a lot of cooperative learning, but it is the same thing every day. There needs to be a variety. In my opinion, if a student is able to walk into a classroom and predict everything that is going to happen that day, then it is going to be boring. I would be interested to see what your class’s daily assignments are. After the KATE conference I am convinced there needs to be something during every class that makes the students eyes get super big! Here’s a link if you would like a visual… http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_MfQ8Bl0lIKM/S8SNU8IMnBI/AAAAAAAABIM/rJvjhE2dLp4/s1600/stock-photo--d-render-of-a-shocked-baby-with-his-eyes-popping-out-986761.jpg I just thought this was perfect!
Shock value! That’s the key! Obviously not all students will fall prey to our shock value, but add something super: weird, exciting, unexpected, and sometimes even unnecessary or irrelevant to the lesson, but if it wakes them up it is worth it! ☺