Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Is It More Than Just Not Following Directions?

Consider these two scenarios:

1) You instruct your students on a graphing assignment. Find the number of times each selected letter is used in the word, and graph the chart accordingly. You hand out the worksheets and tell them to get started. As you walk around the room, you see one student doing the graph incorrectly. You walk by, remind him of the assignment, and continue to monitor the classroom as a whole. You walk by again. His graph still looks wrong. You ask him if he heard the assignment. He says, "Yes, we need to graph the letters in this word." She walks along. This is repeated three times. When time is up, you collect the worksheets for grading. His paper is completely incorrect.

2) You instruct your students on a letter assignment. Look at the picture, and write the beginning letter sound on the paper. When you review the children's work, you see the same student continuously writing the wrong letter sound, yet you know that child knows his alphabet. He can review them orally with you and identify them just fine. His paper is completely incorrect.

Why do these two students appear to never follow directions? You explained the assignments. You reminded them of the instructions. The first student even repeated the instructions back to you! You know they understand the concepts of the work. Clearly they just don't follow directions. Right? Wrong.

Look closely at the "incorrect" work. Study the graph that the first student completed. Instead of charting vertically, he charted horizontally. Now look at the second student. This student also happens to be in ESL. The picture was a dog. Dog starts with D. But Perro (the Spanish word for dog) starts with a P. He wrote P.

The issue was not a matter of NOT following directions. The issue becomes what the child interprets in correlation with what you are trying to teach.

In today's current standards of testing, large curriculum, and time constraints on top of it all, it's not just a black and white, right or wrong answer. Do we figure out the cause of their answers, or do we assume they didn't listen to what we instructed them to do? By figuring out how their minds work, we can successfully teach them the concepts that they need to progress.  It's a great reminder to take a step back, assess each student individually, and ensure those general instructions are being comprehended by everyone in that classroom. It will only make you a better teacher.

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Do We Praise Too Much?

There was a hilarious Saturday Night Live skit titled "You Can Do Anything" with Daniel Radcliffe. Its theme was basically this: You think you're the best at skills you absolutely have no talent in. But because your parents told you that you were great all the time, you assumed you can do anything perfectly.

It seemed relevant to the way kids are being raised these days. It's bad enough there is a lack in independent and free play given all the technology and video games that exist now. But what happens when you throw self-esteem into the mix? Do our children require every day praise just to function and perform normal tasks that past generations were simply expected to do.

My grandson has been working on his fine motor skills, especially snapping his jeans. The other day he ran in to the kitchen screaming with delight, "I did it! I snapped them!" Knowing he had been working on mastering this task, I should have jumped for joy, right? But I simply said, "that's good that you tried," and I continued my cooking. Now I know he was expecting a bigger production, but really now, should I have purchased a new toy for him doing a task he should be doing every day of his life? 

What about in sports? My grandson plays both soccer and basketball. Is he one of the best on his team? Well actually, he is very good. But does that give him the right to hog the ball and never pass? No. I give him praise for making baskets, but I certainly don't praise being a poor teammate.  When is enough praise enough vs. too much?

Kids these days seem to expect a "GREAT JOB!" exclamation at every little thing they do. Everyone gets a medal in soccer at the end of the season. Parents are seen clapping when a homework assignment is completed.  Homework is not a choice. Good grades should be the norm. When did we become a society filled with praise-dependent children?

You will find a lot of articles out there, each with their own viewpoint. And you will have your own opinions too. What do you see in your students? How has their need for praise changed over the years? What will these kids be like in 15 years when they're a part of the working world. How do we wean them off of the "good jobs" and "way to go's" now? Or should we?

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