Bright Future Campaign - Closing the Attitude Gap - Week 23
This
week we begin Chapter 3, Relationships with Students, Do I Know Them? I do hope
you have found the time to review each of the emails highlighting "Closing
the Attitude Gap" and have made it important to reflect on the questions
that allow each of us to determine what we are doing well and what we need to
continue to improve upon.
The
person looking back at us in the mirror can tell us a lot if we are willing to
listen.
Prior
to embarking on Chapter 3, please look into the mirror and ask yourself the
following questions about your students:
Do I
know them?
Do I
know how they learn?
Do I
know how to keep them inspired about learning?
Do I
know how to keep them motivated to excel?
Do I
know their goals and ambitions?
Do I
know their needs and interests?
Do I
know their experiences and realities?
Do I
know their challenges and obstacles?
Do I
know their parents?
Do I
know their neighborhoods?
As
the chapter begins, Principal Kafele shares his experience in taking over a
school that was just placed on the "persistently dangerous school"
list under NCLB. One of just 50 schools in the United States. He goes on to
share some small things they did to change the environment, such as painting,
posting positive messages and meeting with the school as a while every Monday
morning in the auditorium ensuring students heard how great they were, how
special they were and how brilliant they were.
Teachers
took to the halls and cafeteria to build relationships with students. Saying
hello in the halls, greeting students each morning, (even if they were not in
your class), interacted with students in the halls, and ate with them in the
cafeteria. (Love that)
In
just one year, his campus was removed from the "dangerous" list and
make not mistakes about it,MIT was due to the relationships that were
cultivated with students.
Principal
Kafele shares, "Show me a school where STRONG relationships do not exist and
I will show you an underperforming school. Show me a school where relationships
are intentional, however, and I will show you a school with unlimited
potential. And make no mistake about it,
see
relationships should be reciprocal-the students should be able to get to know
us as well as we get to know them. Hey should see that we are human and that
there is more to our lives beyond teaching.
***What
do you think Principal Kafele would say about the relationships at Sigler?***
Knowing
Your Students
Do
you know each student?
Really
know them?
Not
just the name on the roster, the whole child.
Do
you know who they are after the dismissal bell?
Do
you know who they are on the walk or bus ride home from school?
Do
you know who they are in the neighborhood?
Do
you know who they are in their home?
The
answers to each of these questions all affect each student's ability to learn
in your classroom.
You
must be able to form a rapport with your students-a process that might begin as
with taking a look at how you greet your students every day.
Are
you warm?
Sincere?
Intentional?
Personal?
Do
you show your students that you are happy to see them?
Research
by Allen Mendler states, "It's best to personalize your greetings by
including the student's name. Students appreciate knowing their teacher knows
who they are."
Prior
to her passing, I knew a teacher who worked in a building similar to ours who
greeted each if her students just outside her door with a handshake, calling
each of them by name daily. With the handshake was the expectation students
would look her in the eye and said good morning back to her as well, using her
name. Needless to say, he results she got out of her students were
astounding!
Knowing
How Your Students Learn
How
do your students learn?
How
do you connect with them?
Are
they auditory learners?
Visual?
Tactile-Kinesthetic?
What
is the best instructional methodology for connecting with all of the learners
in your classroom?
Do
they all learn alike?
Do
boys learn like the girls?
Does
culture play a role?
Do
home or neighborhood conditions influence your students' learning?
Instantly
Principal Kafele discusses lecture hand how prevalent it is in schools and how
great it can be for auditory learners. What about the other types of learners
in the classroom who sit through the lesson, having it directed to the wrong
side of their brain?
Students
in buildings such as Sigler, urban and/or rural classrooms, need to be placed
in student-centered environments where all of them are given the opportunity to
learn based on their own unique learning styles. Enter differentiated
instruction. It also requires teachers to know their students, which is the
best way to know which instructional strategies work for them.
Keeping
Students Inspired About Learning
Principal
Kafele share their are basically three types of schools in urban/rural America
today.
High
performing schools, these schools have dynamite administrative/leadership
teams, support teams, and classroom teachers who have nurtured a school climate
where failure is not an option; excellence is demanded of everyone in the
building. Anything less is unacceptable in high performing schools. Some of
these schools are nestled in the most dangerous neighborhoods in America.
However, within the walls is an oasis of hope and dreams; of purpose, mission
and vision; of hard work, dedication and commitment.
Equally
impressive are the urban/rural schools that are transforming their
culture-perennially low-performing schools that are suddenly in the road to
success. Excitement is in the air at these schools; teachers are fired up about
coming to work every day and taking their teaching to the next level. Students
are exited about the changes, too, and ready to put forth maximum effort. It's
a new day in these schools and everyone involved can smell victory in the
air.
Unfortunately,
the schools above are not the majority. Thousands of students attend
low-performing schools in the US where the climate and culture is so toxic that
closing the attitude gap becomes almost impossible. Students are not inspired
to put forth maximum effort. They do not see the, light at the end of the
tunnel-how success in school translates into success in life beyond
school.
This
is where you come in. You are the authority of the room with your name on it.
What will you do with this authority? How will you keep your students inspired
about learning? How can you inspire them, if you do not know them?
How
can you inspire them, if they do not know you?
Keeping
Students Motivated to Excel
There is
one important question to ask yourself here.
How
do you keep yourself motivated over he course of a school year while
simultaneously keeping students motivated?
The
answer is looking back at you in the mirror. Challenge yourself.
In
the context of your frustration with keeping your students motivated throughout
the year, given your own fatigue, "Who are you?"
You
may answer by sharing all of your positive attributes.
In
the context of your frustration with keeping your students motivated throughout
the year, given your own fatigue, "What are you about?"
You
may share your purpose for teaching.
Finally,
ask yourself, what your most recent evidence confirming your answers to the
previous two questions?
Dig
deep to answer this question. It may be just the motivation you need to stay
the course and continue to motivate your students. Reflection, in its truest
for is powerful beyond measure.
Remaining
in Chapter 3 is:
Knowing
Your Students' Goals and Aspirations
Knowing
Your Students' Needs and Interests
Knowing
Your Students' Experiences and Realities
Knowing
Your Students' Challenges and Obstacles
Knowing
Your Students' Parents
Knowing
Your Students' Neighborhoods
The
timing of next week's focus blows my mind as I spent time this week with
Officer Forman, who patrols The Oaks of Collin Creek and shared with me some
stories I will share with you next week. If you think you know what our
students are dealing with, think again. Her stories blew my mind, but drives me
to share them with you so we may continue to encourage and inspire our students
to rise above!