#10
I have two favorite memories from my semester in the block.
One is a memory of working with a particular student on part of his 6 weeks project for World History class. When we started the period, he had nothing done. By the end of the period he had created a beautiful pamphlet that met the requirements of his project. When he showed it to his group, they were very impressed, and I could see that this particular student was proud of himself. That was nice.
My second fondest memory occured during my second video teach. One student in that class had been asleep every time we visited the entire semester. It was a constant struggle bewtween him and his teacher to keep him awake. I am not sure if he slept during my lesson because I have yet to master “with-it-ness,” but I do know that when we played tic-tac-toe at the end of class, he answered the most difficult question I had. He won the game for his group, and I could tell that he was proud as well.
I guess the main thing that I learned from these two experiences is the importance of providing students with the opportunity to succceed. Hopefully these two guys were motivated a little by their success to keep trying hard. I plan to set attainable goals for my students without compromising high expectations. I also plan to praise their successes as much as possible.
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Ben, you have identified the two main ideas: success and high expectations. You have to have both in today’s classroom. If you only have one, then the end result will be meaningless.
So many students nowadays have been beaten down by their teachers and the educational system. They doubt their abilities. I believe that we want to expect the best for our students and then help to reach higher heights.
There’s an old saying, “Success breeds success.” When I was a high school student, for example, Lubbock Monterrey always won. The momentum of their past successes seemed to carry them. (During your time, they may have lost this mojo.). We want to create a climate of genuine success in our classes. NB