Small epiphany for me this week. Maybe, others from bush schools can comment. I am often confused by the fact that my students are very resistant to working as hard as I would like them to produce a product, such as a short paper. After some reflection, I wondered if part of the reason was that they’ve had no models. In larger schools, w/ more students, someone has done some great work and everyone sees it & has some sense of the effort required to get it done. I’ve experimented w/ providing the models myself this week, of what I want & have demonstrated somewhat the effort it requires. Does this approach resonate w/ anyone else? If they’ve never seen it, how can they do it?
I totally agree Bob. I try and find ways for my kids to see what the older kids in our school are doing so that they can get a sense of what bigger projects look like. I also try and save lots of student work samples so that I can show them to future classes as examples of the kind of work that I’m looking for. I can see how this would be more challenging in a small rural school where you might not have good samples from past years though. I also think about what Jerry has said about showing too many examples, and how it can sometimes limit creativity, especially by the students who just want to do the minimum in order to get by.
I think this partly about high expectations and requiring quality work. You are right, students in many rural village settings don’t have those models, but I think someone has to start. I guess that is you.
Hi Bob,
I believe you are very much on-track. The situation goes back to what Mark was saying this summer. How do people from poverty get out of poverty? They need to be exposed to a different environment. It’s the same with teaching kids who do not have an idea of what a typical expectation looks like. Asking the question why they resist is important, and creating a model is an excellent idea. I also wonder how many videos there are that show functional classrooms engaging in higher level activities. Here are a few websites I’ve heard about: Achieve the Core has samples of student writing & the Learning Channel has videos of classroom instruction. Hope these help!
Small epiphany for me this week. Maybe, others from bush schools can comment. I am often confused by the fact that my students are very resistant to working as hard as I would like them to produce a product, such as a short paper. After some reflection, I wondered if part of the reason was that they’ve had no models. In larger schools, w/ more students, someone has done some great work and everyone sees it & has some sense of the effort required to get it done. I’ve experimented w/ providing the models myself this week, of what I want & have demonstrated somewhat the effort it requires. Does this approach resonate w/ anyone else? If they’ve never seen it, how can they do it?
I totally agree Bob. I try and find ways for my kids to see what the older kids in our school are doing so that they can get a sense of what bigger projects look like. I also try and save lots of student work samples so that I can show them to future classes as examples of the kind of work that I’m looking for. I can see how this would be more challenging in a small rural school where you might not have good samples from past years though. I also think about what Jerry has said about showing too many examples, and how it can sometimes limit creativity, especially by the students who just want to do the minimum in order to get by.
So, in my situation, do you think it’s appropriate for me to provide the samples of the type of work & effort I want them to generate?
I think this partly about high expectations and requiring quality work. You are right, students in many rural village settings don’t have those models, but I think someone has to start. I guess that is you.
Hi Bob,
I believe you are very much on-track. The situation goes back to what Mark was saying this summer. How do people from poverty get out of poverty? They need to be exposed to a different environment. It’s the same with teaching kids who do not have an idea of what a typical expectation looks like. Asking the question why they resist is important, and creating a model is an excellent idea. I also wonder how many videos there are that show functional classrooms engaging in higher level activities. Here are a few websites I’ve heard about: Achieve the Core has samples of student writing & the Learning Channel has videos of classroom instruction. Hope these help!
I wonder if we have thought about Ebola in our CMP?
http://nyti.ms/1qCvWp1