Bias/prejudice

I know that females are known to be prissy.  I know of some that dislike this label and say “I can do anything a boy can do and better!”  Boys on the other hand are supposed to be tough and have little feelings.  I have found boys to be very sympathetic and caring.  Dark skin people are thought to have a lower IQ, live in poverty and cause crime.  Some of the most popular and wealthy people are black like Oprah Winfrey, Tiger Woods, or Serena Williams.  One of the biggest bias’s I see at school is on the poor children.  They are often made fun of because they are wearing dirty clothes or their hair is a mess.  Since I have been in foster care, I know that these kids do not choose their way of life.  It is chosen for them and most the time their guardians are not worried about the care of the child.  So, let’s let the girls do boys games or tasks… let’s call on the boys for an answer to a question that is based on feelings…. Lets become friends with all colors and races…. And those that are poor need a helping hand.  School is no place for prejudice from a student and certainly not from an educated professional.

call of story response

Call of Story Response

Call of Story: Scene 1

All of the videos showed the power of stories as told by professional story tellers.  This video made me cry as I lost my mother in law this last year and she taught me many lessons through stories.  When the boys were in the hospital visiting their mother and reminiscing about their youth, the mother was listening even though her eyes were closed.  This “silent listening” is common with mothers.  I think teachers have a good listening ear but sometimes don’t apply all the techniques we use as mothers.  Mothers tend to listen for a longer period hoping the children work out their problems.  Teachers hear noise in the back of the room and say “Be quiet!” before letting the children grow in their problem solving skills.  Teachers also want the kids quiet more often than mothers.  Mothers tend to drown out the noises coming from the playroom.  Some teachers require silent classrooms.  Tell me how that helps their social skills.  I believe there needs to be a balance between structured lessons and group play.

Call of Story: Scene 2

All too often teachers will ask a question and the students respond with something that doesn’t pertain to the answer.  I know sometimes a student will say “Hey Mrs. Artman, my grandma has a pit bull and my uncle has a Great Dane!” and I know the question I asked was “What are the 3 primary colors?”.  The dogs may have not been the answer I was looking forward to but this child had been so excited to tell me this story all week, he couldn’t keep it in anymore.  I heard the rest of his story later and then he was off to do his work.  Children have an innocent way of telling brutally honest stories.  Another time a student came up to me around a group of other students getting ready to leave for the day and said “Where do I go?  My mom is in jail and no one is at home.”  I thought the student was joking.  I got a call later that night from CYFD (as I am a foster parent) asking me to pick up the same student with his 2 siblings.  I felt so bad as I thought he was playing a joke on me.  Sometimes stories have a serious impact on lives and as educators we need to hear the students voices….even in stories.

Call of Story: Scene 3 

I used to think the students that acted up in class were just bad kids.  I had a student throw a container of color pencils across the room.  I wrote him up as his anger escalated.  He was a very troubled child.  He came back in after school with his mother and his head was hung real low….not the aggressive kid I saw everyday in the art room.  His mother was like a military sergeant and treated him like an abused dog.  He wasn’t allowed to speak or look up.  I was appalled and a couple months later the same kid was in foster care.  He had gotten physically abused and tried to run away and kill himself.  I did report his behavior to the principal when he came to my room with his mom after school.  He said since she didn’t do physical harm to him in front of me we couldn’t turn her in.  So, in conclusion, family plays a huge part in students’ behavior in the classroom.  

classroom management- 1

What is the value of classroom management in your opinion?

I think it is the most essential part of teaching students.  A teacher can have all the knowledge in the world and give handouts, write on the board, and use the latest technology, but it all comes down to putting the information inside the child head.  The saying “you can lead a horse to water but can’t make him drink” applies to children as well.  How then are we supposed to teach the children in order for them to open their minds to new information?  The answer seems obvious if you have ever taken a college class or been involved in a long work meeting.  The information needs to be interactive and delivered in a way to get the audience’s attention.  The same holds true for children.  If it is fun/interactive and gives them a slight challenge they will be more likely to respond than if they sat through a lecture or book lesson.  I like the comment in Building a Better Teacher where Lemov states that getting students’ attention is a skill, just like playing guitar.
How will it make a difference in learning for your students?
I have recently starting using a mimio smartboard (about a year ago).  It allows teachers to embed lessons and make them interactive.  So instead of saying “who can tell me the answer?” a teacher could ask “who would like to come and show the other students the answer to the problem”.  Most students are very interested in using a large pen to draw on a surface that can easily be drawn on and erased in seconds.  Lessons can be a simple handout to a complex power point presentation that teachers and students can draw on with a stylus through a projector.  Mimio software takes it a step further by integrating games and actions that require the student to reveal the answer.  I found that by grabbing their attention and speaking their language, they wanted to participate.  I didn’t have to coax them into learning; they wanted to learn.  I am trying a blended classroom system this year in which I lecture and the students listen to the information then I actively engage them to show me an example on the smartboard.  I really would like more management techniques.
What do you need to have in place so that you can implement effective Classroom Management?
The time I have with each class is relatively short….about 3o to 45 minutes.  I struggle with getting the class of excited students seated and quiet in order to give them the information they need for that week.  I tried incorporating a warm up drawing in order to grab their attention as soon as they walk into the room.  I still have those certain students who shout out answers or get frustrated with their drawing and make a scene.  I am fortunate enough to have an assistant to help me most of the time.  I do teach classes by myself and find that keeping the noise level down, students on task, and cleaning up their area gives me very little time to say all the things I want to say.  In the article Building a Better Teacher it suggests teaching teachers to know the important, specific items to know in each subject area.  I may find that Michelangelo was the world’s best sculptor and didn’t want to be a painter, but do the students just need to see a picture of the Sistene Chapel and learn that it took him 4 years to accomplish the painting.  I really liked the suggestion of teaching relevance and not pointless curriculum.