Literacy With An Attitude

 

While reading this article I keep thinking back about how school was for me and how I could relate to a lot of the things that were being said in the article by Finn.  I love the part of the piece where he talks about the study that Jean Anyon did inside the classrooms and how they are divided up into social classes in America.  I get so frustrated about the lack of encouragement inside classrooms and the lack of actual teaching.  What I mean by that is in every classroom that Anyon was in each teacher just followed the way its been for years like a robot.  Either right from the books or right from how it has been for years.  I put the picture above because schools are getting smaller and smaller and less participation and less of uniqueness and creativity for students.  Schools are getting shut down and children are dropping out more and more.  I believe that it's not just the lack of encouragement inside the classroom but it is the lack of enthusiasm from teachers and creativity to push the students to not only do better but to think outside the box and relate to the readings and the assignments.  Who says the classroom has to be boring?  Yes you have to teach certain material and the students have to learn it and follow certain guidelines but why does it have to be like a military drill style?  For example look at the way the seats are aligned in the picture above.  Why? Why not space them out differently?  I believe that kids learn through what they are interested in.  Get to know your students and relate your teachings to the way they learn.  Every child learns differently.  Instead teachers for decades teach the same way and I'll post a video to show this.  It has to do with social class like Finn shows in part of the article.  Teachers see how they were taught in the classroom and use it and some times never adapt to changes.  If the students aren't getting it so what as long as the follow the guidelines and do their job they will get seniority and move to a better school.  But what about when they get to the "better school" they teach the same way and students still struggle.  I am a believer that showing is the best way to teach, not just giving notes and reading from a book and just doing work and if a student doesn't get it you just assume that you know and can read it and understand it. But because people are programed to do things a certain way if you do it different than it's wrong.  For example this quote from the article. "When a girl realized what they were making and said she had a faster way to do it, the teacher answered, "No you don't.  You don't even know what I'm making yet.  Do it this way or it's wrong." Why is it wrong.  I see this a lot now in the classroom.  If I come to the same conclusion the teacher did why is it wrong if I did it differently.  This takes away from uniqueness and creativity for that particular student.  That's telling me I can not think for myself and it has to be done the way the teacher tells me.  There is no acceptance of change by the teacher.  Also due to lack of test scores teachers assume that students do know certain material therefore do not teach it to make things easier for students instead of expanding their minds to learn more material.  But not only that if the teachers give easier material and students get better grades they get better evaluations and can move on to making more money.  Since when did becoming a teacher matter about making the most amount of money rather than seeing students succeed and do better?

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHzTUYAOkPM

 

This video is an old video and it shows right and wrong about teaching.  I thought it was good because it shows a lot of the stuff that was talked abo

ut in the article and what I have talked about in my blog.  I agree with the second half of the video about how to really teach the kids but again it is still like a military drill they way the students stand up and answer and are in the rows.  The first part of the video is awful and this still happens today.  Teachers say something and expect you know what it means. The harsh discipline for not doing well, and for acting up and getting punished.  Yes sometimes kids do things that are deserving of punishment but there is a way to handle certain situations and this video is from the either the 50's or 60's and they were trying to teach teachers to do better then and it still happens today.  Follow orders and just teach rather then teach and show. Things can be taught from the book but if you relate to your students and understand them and make things fun and interesting and test their knowledge and make students think, isn't that better?  Instead classrooms are boring and some students don't like to go because it's boring and some students don't like class because they are not pushed to their ability. 

 

In conclusion there is a major problem inside our schools and with some teachers.  I say some teachers because not every teacher is like the ones talked about by Finn but they are out there.  More than we think. 

Questions for the class:  As teachers how will you be different then the "normal" classroom that we all know?  How will you push more uniqueness and creativity inside the classroom?