March's Rant

You know what really ticks me off? The word "should" when over-applied to students. For instance, "Josh should be able to sit still and focus for an hour." In a perfect world, Josh should. But what if Josh can't? What if his brain is wired differently and sitting still for an hour makes his mind shut down? We could say he should be able to do this and make it his fault. Or we could accept the fact that he can't and take steps to help him. Perhaps two minutes of active movement at the beginning of class and maybe even at the middle would help him focus the other 56 minutes. Perhaps letting him doodle or fiddle with silly putty would help him learn. Chewing gum (as much as I hate it) helps some students. Perhaps teachers should look at an unsuccessful student and see what is needed to help him succeed.

Another example I hear regularly is that students should do what they are supposed to without expecting praise. Well, yes, they should. But they don't. Most of these kids are running so in the red with negative teacher/parent/peer comments that they need a huge amount of praise to have any hopes of getting in the black, praise-wise. What harm does it do to tell a kid you love how still he's sitting? Watch everyone around him try for that same comment. Telling a kid you appreciate how neatly she is writing will improve the chances of her continuing to write neatly. We all love to be noticed and praised, and intense kids need much more praise than other kids do. Praise is cheap, quick, and efficient.

One of my third grade tutoring students is having a horrendous time in school right now. EOG madness is reaching its peak and teachers are going into high gear. He's getting into lots of trouble. I asked him one day, if HE were designing a school, how would it be different? After we got past candy for lunch and Pepsi in the water fountains, he had some great ideas. He just needed to move around more, he said. And he'd like to have work that he could understand. He very seldom gets praised or called upon, because he is a trouble-maker. He's a smart kid with supportive parents and he should be a success. Perhaps we should look at why he isn't succeeding and make some changes. Perhaps our schools should be more open to students who learn differently. If we did, I think we'd find we needed to spend less time on discipline and remediation and we'd see some kids bloom and learn. I'd like to see that day come soon.