Kayla was having one hell of a rough day, week, and year. Every single day she gathers her step-brothers (2nd and 4th grade) and walks them to and from school. She does their laundry, she gets there chips at the gas station on the way to school, and her step-brothers teachers always council with her about all of the misfortunes and poor choices they made in the classroom. Every day she gets some sort of “dinner” together for them, does laundry again, does dishes again, and cleans her room. She tries to do the homework, but she is so tired. Her Mom works two jobs, living at her Grandma’s house who isn’t all there. Dad is off in la-la land. Kayla is tired. She is rough, she is rigid, she is not methodical for an 8th grader by no means. She is Kayla, and there are a whole lot of “Kayla’s” out there where the struggle is real.
Kayla has chapter-section book work for math every night, chapter reading and summary reports, vocabulary as long as the eyes can see, and in social studies she has to do reading about the dullness of history in the words of a boring author that lacks any story writing skills to spark the slightest interest in a middle school student. Kayla is tired. Kayla doesn’t do her homework. Kayla is quickly categorized as “lazy,” and, “lacks motivation,” by her teachers.
Kayla is not lazy by any means. Kayla is prioritizing the survival methods of our most primitive nature as humans; food, shelter, siblings, community.
Kayla is not lazy by any means. Kayla is prioritizing the survival methods of our most primitive nature as humans; food, shelter, siblings, community. Everything else in Kayla’s eyes is not a priority. She wants to succeed, she wants a better life, she wants so much more but at every turn she is worn, torn and scorned. What are we doing for Kayla as educators? Are we going to take the strategy of public shaming her until she, “come’s around?” Are we to simply whisper to our colleagues, “Oh, I wish she would just try.”
We as educators are faced with so many cases similar to this in so many schools, whether they are urban, suburban and/or rural. This is not unique and this is not special, but more importantly, this is a reality. We’re trained to Tier our students based on ability level, Tier our students based on learning styles, Tier our students based on interest levels. We’re trained to differentiate our instruction, scaffold the standards and dissect the all-mighty data-drop to reach all our students in the classroom. We’re trained to teach cooperative learning, collaborative grouping and connectivity of knowledge in the classroom so that the students can build off each other. This is all great for getting the students to be better prepared for the standards, and the non-“Kayla’s” may even pick up on some useful habits that they can carry on throughout their life. May I make a suggestion?
We are not providing any new opportunities, yet we are asking our students to use their observational ability, their self-awareness and their natural inquiry (we call it curiosity) to explore, ask, and “figure it out.”
The “Kayla’s” are in a hole. Their ecosystem sucks, and they don’t like it either. In order to meld the non-“Kayla’s” and the “Kayla’s” of the classroom, why not provide the opportunity for application of knowledge outside of the classroom. Allow our students to be creative, choose topics, choose projects, and choose mediums of methods to share what they know. Use videos that are funny, use interactive activities, and use opportunities that the students are already interacting with outside the classroom to explore their knowledge.
All of the students buy things, or are around us when we buy things. With this, you can easily come up with dozens of math, ELA, social studies and science assignments with ease. The only hard part is where teachers will need to collaborate. We are not providing any new opportunities, yet we are asking our students to use their observational ability, their self-awareness and their natural inquiry (we call it curiosity) to explore, ask, and “figure it out.”
You may ask yourself, “Well how do I rubric that!” Three words; Check +, Check, Check –. If their reporting is detailed, thoughtful, and left with more questions they get the Check +. A little less, Check, and if the work is well below their known ability level, but completed, they get the Check –. Don’t over think it. The expectation is on the student. Give them the choices of work on Monday, and they have until Friday to turn it in. They can turn it in early, but they cannot turn it in late. Above all else we assess based on the individuals abilities level. If you have an 8th grader scoring at a 3rd grade level, than by all means accommodate that scoring so the student can build on some success!
Kayla could easily do a math problem on all of the tasks she has to do, she could easily do peer-to-peer instruction with her step-brothers which will reinforce her foundation skills, draw maps to improve her map skills, use a compass to help directional skills, compare and contrast different laundry soaps, explore science with cooking… The list can go on and on. Time to think about more than the standards that the students have to be proficient; it’s time to think about the students holistically and applying their knowledge.
Recent Comments