Warning: This is pretty long
Reflections and notes about my time in Practicum, and links to Invite! Excite! Ignite! Guiding Questions:
I also see a lot of evidence of empowering students (motivational messages p. 107) in Mr. Welch’s class on a day to day basis. He has assigned weekly roles for students, such as door holders, line leaders, classroom helpers, etc., that allow all students to engage in class activities and feel like leaders. He also constantly points out points of improvement, positive efforts and also little details to show each student he is interested and proud of them. Even writing small post it notes to really highlight a good behavior or a good day, for any student, is an incredible tool to foster enthusiasm and intrinsic motivation. That is something I know I will try to consciously keep going in my practicum. What really struck me in the reading was the short section talking about the growth mindset versus fixed mindset. We talked about this last year in several classes and it makes sense, but I can see real applications in this grade 4/5 class right now. The overall stability and health of the class depends on all the students engaging on a topic and finding some measure of success, however, the ability of individual students to reach that idea of success is so varied it seems almost impossible. Each activity we’ve done so far, is met by a handful of students who almost melt down and disengage for various reasons; too low comprehension level, lack of activity specific skills, lack of communication skills, lack of self regulation, behavioral issues, lack of concentration, poor attitude, etc. I found this quite daunting, as my grade 8 class last year was much more resilient. The low level students had become accustomed to being “low level” and had developed coping mechanisms and I could allow them to push themselves at their own pace. These students now however, have none of those skills (and also bitterness and jadedness, which is GOOD! They still expect to succeed and grow!!!), and therefore get discouraged and angry much easier. How do you manage that, with one teacher and 24-26 students? How do you manage that with some students about to explode or meltdown at any negative stimulus or provocation? This was the reason Mr. Welch told me this cohort was going to be extremely challenging at the start of the year. But, this reading, and my own observations, I had a kind of an “Ah-ha!” moment. What I really want, and need to do, is instill this idea of growth mindset in these students. Not in a broad, you can do anything way, because that is a little disingenuous, and they already see through that. But in a positive, reinforcing, and nurturing way, that says to them, “Hey, you have a lot of strengths, and we can build on those, and your weaknesses, we can build on those as well! We’re a team, and we’re going to succeed together.” I know that’s the message Mr. Welch has been trying to portray and demonstrate in the class, but it’s hard to keep that at the forefront when math drills, or reading skills are soo badly needed. This all reminded me of a Malcolm Gladwell book (or podcast, can’t remember which one) that I read, which detailed a study that tracked the success levels of students in an Ivy League school. In a nutshell, students in a class were asked a simple question, how many of them had concrete, defined goals? How many of them had those goals physically written out. It was a very small percent. How many had those goals in their minds, easily thought of? A larger, but still small percent. How many had vague goals, they kind of knew, but couldn’t succinctly articulate? That was the majority, who kind of had an idea of what they wanted. The study tracked the success of these students, and found that unanimously, the very same students who wrote down their goals, who had committed them to physical pen and paper, were all in the top 5% in academics, and went on to be in the top 5% for salary earnings and landing the best jobs. And the inverse was true of those people who had not formulated concrete goals. It’s such a simple idea, to manifest your goals and objectives and make them real, and to force yourself to interact with them on a daily basis. I thought about this looking around the classroom, and I thought, we have their names, slightly decorated, taped to their desks, to show which is their spot. It’s nice, shows a little ownership, but why not extend that? Why not have them create a list of 3 goals for the year, maybe 3 things they want to accomplish, or 1 learning goal, 1 social goal, and 1 personal goal, or any form of goal setting, maybe even list a weakness they want to improve, and have that there, physically before them. That could be tied into the moment of silence every morning. Or a morning reflective exercise, where students think about how they are going to accomplish those goals today, how they are going to improve each and every day. That kind of thoughtful exercise builds a growth mindset, it also builds deeper learning, encourages metacognition, and leads to intrinsic motivation. It felt like I had stumbled on a great, simple way of tapping into those concepts, but in a way grade 4s and 5s could relate to. This could be a life skill I could share with them which would have a lasting impact (hopefully!!) on their entire academic careers. I also wanted to tap into another idea I had these past few weeks, this one given by Wes in Shari’s class. The idea was a simple group check in each morning, where every student rates how they are on a scale of 1-5, and can add some justifications if they want. Students are also allowed to ask questions, to develop empathy, understanding, and also share each others joys or burdens. It’s a wonderful idea, and something so rarely used in classes. I remember my own experiences teaching pledge classes for my fraternity (please don’t judge too harshly). But one of the most important and beneficial practices we had was called candle pass, where we turned off the lights, and each person in the small group (usually around 7-14), was given time to reflect on how they were emotionally, mentally, physically, spiritually, and just share anything that was important to them. It was incredible, to connect with these people on such a deep level, learning personal details, struggles, goals, anything, and doing so in such a safe environment. This was designed to create a real sense of community and bonding within us. I don’t think a candle pass of that depth would be possible, but something quicker, with the same intentions would be incredible to increase the overall mental health of the class. Soo many of the students have already amazed me by their maturity and ability to empathise with each other. I’ve seen students in this grade 4/5 class, who I thought had severe behavioral issues, calm down, comfort another student, and tell them they understood and forgave them, because they also struggled with anger or frustration. That’s something MOST adults are incapable of, and here was a grade 4 putting themselves out there, being vulnerable and admitting their own mistakes to help another (usually someone they had just been fighting with moments before!). I want to bring that attitude of reconciliation, of repairing relationships, more into the classroom. I think at least a weekly check in and check out with the students would give them all a platform to share and become closer. The last thing I want to touch on is the main theme of Chapter 12, which is Believing in students and their potential. This is something I’ve been blown away by in Mr. Welch’s class, and that’s the strength of some of the students, who I didn’t see as strong or overly gifted, who have persevered through tasks and challenging assignments, and who constantly put themselves out there. There is one girl in particular, a soft spoken student, who always, ALWAYS has her hand up to volunteer a response, or help in the class or participate and show her support for Mr. Welch or myself. I don’t want to name her, but it’s something worth mentioning because she has a great deal of challenges and adversity in her own life, and yet she has a genuine love for school, for her peers and for learning. I’ve been impressed by the high level of some of the students, but this one girl has impressed me like no one else. She also made me keenly aware that those types of students, who try and work diligently, need as much attention, and deserve as much attention, as the one’s who act out or have more obvious challenges. That is another lesson Mr. Welch has helped me understand, is taking the time to ensure ALL students, especially the one’s who you often miss, the one’s who are okay on their own, doing good work, self motivated, need to be connected with, so they feel just as important as the high level student who gets the best marks, and the students who are always in trouble and by nature, require a lot of 1 on 1 time or discipline. This one student, and that notion of believing in a student’s potential, makes me want to create more dynamic, more interesting lessons, because I know she will appreciate it, I know the time and effort will be well spent. It’s a wonderfully motivating and inspiring feeling, but also one laden with expectation and work. It’s daunting to know that helping these students requires every ounce of our talent, forethought and energy, and even that is often not enough, but we have to be as diligent as we expect them to be, and continually strive to improve and develop as teachers. Alright, I feel like I rambled A LOT on this post, and maybe I got carried away at the end. I’ve definitely been dealing with my own burnout and ups and downs recently, and to be honest, I think I’m more nervous about this practicum than my first, but this last little bit here at the end, helped me find my legs again, so maybe I’m moving in the right direction. I know you won’t hear it a lot Linda, but I appreciate having to do these reflections and posts because it does force me to deal with what I’m really thinking about and where my heads at, so thank you for that.
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