Jones Ch. 3
Allowing Our Wounds to Breathe
"With Brooke, I had resigned myself to the misguided possibility that she was just 'one of those students I wouldn't be able to reach.' But in reality, teachers reach all their students, just maybe not in the ways we plan or hope to expect." (Jones, p. 38)
This chapter focused on the emotional, empathetic, and human aspect of teaching, which tend to get lost in the minutia of the day to day operations and clerical work that we go through. The quote above set the tone for the chapter, that this emotional and empathetic piece is just as important as any education that we are providing to our students. I think all teachers, even I, have had those students that we just admit to not being able to reach. When we get this thought into our minds we give up on these students and therefore forgive ourselves for any failure to reach or attempt to reach the student. In my opinion, we cannot positively effect every student every year, but that does not excuse the inability to try. I have been guilty of this myself, but this is also why the subject for my research will be the students that I otherwise would be giving up on.
It is hard to admit that there have been students almost every year that I have been a teacher that I have made the decision to give up on. Brooke's story that the author tells is never finished, and I believe the reason for that is because what happened to Brooke doesn't matter in the scope of what the author was trying to make us understand. When we make the choice to be there for our students, we can have that positive effect on our students, but when we make the choice to give up, we negatively effect our students. I can only wonder how my actions have impacted the students that I have given up on and can only hope that I do not make these decisions again.
Jones Ch. 4
Las Fronteras: Crossing Borders to Transform Ourselves and Our Teaching
The transformation of Daphne Hall into the informed, empathetic, and active participant in the life of her student is one that many of us in the TESOL program have taken (at least part of the way). Personally I have not experienced anything like the story that she described about her student Luzveya. I have had many students who have come to this country for better lives and that have come here in difficult ways, but none that I know of have had the problems with Immigration that her student had. It was interesting to see that she learned Spanish to better communicate with her students, but the major difference for me and many that I have spoken to in the TESOL program is that we deal with students who speak many different languages. In my experience, I have had students who speak Spanish, French, Portuguese, Portuguese Creole, and Tagalog. Learning all of these languages would be extremely difficult, but I do find ways to connect other than language in order to help my students.
Research Question
Question: How can classroom community affect student with behavioral disorders?
Sub-questions:
- What role do students and teachers have in fostering classroom community?
- How can classroom community affect engagement and performance?
- How does trauma play a role in the student experience?
Hello Ben,
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Your comment "When we make the choice to be there for our students, we can have that positive effect on our students, but when we make the choice to give up, we negatively effect our students"
Teaching is hard. Really hard. Especially in today's world of common core and standardized testing. But while that is stressful and grueling, we still have the opportunity to accomplish one of the most beautiful and rare goals at our job: you get to touch the life of another human being. thorough my career, I seen some of my student go to college because I made a positive impact in their lives.
Unfortunately I also have giving up on a student I thought was a lost case. Just like Brooke I have had had a few students who fell into the cracks either because I decided to let him/her fail, or because I was too busy making sure I followed the curriculum no matter what. Sadly I was probably not aware of what was going on in the student's life at home. I know I could have helped the student(s) succeed by allowing him/her share their story, concerns with me/the class. Perhaps the student response would have been very different. Unfortunately it did happen. We should do the best that we can as caring educators not to give up on our (Brooke).
Comment on Jones Chapter 4
I totally agree with you. In my school we have more than 7 languages represented, so it would be very difficult to learn each and every language. It would also be great if we can hire staff and also teachers who can speak more than one language in order to help our immigrant students and their families.
Teachers at my school are always finding ways to connect/communicate with families who speak a language other than English. The families we serve feel welcome, valued and respected and when they know they can come to our events and will be able to communicate with their children's teachers via a translator in their native language. They are more eager to come to school events and to participate fully in their child's education process.
These are very rich and deep questions, Ben. For your big question, what are some ways to rephrase the question so you are not positioning students in a deficit perspective? By saying that they have "behavioral disorders" that frames them as problems. I also wonder about the verb "affect." Is that the right word? Also, what kind of classroom community do you want to establish? Maybe something like "What are some ways to establish a positive classroom community" and then your subquestions might include something like "How do students who resist traditional schooling perceive and participate in a classroom based on positive..." something like that.
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