A Teacher's Ruminations

Have you ever had an uncomfortable encounter with a student who was defiant and disrespectful? I have, and on more than one occasion. I am always shocked when this happens because I feel that I am the opposite, or at least I try to be. When it seems that I'm not, then I apologize and try to make amends. I've been thinking about this lately because perhaps I'm too easy on kids when they behave inappropriately. I talk too much and explain things too carefully. Maybe, I need to be a little firmer when these situations arise. Fewer words and zero tolerance. Of course, we all make mistakes, including me, so there's always the opportunity to make amends. But, when students are recalcitrant and have no regrets for their actions, I worry. It makes me think that there's a powder keg in there ready to explode. How can I help a student like this reflect on his or her actions in order to make retribution? How can we help children learn how to handle emotions and t...

Over the next few days,  I am going to try to respond to some of the questions I posed in yesterday's post about assessment. You can read that post  here . I don't pretend to have all the answers to these questions but ruminating about them allows me to consider some possible solutions or points of view. I invite readers of this blog to engage in this conversation with me.  I also want to acknowledge my  PLN -  #sblchat - for bold discussions on standards based grading and learning that are enriching my thinking about assessment. Whose responsibility is it to make sure students learn?  Is it the responsibility of parents?  Teachers? Students? Or, perhaps a combination of two or more of the above? The short answer to this question is: everyone who touches the life of a child is responsible for his or her learning. This includes the child, of course.  However, when it comes to learning in schools there is no doubt in my mind that the primary...

           "He's just bored, " she said.             "No. I don't accept that. In this class, he has lots of opportunities to challenge himself," I responded.  Although seemingly calm when I said this, I was seething inside. This is what I was really thinking: "Not in my class."        "Maybe he needs a nudge. Some kids need that, you know," she countered.       "Maybe," I responded.  This is what I was really thinking: "Maybe that would be true if he were in the class down the hall where all they do is worksheets day in and day out. But not in my class."        Then, as I'm wont to do, I started to doubt myself.        I sat down with Todd (not his real name) to talk about his math work. I wanted to get a better sense of how he thought about this particular problem since his thinking wasn't clearly evidenced in the explanation ...