What are a few of the challenges, Educators/Teachers face in molding young minds today?

Question

If you are an educator, would you site one or two examples of something YOU do in your classroom, that YOU know has made a difference?

Answer 1

Challenges:

Lack of parent responsibility for the raising of their children... physically, mentally, and spiritually.

No Child Left Behind vs. true student learning abilities, overloaded classrooms limiting individual instruction time, variable student developmental levels, etc.

Not enough time to complete all paperwork demands, duties, etc. in contracted time... LOTS of overtime with no extra pay for it.


What have I done to make a difference with my students?

I believe in each and every one of them, and my decisions and actions are driven by my desire to help them succeed... and they know it. I watch my students start my Resource (special ed program) as disheartened, depressed children, who think they're stupid because the ONLY skill school communities value is reading... and by the end of the year I send confident, motivated, yet exhausted STUDENTS home for a well-deserved summer rest. My second and third year students return to me in August believing that they can indeed survive and learn at school... and ready to work.

I individualize my approaches to instruction and materials for each and every one of my students... to target specific weak skills and cause rapid overall growth. When they are developmentally ready, Learning Disabled students (e.g. dyslexics) make 1.5 to 2.5 grade level gains in reading with me each year. Those not developmentally ready to read make 1/4 to 1/2 grade level gains in reading with me each year.... and we wait for the "connectivity moment" when those synapses grow and close, and everything we've done suddenly makes sense....

I have the students who have made the "developmental leap" and who are working on reading fluency toward grade level act as mentors to those still unable to "break the code." The constant message... "I was there. I felt like it would never happen for me, but it did!"

One of the most exciting moments in my class is the inevitable squawk of surprise and fear when the words on the page "talk" in the student's head without forced conscious decoding...
"Miss! The words talked in my head and I wasn't reading them!"
It is an alarming experience for people who have never experienced it before.

The first kids that happens to each year involve a whole-class explanation of how "hearing" the words in your head is REAL reading... and how it works for most fluent readers. We take a break from our studies, congradulate the new READER, and have that person be our reader at next storytime... the look on their faces when they find that the "talking" of the words also extends to their oral reading is priceless.

Answer 2

Show the children that you truly LIKE them. If they know this they will want to please you. No one wants to learn or be taught by a person who is not kind and trustworthy. Take a personal interest in each child; even if it means just asking where they got that new shirt or what they did over the weekend. Be relaxed in class, don't yell (it undermines your authority), speak in a low, soft, pleasant voice, the louder you talk the louder they will. Play soft, relaxing music in the classroom while the students are doing quiet work. I taught middle school for 10 years and the students get restless after sitting for 20 minutes or so. I would allow a "7th inning stretch". The kids would stand by their desks and I would stretch with them. Touch the sky, touch toes, bend to the side, etc. Try to grab their attention at the start of each class with a story or an interesting quote. Allow them to express themselves freely without judgement from you. Some of the children I taught got very little at home. Always remember that you do make a difference in their lives and you want that difference to be good! I taught with a woman who never smiled, tried to keep control by yelling and gave the kids boring busy work. Her class was a zoo. The children weren't engaged or interested and it showed. If you show them respect and not stoop to their level, they will respect you and learn from you. Teaching is truly a noble profession. Be the best you can be!!

Answer 3

I agree with Jack Mehoff. High school students may not be on their own in the world yet, but they soon will be. By giving students respect and allowing them to state their opinions and ask questions (within parameters) in the classroom, I feel that many of my students were able to understand that they do count, that their opinions were important.

As a teacher I try my best to instill good citizenship, lifelong learning and personal growth into all that I teach so that my students will be able to be productive citizens.

Answer 4

I don't know how old your students are, but at the high school level I find if you treat your students like adults, give them some respect and responsibility, you get better responses out of them.