Ponderings

I'm glad I have the opportunity to continue to learn and grow as a professional educator. If I hadn't believed that I could succeed at college, I wouldn't be here now....I would be working at a grocery store for slightly more than minimum wage. I believe that we need to move away from the once and done belief that permeates our educational system. This may be radical talk, but students won't take responsibility for their learning if we continue to give them excuses such as I've never been good at science so therefore I'm not going to do well now. Another favorite is I didn't understand any of it, its just too hard. Truth of the matter is that these students didn't do well in the once and done classroom. They didn't meet with success, so they have taken science out of their quality world. Had they been in a CBC classroom, they just might enjoy science and be really good at it. I believe that there is hope for everyone and by allowing them to meet with success no matter how much time it takes, we will encourage students rather than discourage students.

I know this removes all competition within a classroom. Isn't it better to be competitive with yourself than to have to be the "top dog" in a class. What does the top dog do when they hit the top? What is the motivation to go further? In my classroom, I've tried to create a win win situation for all the students. I challenge students to think beyond what I've said. I know some competition is good, but when does it become too much?

It is really hard for me to set the top limit in my classes. I want students to know that there isn't one correct answer or one correct way to get there. If they can demonstrate their understanding, explain their thought process, be guided if they don't understand, and explore their thinking isn't that better than remembering bits and pieces of information for a test and then quickly forgetting them?









We have officially started the final trimester of the school year. I still have four students who do not have grades from first trimester. I have added a few more students who don't have grades for the second trimester. I have spent time with each one of these students asking them the following three questions: Do you know what you need to do?, Do you know how to do it?, and Do you want to do it? Interestingly all of them said they knew what to do and they all knew how to do it