Saturday, July 08, 2006
Been a Long Time, Been a Long Time...
What a freaking year. Yes, I am still here even though I haven't written in over a year. I am teaching high school now, and I finally reached summer vacay about 1 1/2 weeks ago. What a crazy year. I discovered so much, mainly how much my organizational abilities must improve in order to make this job doable and how crazy teenagers can be.
There is so much to write that I do not know what to choose.
This morning, I have been reading a book by Mel Levine called The Myth of Laziness. It's about how learning disabilities add to "output failure" in kids and then they are labelled "lazy" by teachers, parents, peers, and that labelling is not a productive way to help these kids. Ok, ok, ok. My red flag goes up: "output failure" i.e. "not doing anything"?!?!? Sounds like a euphemism, an excuse, perhaps, an obvious description. How does it help to call it "output failure" instead of "not doing something"? Not sure.
Then, I read on about the first case, a obese 11 year old who told his highly-educated parents over dinner one night that he was thinking of killing himself because he was sad and just didn't know why he should live. This caught my attention, of course, because of my brother, but also because I felt so lucky for those parents. I think I even said, "You are SO lucky he told you this" out loud, here on the couch, with my kitty sleeping and Joe (fiance) at rehearsal. Suddenly, I was attached. Would this story have a happy ending?
Dr. Levine broke down all of these motor functions that are involved with sports and writing, which were two areas of "output" (I, finding myself more willing to use Levine's terms now) that the kid was struggling with -- little details like being able to tell by touch (instead of the more tedious/less accurate by sight) where you are in the formation of a letter. He tested this kid and found where his psycho-motor breakdowns were occuring. He "demystified" these breakdowns to the kid so that the kid had some perspective, some hard data stating his strengths and weaknesses. The kid's shrink put him on anti-anxiety meds. The PE teacher gave him tasks that he was more likely to succeed at. The physical therapist worked with him on his writing troubles. The parents, doctors, teachers, therapists, etc., designed this major program of treatment for our 11 year old and "Voila!". A lot of close observation, testing, conversation, strategic planning later, this kid has techniques to help improve the areas of his life at which he was failing.
He is no longer a "lazy failure," or a "disappointment to those he loves" -- reasons why one would want to kill oneself at age 11 or 16 or 24 or any age, I suppose.
As I read this book, I thought of a few things. I thought of this kid named AN to whom I grew quite attached even though he was an enormous pain in the butt the whole year. He would not work. He came to class almost every day. He was extremely social. About halfway through the year, I finally discovered that he read and wrote on a very low level, despite sounding very bright in conversation. He stuck with me because I had no idea whatsoever what to do about him and failed him miserably. Of course, I am not the only adult in his life, so it's not all on me, but I certainly did not help him solve his reading and writing problems.
Another thing I thought of was how I really should make individual anecdotes on a weekly or bi-weekly basis about each kid next year. Since I tend to think on paper much better than in my head or in conversation, having the discipline to write about each kid (even 3 sentences) will help me focus on what each kid needs and make a plan to help.
Another thing I thought of was how much more rewarding it might be to be a person who works with kids on a personal basis than it is to be a teacher who tries to juggle so many kids, often all at once. I think that the hardest skill to master is playing the whole game/team/class at once and knowing what's going on with each piece simultaneously and actually being able to tend to each kid. I think that on a one-on-one or two-on-one basis, I can help almost any kid at least somewhat. But, I am not a professional tutor. Tutors do not make enough to live on and it's probably hard to fnd that gig. I am a teacher.
more later...
-d
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There is so much to write that I do not know what to choose.
This morning, I have been reading a book by Mel Levine called The Myth of Laziness. It's about how learning disabilities add to "output failure" in kids and then they are labelled "lazy" by teachers, parents, peers, and that labelling is not a productive way to help these kids. Ok, ok, ok. My red flag goes up: "output failure" i.e. "not doing anything"?!?!? Sounds like a euphemism, an excuse, perhaps, an obvious description. How does it help to call it "output failure" instead of "not doing something"? Not sure.
Then, I read on about the first case, a obese 11 year old who told his highly-educated parents over dinner one night that he was thinking of killing himself because he was sad and just didn't know why he should live. This caught my attention, of course, because of my brother, but also because I felt so lucky for those parents. I think I even said, "You are SO lucky he told you this" out loud, here on the couch, with my kitty sleeping and Joe (fiance) at rehearsal. Suddenly, I was attached. Would this story have a happy ending?
Dr. Levine broke down all of these motor functions that are involved with sports and writing, which were two areas of "output" (I, finding myself more willing to use Levine's terms now) that the kid was struggling with -- little details like being able to tell by touch (instead of the more tedious/less accurate by sight) where you are in the formation of a letter. He tested this kid and found where his psycho-motor breakdowns were occuring. He "demystified" these breakdowns to the kid so that the kid had some perspective, some hard data stating his strengths and weaknesses. The kid's shrink put him on anti-anxiety meds. The PE teacher gave him tasks that he was more likely to succeed at. The physical therapist worked with him on his writing troubles. The parents, doctors, teachers, therapists, etc., designed this major program of treatment for our 11 year old and "Voila!". A lot of close observation, testing, conversation, strategic planning later, this kid has techniques to help improve the areas of his life at which he was failing.
He is no longer a "lazy failure," or a "disappointment to those he loves" -- reasons why one would want to kill oneself at age 11 or 16 or 24 or any age, I suppose.
As I read this book, I thought of a few things. I thought of this kid named AN to whom I grew quite attached even though he was an enormous pain in the butt the whole year. He would not work. He came to class almost every day. He was extremely social. About halfway through the year, I finally discovered that he read and wrote on a very low level, despite sounding very bright in conversation. He stuck with me because I had no idea whatsoever what to do about him and failed him miserably. Of course, I am not the only adult in his life, so it's not all on me, but I certainly did not help him solve his reading and writing problems.
Another thing I thought of was how I really should make individual anecdotes on a weekly or bi-weekly basis about each kid next year. Since I tend to think on paper much better than in my head or in conversation, having the discipline to write about each kid (even 3 sentences) will help me focus on what each kid needs and make a plan to help.
Another thing I thought of was how much more rewarding it might be to be a person who works with kids on a personal basis than it is to be a teacher who tries to juggle so many kids, often all at once. I think that the hardest skill to master is playing the whole game/team/class at once and knowing what's going on with each piece simultaneously and actually being able to tend to each kid. I think that on a one-on-one or two-on-one basis, I can help almost any kid at least somewhat. But, I am not a professional tutor. Tutors do not make enough to live on and it's probably hard to fnd that gig. I am a teacher.
more later...
-d
