Teaching Thought #5
The problem with your classroom is you; the solution to that
problem, though, is also you. I get a
lot of this: “Yeah, I’d love my job as much as you if I got to teach the best
of our best.” And there is a grain of
truth to that. I won’t deny that. But, it’s not like I just started loving my
job once the college in the high school classes started. And it’s not like they don’t offer their own challenges.
If students don’t enjoy my class or learn enough, it is
still mostly my fault (or so I believe).
Last year, for example, I had a student who was absolutely addicted to
her cell phone. This became my problem not
hers, for it drove me crazy. So I set
about trying to remedy this.
Thus, I tried to become the solution to the problem. I verbally called her out every time I saw
her on it, which was about every five minutes.
That still didn’t work.
Then I tried contacting home. That still didn’t work.
Finally, I instituted a cell phone prison policy where if I
saw you on your phone, I would deduct points from your final research paper,
which was going to be a massive, end-of-the-year project.
A funny thing happened, the rest of the class put their
phones in and benefited. My original
student, though, did not.
She had so many points deducted from her final paper that
she would have earned a negative score had I applied all of deductions to it.
I failed in trying to get her off of her phone. I was the problem. I tried to be the
solution, but it wasn’t for her. I can
live with that.
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