On the meaning of 'fair'
If you're not interested in teacher talk, here's the news: I'm fine, and things are okay. The rest to follow is me talking shop.
The practicum has been going alright. I'm still struggling with some stuff, but I think I'm improving. I needed to plan better, and I'm getting a better feel for what works.
I have a few little gems I'm having trouble with. They can be really frustrating, because they're thicker than concrete, but they have huge issues in their lives. I won't name anyone, obviously, but one girl was in a car accident, and has some neural damage. Another boy, who can be a huge pain, was the one who found the body of his suicidal father, and has an enormously deadbeat mother constantly harassing him. What the hell do you do with someone like that?
While I try to figure out those two, I've got the ordinary troublemakers/slackers to deal with. One boy is constantly handing in crap work. He motors through it, but his handwriting is nearly illegible, or he just wrote the first thing that came to mind, whether it answered the question or not. It's not just me he does this to, either.
The end result is that he ends up doing everything about four times over. He can do proper work, but for whatever reason, he doesn't. Doing the same work over and over doesn't seem to be enough of a punishment, either. I decided to try something from my Ed Psych class, and make a contract with him. If he consistantly handed in decent work, well written, and at least partially thought out, he could earn himself some sort of reward. Get this, though: he pretty much ignored me when I talked to him about this, and doesn't seem interested. For the price of doing less work, he has turned down a reward (think like a chocolate bar or something)! Talk about dense!
Some people don't like the idea, because it doesn't seem fair. Why should slower learners get rewards to do their work, when the smarter students get nothing? Lots of people, probably including many of you, will agree with this. I'd like opinions, if you have them, so I can judge how people feel about what I'll be doing for the next 40 years or so.
Here's my argument in favour of this:
1) Smart kids get praise, which is a powerful motivator, especially when you're a child. Slower kids just get told to do better, or sometimes even told they're stupid.
2) 'Fair' doesn't mean everyone gets the same thing. 'Fair' means everyone gets what they need. I have glasses because I need them. If you don't have glasses, is it unfair that I get them and you don't? You don't need them. Smart kids don't need extra incentive to work harder; they do it because they know they can, and they want to impress people. Slow kids need some reason to make the effort, because they're probably not going to be rewarded with A's.
3) Smart kids usually come from wealthier, supportive families, who have the resources and time to give their child everything they need. We have one 9-year-old child prodigy who's parents are forfeiting her childhood and social skills in favour of a math/music scholarship (I'm not saying this is good; it isn't. I'm saying this girl is getting educated seven ways from Sunday). The slow kids I gave you examples of come from broken or impoverished families, and don't have the time or money to give their kids everything they need. I guess that's the beauty of the public education system: it's not great, but absolutely everyone can get something out of it.
You may not agree with that, but I'd like to hear what you think. Or if you have some idea about how to get the little bugger to finish his damn worksheets, I'm all ears.
The practicum has been going alright. I'm still struggling with some stuff, but I think I'm improving. I needed to plan better, and I'm getting a better feel for what works.
I have a few little gems I'm having trouble with. They can be really frustrating, because they're thicker than concrete, but they have huge issues in their lives. I won't name anyone, obviously, but one girl was in a car accident, and has some neural damage. Another boy, who can be a huge pain, was the one who found the body of his suicidal father, and has an enormously deadbeat mother constantly harassing him. What the hell do you do with someone like that?
While I try to figure out those two, I've got the ordinary troublemakers/slackers to deal with. One boy is constantly handing in crap work. He motors through it, but his handwriting is nearly illegible, or he just wrote the first thing that came to mind, whether it answered the question or not. It's not just me he does this to, either.
The end result is that he ends up doing everything about four times over. He can do proper work, but for whatever reason, he doesn't. Doing the same work over and over doesn't seem to be enough of a punishment, either. I decided to try something from my Ed Psych class, and make a contract with him. If he consistantly handed in decent work, well written, and at least partially thought out, he could earn himself some sort of reward. Get this, though: he pretty much ignored me when I talked to him about this, and doesn't seem interested. For the price of doing less work, he has turned down a reward (think like a chocolate bar or something)! Talk about dense!
Some people don't like the idea, because it doesn't seem fair. Why should slower learners get rewards to do their work, when the smarter students get nothing? Lots of people, probably including many of you, will agree with this. I'd like opinions, if you have them, so I can judge how people feel about what I'll be doing for the next 40 years or so.
Here's my argument in favour of this:
1) Smart kids get praise, which is a powerful motivator, especially when you're a child. Slower kids just get told to do better, or sometimes even told they're stupid.
2) 'Fair' doesn't mean everyone gets the same thing. 'Fair' means everyone gets what they need. I have glasses because I need them. If you don't have glasses, is it unfair that I get them and you don't? You don't need them. Smart kids don't need extra incentive to work harder; they do it because they know they can, and they want to impress people. Slow kids need some reason to make the effort, because they're probably not going to be rewarded with A's.
3) Smart kids usually come from wealthier, supportive families, who have the resources and time to give their child everything they need. We have one 9-year-old child prodigy who's parents are forfeiting her childhood and social skills in favour of a math/music scholarship (I'm not saying this is good; it isn't. I'm saying this girl is getting educated seven ways from Sunday). The slow kids I gave you examples of come from broken or impoverished families, and don't have the time or money to give their kids everything they need. I guess that's the beauty of the public education system: it's not great, but absolutely everyone can get something out of it.
You may not agree with that, but I'd like to hear what you think. Or if you have some idea about how to get the little bugger to finish his damn worksheets, I'm all ears.