The journey of ten thousand steps....

"Tia,why aren't you writing?" " I can't write!" This very brief conversation gave me another pause for reflection as I walked around the classroom during 5th period. 5th period is the "tough one" for my CT in World History. It is a "regular" class, made up of those students who are often considered to be "difficult learners". Much of my CT's time is spent managing the class as opposed to teaching. Some days most of the class instruction addresses behavior problems. This class has diversity, disability, and attitude. It also has some of the brightest kids in the school.They just don't know it.
Tia,for example, wrote in her private biographical letter to my CT that she "has trouble with authority figures". One might imagine how that went over. But when I read it I thought,"This is great! She is honest about something that is going to be a problem if I make it one. So I have really tried not to be an "authority figure" to Tia. Not that I have let her do what she wants for fear of being viewed as one, but I have tried to make her aware that I will honor her point of view. She is usually not engaged in the classroom discussion but it has been made clear that she needs to listen and converse. She has been something of a cypher because of this. I was not really sure about what she does know? Her grades aren't great,but their not bad either. She just didn't seem to see the point of World History. But I taught the class last week and during the lesson something "clicked". I was asking the class what they knew about the Romans as I wanted to start a conversation from what they knew,not what the book told them. Tia could not keep her hand down. She was engaged and really had great answers. Not just to answer the homework questions,but to take the concepts and make connections. She even challenged me when I was wrong and it was one of the best moments of the class. I loved telling her that she was right and I was wrong. I made it a point at the end of class to let her know how much I appreciated her participation. She smiled. So,when the class was given the lesson objective of writing a "thank you" letter to a guest speaker I was surprised that Tia had cleared her desk and was just looking around.
Tia's comment about not being able to write really puzzled me. I went to her and quietly asked her what she meant. She said that she just didn't get writing. I asked he take out her worksheet for the letter and when she did I noticed that underneath was a quiz from another class. There were ten answers,all written out in reasonably good printing. Her score on the quiz was eight out of ten. I told her that I was impressed with her score and congratulated her. I said that I also noted that she had written out the answers. So I asked what she meant when she said she couldn't write. With some frustration she said that she didn't understand the directions for the letter. I asked her to take out the directions and started to go over them with her. She said that she knew how to write a letter,but the instructions for what the letter had to contain didn't make sense. I could see that this was increasing her frustration so I told I understood,but I was sure she was capable. I reminded her that she had written the answers to the test. She said that those were answers to questions and then noted that the letter requirements weren't questions. I saw that she wasn't kidding about her confusion. Her voice and body language were consistent with someone who was confused and upset and I was worried I was going to loose her. So I said that maybe we should look at the requirements as questions and not statements. She looked at me as if I was really coming out of left field. "How could you do that?" was her comment. I said that we should try and reframe the way the statement was written. I took the first requirement and restated it as a question. When I did that she was able to answer it. The second one was a bit harder to make sense of but instead of giving up, Tia pulled out her notes from the lecture and found what she needed to answer the question. At that point I told her that she had the idea. She could do it. Unfourtunately the class was over and Tia left for her next class. Since I was not in school the next day, I don't know if she finished. I hope she did. I certainly believe that she had made enough of a connection with what I was trying to show her that she could do "something" as opposed to "nothing".
This just shows me that it is always going to come down to believing in my kids and not going along with the category that they have been placed in. They aren't "difficult learners". We are "difficult teachers". We make it hard for them because we often don't really know what it takes for them to understand. Maybe it is the "time" factor, the class size,the need to get through the curriculum. I don't know, I have not had enough experience in the classroom and the school to be able to answer with any understanding. What I do see is a need to change any or all of those factors when I become a teacher. If those are what stand in the way of Tia writing, or any student showing their potential, then they have to go. I'll figure this out at some point. It may take a while,but it's a journey and I am enjoying the company. I think I'll keep walking.