I was talking to my boss at Tussey Mountain last night about becoming an English teacher. She asked me why I wanted to teach older kids and not the elementary age. I told her that I wanted my students to already know how to read and write by the time they got to my class so I could work on more challenging material and not so much the basics. She said to me, “Well, you are still going to have those kids that slip through the cracks. Then what?”
“Then what” is a great question. Whenever I picture myself teaching in a school, I always picture my students like how I was as a student-- smart and willing to do the work required to get smarter. But, thinking back, there were definitely people in my grade who “slipped through the cracks” and who never really had that solid foundation of how to read and write fluidly.
This scared me when my boss said this, and I didn’t really know how to respond. As I got on the lift to go back up the mountain, I started picturing myself working with students who struggle with the basics rather than the smart kids who are passing easily through school. It will be those slower students who will prove to be the most challenging and push my teaching abilities, but it is also those students who will benefit most from what I have to offer. Just as Keith Gilyard emphasized that it is important for African Americans to learn Standard English, it is also important that all students, no matter what dialect they speak, learn how to read and write with Standard English so as to “keep the possibility of upward mobility alive” (74).
As a future English teacher, I made a pact last night with myself that it would be my challenge to help those students. I want every student who steps into my class to have the opportunity of “upward mobility” no matter who they are. I don’t want any to “slip through the cracks” and get passed along until graduation. I know this seems naïve to help everyone, but I want to try my best, starting now. So, as I dream about the day when I’ll finally get my own classroom, I’m going to stop dreaming about how I can challenge smart kids; I’m going to dream about how I can give those students in the cracks the dream of upward mobility in their lives. I challenge all of you to do the same.
NCTE Resources for Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month
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4 comments:
I think it is admirable that you want to help those students who may not perform adequately in reading/writing.
When I first came to PSU planning to major in English education (I switched to just English within the first semester) I had a similar idea. I wanted to help everybody; I figured that I would have the most to offer to those students that "were in the cracks". But then I started thinking: why are these children in "the cracks". I would like to think that many teachers have the same idea, especially the younger, newer, perhaps more optimistic students. But not every student wants to be helped. There will be students that do not want to learn and don't particularly care what you have to teach them or how eager you are to help them. How will you get through to these students? How will you get through to those students that do not have a proficiency in Standard English and do not want or care to learn? How will you teach students like Gilyard, who don't show up to class?
One could say that if the student doesn't care about his education, why should the teacher. But these are the students that end up in the crack, the trick is, how do you make them care?
Meg, when I read your post, I got really depressed! Haha. I honestly don’t have an answer for you, and I guess there really isn’t an answer. I just have to tirelessly come into school with a positive attitude and help whoever I can. It is almost impossible to help someone who doesn’t want to be helped. But, I can plant seeds that they may not consciously be aware of that can affect them later in life. I guess that is all I can hope for for those unwilling students.
Don't get depressed. The question I posed you was one of the main reasons that I dropped out of the education major. I didn't want to deal with students that didn't care, I just wanted to sit around and talk about how great books were with the students who did care (which is a great description of my AP english class).
Don't be discouraged. Students recognize when teachers are trying to help them, and it makes one feel good to have somebody care whether they succeed or fail.
As a future English teacher, this is a question I've worried about time and time again. My mom is a 1st grade teacher, so she is the one teaching the kids to read and write and every year she comes across students who simply can't grasp the concepts. I go into her class several times a year, and these students are always the ones I take a special interest in. I've noticed that most of the time, when a young child falls behind, they become embarrassed and, in turn, stop trying because they feel like they're not "normal" or not as good as their peers. This is where they begin to slip into the cracks. This is where we need to stop the problem before it progresses. If students are given the opportunity to fall behind at such a young age, they will fall further and further as time goes on and eventually it will become nearly impossible for them to catch up. But, like you said, it's a daunting task to say we can stop every student from falling behind. So what are we to do? What to we do when we're given students who simply don't care anymore? For me, the answer is simple: we don't give up. Because these are the kids who have had everyone give up on them. We can't facilitate the problem. Of course, this is easier said than done, but it's the answer. Like you, I don't want to focus on the students who float gracefully from grade to grade. I want to focus on the ones who are down in the dirt, dragging their feet. Anyone can teach the students who love school and strive for a success, but a truly successful teacher takes the students who have no motivation left and shows them their potential. Maybe I'm dreaming big here, but if I wanted an easy career, I wouldn't have decided to become a teacher :)
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