One week down. [Marks tally on wall]
What an interesting week it was... The biggest struggle throughout my first week was trying to remember names. The, err.... interesting names that these students have does not speed up the process. Mr. Martin uses a method of greeting the students at the door each day to learn their names. Due to having four adults in the room for the first three hours of the day, I've resorted to listening in on these greetings (the students really don't need to shake four hands on their way in) as well as taking attendance from the seating chart to practice their names. Thank God for seating charts!
I have most of them down by now, but I really don't feel shame in asking them to repeat their names. I hope to have it down pat by the end of the second week.
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On day two, we had the students fill out basic informational cards. These essentially included their names, where they were born, something fun they did over the summer, something they remember from Math class last year, and a goal that they have for their future. This last one was emphasized because, well, it was the most interesting. It was not specified what "the future" meant, so the students were given a few liberties in that determination.
The male responses were overwhelmingly of the nature: NFL player, NBA player, to play college football.
At first glance, one is wont to chalk it up to the dreams of a young mind... until you stop and think about the situation in which these students live. (Warning: Sweeping generalizations to follow) The students in my classroom are predominantly African American, and many live in families with less than ideal circumstances. It is about this age (sixth and seventh grade) when students tend to shed their childish "fantastical" dreams, but I fear that these students lack the positive role models and influences to move beyond these dreams. Compounded with all these "uplifting" stories of poor, African American athletes rising up from impoverished situations to become heroes in their respective athletic areas, these males may be of the state of mind that the only way to become something is to become a star athlete. Who do these stories uplift, anyways? Surely, they aren't doing anyone any favors. Note: this could be total BS. [Gives grain of salt].
The female responses were much less centralized on any specific goal, ranging from passing sixth grade, to going to college, to becoming a lawyer, to becoming a teacher, and so on. One interesting young lady indicated that she wanted to be both a lawyer and a hairdresser. More power to her!
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Otherwise, my first week was pretty nondescript. Most of the time was spent establishing procedural practices. I have pretty strong opinions regarding the Responsible Thinking Process line of questioning to address behavioral issues, but I'll save that for a later date. I've said it before, and I'll say it again:
The biggest struggle for my students this fall isn't going to be the new material, but the basic Math that they should already know. When one cannot confidently add single-digit numbers, algebra is going to be a blast!
-Matt
2 comments:
But since the way they were taught basic facts before didn't work, what are they going to different this time.
So what are some other ways (besides athletics) that these boys encounter successful black males? how might you help them create more attainable goals?
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