Following CDC Guidelines When Returning to the Classroom

            When I taught in middle school and high school, classes were crowded with 35-40 students and hallways during class change were like a cattle stampede with 1500-1600 students in the middle school running to their next classes while crowds of 9^th grade students milled in large groups to socialize.  In the high school it was worse.  Three to five thousand students trudged like a large organism shoulder to shoulder.  They were packed so close together that it would have been possible to crowd surf over their downturned heads while the din of half muffled of yells and altercation when someone accidently stepped on a toe or the back of heal filled the hallways and the rustle of students weighted down by cumbersome backpacks filled with heavy textbooks slowly lumbered to their next class.  In both the middle school and the high school the smell of perspiration rose like a dark cloud over the hallway.  So, how do school even begin to imagine schools can keep students six feet apart? How do you keep students safe from Covid 19 when the air they breath is recirculated through the windowless classrooms all day long?

            One idea is to only require students to attend classrooms one day a week.  Teachers would work in teams: one English language arts teacher, one social studies teacher, one science teacher and one math teacher all teaching the same grade level. Each classroom would house ten to twelve students arranged in desks six feet apart where each teacher would teach his/her academic discipline for 40 to 45 minutes before the teacher, not the students would rotate classrooms; thereby, reducing the close contact found in class change times. There would be four rotations making it possible for each student to be instructed in English, social studies, science and math before lunch.

            For lunch each teacher could escort his/her students to the cafeteria to retrieve lunch and either eat in the cafeteria, spread out or return to the classroom to eat.  The food could be delivered to the classroom, but the problem of disinfecting the classroom before and after eating food could be a problem.  During the H1N1 Virus, teachers in my school disinfected the students’ desks and chairs after each class and met the students at the door with hand sanitizer before the class began.  The teachers’ not the district paid for these supplies, but today finding disinfectant wipes, let alone hand sanitizer is almost impossible.  Furthermore, my classroom had carpeting on the floor and walls making it difficult to sanitize.  So, extra supplies and manpower would be needed if needed.  

            The other problem with the plan is the poor teachers haven’t had a break from the students to use the rest rooms or eat lunch.  Team teaching with another teacher in the same discipline might rectify this problem; however, with teacher required to organize and teach classes and provide on-line assignments and zoom classes for all students at least four days a week, more teachers are going to be needed and many states are suffering from teacher shortages.

            What about electives?  Whiles these 40-48 students are taking their solid classes: English, social studies, science and math, 40-48 other students are taking elective classes: computers, art, dance, physical education, drama and any other elective.  Now, the two groups rotate.  The next day another 80-96 students repeat the process.  

            Are there problems?  Yes, this solution would require a lot of teamwork and planning.  While one set of teachers is in the classroom, other teachers are planning on-line assignments and teaching zoom classes.  Despite the teacher shortage in most states, more educators would be needed all who are well versed in their discipline, but also in technical skills.  Organizing students’ schedules might be challenging because not all students who are in advanced classes in one discipline are in advanced classes in another.  Furthermore, parents who had students in different grade levels or different schools, might want them to attend school on the same day which might be difficult if not impossible.  Teaching two or three sets of academic classes simultaneous on differing levels might make integrating students into the groups possible, but it would take detailed scheduling. 

            Physical contact with students will require faculty, staff and students to be screened and tested daily and requiring everyone to wear gloves and facemasks will make communicating difficult.  Students with autism and learning disabilities might find the situation unbearable.

        The advantages include buses would only transport 20% of the students daily which would make social distancing possible. Hallways would be virtually empty between classes. Although students would only have one day per week of face to face time with teachers , that time could increase learning and provide an emotional connection students’s need.  In the end districts might decide that on-line classes are more practical and economical.  All we can do is hope for a vaccine soon and that all faculty, staff and students are willing to get it.  

            

Covid 19 Who Is Responsible

It’s All On You

When I began my teaching career in the mid ‘70’s, the philosophy was schools provided an educational opportunity. Whether a child decided to partake of this opportunity or not was his/her choice. As a result a higher percentage of students from lower-socioeconomic groups or those with learning disabilities did not complete high school. Some families encouraged their children to drop-out to seek employment and enhance the family’s economic situation and those with learning disabilities or language acquisition left public schools frustrated that their needs weren’t being met.

Pass if Possible 

In the late ‘70’s and early ‘80’s, the philosophy changed. The student became less responsible for his/her education and the teacher became responsible for students’ academic success. Students were expected to succeed at his/her personal best. To guarantee this, administrators looked at the teachers’ failure rates, not the students’ mastery of learning. The administration monitored grades and confronted teachers whose failure rates were too high. Instead of evaluating a teacher’s instruction methods and student learning, teachers were encouraged to pass if possible. Teachers called parents  to increase a student’s attendance and completion of assigned work As a result grade inflation occurred. This continued into the ‘90’s when grades, not learning, became more visible for parents who could access teacher’s grades on on-line roll books.  During this time, parents would wait outside my classroom to inquire why their son’s assignment handed-in five minutes before didn’t appear in the on-line grade book. Worse yet, was the parent who e-mailed me about her son’s research paper that I hadn’t yet graded while I sat in intensive care beside my husband who was in a coma recovering from a near death heart attack. The responsibility had shifted completely away from the child to the teacher.

Mastery For All

When end of the year assessment began in the 2000’s, the philosophy changed again: the teacher was now not only responsible for every students academic grade, and learned the material to his or her potential, but that every student successfully mastered the learning objectives developed by the state and federal office of education for his/her grade level. Data on students’ test scored were aggregated by subgroup and displayed on state websites so the pressure was not only on the teacher, but the entire education system to improve education for all students. This meant the teacher had to make certain every child completed every assignment and test successfully, but provide scaffolding activities for students’ with learning disabilities, language acquisition issues and behavior problems. Teaching had become more complicated with fully integrated classrooms after mainstreaming became more prevalent. English language learners, students with autism, learning disabilities and behavioral disabilities were housed in the same class with 40+ other students on every learning level. While teachers were held to an even higher level of responsibility, students were encouraged to resubmit assignments that they performed poorly on and retake tests. Even students who plagiarized papers were encouraged to rewrite them without penalty,  Achieving learning goals became the goal rather than accepting responsibility. Still, new instructional techniques and the integration of technology improved instruction.

Working Together At Home

Then came the Corona Virus and the student were sent home to learn on-line. Surprisingly, despite a plethora of high level interactive websites, conferencing with teachers on Zoom,and virtual tours of museums, zoos,and aquariums, some students have never even logged on. After 40’s years of giving the entire responsibility for education to teachers, parents and children must assume some portion of responsibility for their child’s education. Returning to the days when students were responsible for either accepting or rejecting their education seems untenable because 50% chose to fail. We should not be surprised that some parents and children are having difficulties? Teachers need to call these families. If the child has no internet connection Comcast offers low or no cost internet to low income families or parents can call 844.488-8398 and Spectum also offers free internet. If the child or the parent needs encouragement to sit together and work on the assignments, the teacher should offer it. Analyzing and improving techniques to reach the reluctant learners will improve outcomes. The education of the child is not just the child’s responsibility, not just the teacher’s responsibility, but a collaboration of the child, the parent and the teacher. Responsibility for a child’s education  truly belongs to the entire community.

Don’t Weaponize Grades

Don’t Weaponize Grades

by Jill Jenkins

Recently, I recently joined an old grade school friend for lunch. During our conversation she described how a junior high math teacher had treated her unfairly.  Being a bright girl, my friend finished her exam earlier than many students and began chatting with those sitting around her.  The teacher said nothing; he didn’t attempt to correct her behavior; he didn’t chastise her; he didn’t accuse her of cheating; however, at the end of the quarter he gave her a failing grade from the class despite the fact she had completed all of the assigned work and performed well on all of the tests.  In disbelief, her mother went to school and confronted the teacher who explained that because she had talked in his class after she finished a test he had failed her as he considered it cheating.  After some negotiating he agreed to give her the better of two grades on her semester grade if her behavior improved.  It made me wonder about the students who looked at their grades in disbelief and no understanding as to why they received a failing grade and whose parents would never go to school and question a teacher’s judgement.  I was one of those students.  I too had a teacher who lowered my grade because of my behavior and I was left to my own volition to correct the problem.  The wrong was never righted.  Grades should never be used as a weapon against a student that a teacher finds annoying.  Grades should be a reflection of a child’s learning.

A child’s behavior in a classroom is often a reflection of his/her level of maturation. Children from ten to eighteen are going through puberty and their brains are flooded with hormones.  Sitting still, paying attention and being quiet are almost impossible for them.  Teachers need to adapt their teaching techniques to accommodate their biological needs and help them learn appropriate behavior, rather than punishing them for being a child.  I remember a substitute teacher complaining to me about a student who hummed when he took a test.  I told her that his engine was running.  Many students nervous noises and click their pen or hammer with a pencil on their desks when they are under the stress of test taking.  These are behaviors that the teacher needs to accept.  Students who are particularly bright will often talk when they complete an assignment or a test, so having alternative activities that can engage their brain can help them maintain quiet while others finish their tests.  It is also important to differentiate between talking because a student is bored and talking to share answers.  Cheating is different than socializing.

Why do students talk? 

• ·       Most students talk because they are social animals. When they complete a test or assignment, they are going to talk.  Some students will talk to anyone, so when you move their seat away from their friends and next to you, they will talk to the teacher.  I know because I was that student.  I recall in sixth grade being sent to the principal’s office for socializing.  I talked so much to Mrs. MacDonald, that she put me in an outer office to answer the telephone telling me that I was “in charge of answering the phone.”  When a group of firemen arrived and asked to speak to someone in charge, I told them that I was in charge.  Mrs. MacDonald rescued them laughing, “She really thinks she is.” 
• ·       Some students talk because they don’t understand instructions.  Asking a class if they have any questions is useless.  Adolescent brains are clicking off and on faster than a strobe light at a disco.  The solution is to have random students throughout every corner of the room, repeat the instructions.  If you offer an incentive like a piece of candy, they are more likely to listen more closely when they are given instructions.  Otherwise, expect the students to sound like a flock of chickens at the beginning of each activity.  They would rather ask each other for direction than the scary, old teacher. 
• ·       Sometimes they are exchanging answers, but be certain before accusing a student.  When accusing a student or a pair of students take them out in the hall away from the other classmates.  Ask the student to explain what he/she was doing.  Confront the student about what you saw and explain to the students why that behavior is destructive to their learning and their moral behavior.  Failing the student for that test is appropriate, but not failing the student for the class.  It is better to give the student a chance to make amends.  It would be more advantages for the student to be forced to right the wrong and still accept responsibility for his/her learning than to just draw a line in the sand.  For example, you could give the child a chance to retake a different test on the same learning material before school or after school, but only receive 80% of credit for whatever grade he/she earns.  Both parents and administration should be notified and the child should have to sign an official contract, taking responsibility for his/her behavior, and the learning being tested.   Make a big deal about it, because learning moral behavior and facing consequences is also important. 

Grades should never be used as weapons by teachers to retaliate on student behavior that he/she finds abhorrent.  That is a misuse of power.  They should never be used to punish inappropriate behavior.  They should only be use to evaluate the student’s learning.  Using grades as weapons destroys a student’s enthusiasm for learning and can reduce the child’s changes to future academic opportunities because grades are used for acceptance to college and qualification for scholarships.  Besides, it’s dishonest and vindictive.

Empowering Girls To Become Leaders

Empowering Girls To Become Leaders

By Jill Jenkins

Recently in an interview on PBS, Melinda Gates discussed her new book, The Moment of Lift: How Empowering Women Changes the World.  I began to wonder how teachers and school disillusion girls about their potential and how schools might change to empower women to become leaders.  I was born in the mid ‘50’s when women were limited to being a mother, a secretary, a nurse or a teacher.  In my lower social economic neighborhood, few women became nurses or teachers.  My grandmother, who raised 6 children of her own, 2 of her sisters and 2 younger brothers, ran a chicken farm and thought her daughters were courageous for learning to drive.  My mother, a no nonsense, stay at home mother raised her five children and was surrogate mother to half the neighborhood, most of my cousins and a good many of her friends children.  I am not saying that what women did in the past wasn’t important, but that women should have more options.  We’ve come a long way, but we still make it difficult for most girls to reach their full potential.

            What social norms are holding girls back?  First, the biological reality those girls get pregnant.  Hampered by the responsibility of children prevents many girls from completing their education and pursuing careers that might help them meet their full potential. Second, the mythology that women’s sole purpose is to tantalize men’s fantasy and/or provide maternal support (clean, cook, nurture).  These views are often reflected in speech, both joking and abusive.  Third, girls suffer from the lack of opportunity and the low expectation that girls should pursue those opportunities.

The Biological Reality: Keep them barefoot and pregnant

Girls and boys are equally sexually promiscuous; however, the reality is girls who find themselves impregnated suffer a more lasting impact on their life. Regardless of whether the girl marries young, raises the child out of wedlock or has an abortion, there are lasting social and emotional consequences.  Often the girl marries early and becomes financially responsible for the child, thus ending any educational opportunities she have pursued.  The boy might decide to take responsibility or be legally forced to accept only financial responsibility and he may or may not have his future educational opportunities impacted. or as my grandmother used to warn,   Therefore, it is paramount that girls learn the risk of early sexual activity and the opportunities that might be jeopardized .  Early sex education classes can help girls understand the decisions they make in their youth can negatively impact them the rest of their lives.  They need to understand the methods to avoid catastrophe and they price they pay if they do not.  Keeping girls “barefoot and pregnant” is another method society limits the opportunities for girls.

The Myth That Women Should Tantalize Men or Care for Families

     For centuries men have characterized women in two categories: sexual objects or caregivers. These two roles have served to hold women down and empowered men to mistreat women both for following their roles and for rejecting their roles.  These views are alluded to in men’s jokes and their speech.  For example, one particularly heinous joke depicts women as lacking intelligence and justifies physical abuse:

·      “What do you call a woman with two black eyes? A slow learner.”

The disparaging, lewd comments made by then candidate Donald Trump reduces women to sexual objects:

·      “I don’t even wait. And when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything. Grab them by the pussy. You can do anything.”

Other common remarks like:

·      “Don’t worry your little head, your husband will take care of everything”

 degrades women’s ability to think and do for themselves. Worse yet are the examples of verbal violence and physical violence against girls by boys who try to control the thoughts and behavior of their counterparts.  I have watch boys unhook a girl’s bra in a classroom.  I have watched boys line up along the bottom of a staircase to catch a peak up a girl’s skirt.  I have seen boys use cell phone cameras to snap a shot up a girl’s dress. All of these behaviors objectify women.  Girls need to be reminded that they are so much more than a man’s plaything.  They need to develop a sense of self-respect and worth.  They need to be reminded that they are smart, capable people who need to take control of their own bodies, their own financial life and their own future.  Without the belief that they are capable, intellectual, human beings, unscrupulous individuals are more likely to victimize them.  Plus teachers need to be proactive to stop the sexual harassment (both verbal and physical) in their schools and classrooms.

The Importance of High Expectation and Opportunities

For girls to succeed, schools must have high expectations that these girls can succeed at difficult academic classes and activities.  They must provide a variety of different learning opportunities where the girls can experience successful experiences.  I once knew a math teacher who used to seat her classes in the order that they performed on her last test: highest scores in the front of the room and lowest scores in the back of the room.  Not surprisingly, students in the back of room rarely moved forward.  Besides having communicated her expectation to these students, students sitting in the back of the room are less likely to pay attention or get the teacher’s attention they need.  Not all students learn in the same way, so it is important to communicate that all students are expected to be successful. 

In Conclusion

            Limiting over half of our populations ability to achieve significantly limits our ability to solve the difficult problems our world faces.  We need everyone.  Providing successful, challenging learning experiences in a safe, accepting environment is a big start.  Helping girls understand how the decisions they make in their adolescence will affect them the rest of their life is key to their advancement.  

            

An Interactive Method of Teaching Literary Terms

An Interactive Method of Teaching Literary Terms

By Jill Jenkins

My husband and I recently discussed why English classes are so dreary to most students.  Much of the curriculum involves learning new vocabulary, but there are some interactive methods that I have found successful.  To teach literary terms I often create a short story and introduce each term as I tell them the story.  Then working in both small groups and as a class the students create definitions for each term in language that they understand.  Using picture books the small groups identify the terms and present them to the class. Finally, each pair of students creates a short story or a short video (I have used either in the past) and identify the literary devices in their creations.  I also have a presentation day when they celebrate their creations and learning with the rest of the class.

What you will need is enough children’s books for each group of four students in the classroom and enough laminated word strips for each group of student.  The word strips should include:

v Plot

v Setting

v Exposition

v Narrative Hook

v Rising Action

v Climax

v Resolution

v Falling Action

v Simile

v Personification

v Onomatopoeia

v Characters

v Dialogue

v Description

v Foreshadowing

v Tone

The teacher stands before the class with a pile of strips on a desk. On the board behind her is a drawing of a plot chart without labels and the words “Story Elements” and “Figurative Language.” She begins by explaining that the plot chart, the figurative language and story elements might be found in a short story, a novel, a television show or a movie.   As she tells the story she is going to be placing some words on the Plot Chart or under the lists Figurative Language.  When she is finished the students will be working in groups to define these terms and apply the literary device in picture books.   Finally each group will write a short story or create a short video.  In their video or story, they will identify the same terms.  Each student should write down the terms identified by the teacher in notes and try to define each term. 

Modeling

“On a dark, stormy night, a young couple huddle close together as their black, 1974 Dodge Dart bounced jarringly down the rocky, dirt road, “ the teacher reads.

She turns to the board and places the word “Foreshadowing”, “Setting” and “tone” under the word “story elements. "

She continues reading: “the young couple, Bob and Helen, are on their honeymoon and Helen’s wedding ring glints from her finger under the faint light.”

The teacher places the word “characters” under “Story Elements.”

“Suddenly a crash of lightening brightens the sky, and the couple see a dark mansion on a hill to the right.  The car begins to sputter and then it stops.  Bob tries the ignition again and again, but to no avail. He pulls his cell phone from his pocket, but there is no service.  The old car has driven its final mile.  Helen climbs from the car as the rain pour down.  “Maybe we could get some help at the chalet on the hill,” she suggests.  Like two frightened mice, the couple scurry up the hill to the shelter of the covered porch.”

The teacher places the words, “Simile” under “Figurative Language” and the word “exposition” on the Plot Chart.

“Before the couple stands a great oaken door with a large brass knocker.  Bob raises the knocker that groans as though no one has lifted it in centuries. The knocker crashes with an ear-deafening explosion.  Silence.  He lifts the knocker again and it squeals before slamming down.  The door squeaks open two inches and a timid nose appears.  Bob and Helen explain their predicament and plead for some help, but the anxious little man seemed unmoved. He explains that he has no phone or electricity.  According to the radio, the road is washed out, ahead.  His only suggestion is the couple could stay at the old mansion for the night.  In the morning, Officer Harold usually stops by and will help the couple on their way, but he agrees to this if the couple agree to stay in their locked room all night and never open the door despite what they hear. The couple agree.”

The teacher places the word< “Narrative Hook.” On the plot chart, and “Onomatopoeia” and “Personification” under “Figurative Language.”

“The couple follows the bent, older man into the luxurious, old manor.  The high ceilings are covered with cobwebs and the furniture with graying sheets.  As they ascend the winding staircase, each step creaks and groan as if it was likely to splinter into kindling.  Finally they reach the bedroom containing  a large, mahogany four-poster bed and dresser.  The walls are decorated with elaborate tapestries and the windows with fine silk sheers and heavy brocade draperies.  The old man silently disappears locking the door behind him and leaving the young couple alone.

In no time, the young couple snuggle close in the big bed, weary from the long day and the unexpected changes.  In the dark they hear the storm pounding on the windows and the branches scratching against the glass.   Just as the couple began to nod off, they hear a small squeak on the staircase.  Then another slightly louder thud.  Helen nudges Bob awake.  Thud, thud, thud, someone is walking slowly up the stairs.  The footsteps grow louder.  Bob reassures, ‘Relax. It is just the old man going to bed.”  Helen relaxes a little and closes her eyes.  Then she hears a rattling sound. Someone is turning the doorknob.  She pushs Bob again and pointed to the doorknob that is turning back and forth.  ‘It’s locked,” he reassures her, but neither of them go back to sleep. “

The teacher moves to the board and adheres “Rising Action” on the plot chart and “Suspense”  “Description” under “Story Elements.”

In about an hour, the couple begins to relax and doze when the screaming begins.  Howling like a wolf and earsplitting shrieks arise from the hall.  Someone is scratching at the door and whimpering to come in.  Bob rises from bed to investigate the noise, but Helen pleads with him to not open the door.  He hesitates. Suddenly an ax slits the door.  Bob jumps back as the ax hits again shattering the door.  The old man stands before them with the ax high over his head ready to strike and his eyes wide with madness. The crack of a rifle fills the room and the old man collapses in puddle of blood.

The teacher adds “Climax” on the “Plot Chart.”

“Officer Harold Madsen strolls into the room.  ‘Are you folks okay? That old man is Myron Martin who escaped from a mental hospital for the criminally insane and we thought he was held up here. When I saw your car on the road and heard the screams, I was afraid I was too late.”

The teacher places “Resolution” on the “Plot Chart.”

“’We are on our honeymoon when our car broke down,’ Bob explained.

‘You are welcome to stay with my wife and me for the night and we can tow your car in the morning.’ Officer Bob offered.”

“Dialogue” and “Plot” the teacher adds under “Elements of a Story.”

“’If it all the same to you,’ Bob started, ‘we would prefer a quiet hotel.’

‘I don’t blame you,’ laughed the officer.'”

“Falling Action” the teacher adds on the Plot Chart.

Checking For Understanding 

The students are given time to discuss the elements and define them before each group shares with the class.  The teacher helps the class determine a definition and example of each term.  

Guided Practice 

Each group is assigned a storybook. The group reads the book, identifies each of the terms that the teacher has modeled and then each group reads their assigned book to the class while members display the Word Slips and explain how it is used in their assigned storybook.

Independent Learning 

Then the groups are given a few days to create a short story or a little video with the literary terms provided by the teacher’s modeling exercise.  Each teacher must determine the number of literary terms his/her students are capable of learning in one activity.

Reinforcement

The variety of activities and the many opportunities to use the terms reinforces their meaning, so the students are more likely to remember them.  Later, the teacher can write the terms on the board, and allow the students an opportunity to play fly swatter tag, by reading the definition or an example of each literary term and allowing two students to race to the board and slap the correct term with a fly swatter.   The more activity the teacher adds to the learning the more likely the students are to retain it. The class should read some additional short stories and novels during the unit and not only apply the terms that have been introduced, but additional terms should be added to the students' vocabulary.

Some good choices include:

• "The Most Dangerous Game by Richard Connell (plot chart, setting, dramatic irony, theme)
•   "The Scarlet Ibis" by James Hurst (controlling symbol, metaphor, simile, setting, theme, characterization and irony
• "The Necklace" by Guy Maupassant (characterization, theme and dramatic irony
• "The Split Cherry Tree" by Jesse Stuart (characterization, theme, irony, controlling symbol

Novels:

• Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson (everything on your plot chart, characterization and setting, irony
• To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee (everything)

It's A Matter Of Respect

It’s A Matter Of Respect

By Jill Jenkins

Recently an elementary school teacher in Bountiful, Utah demanded that a student with an ash cross to commemorate Ash Wednesday, wipe the cross off.  According to  a recent an article in The Salt Lake Tribune since most of her students belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of the Ladder Day Saints, the teacher was unaware of the religious significant of the cross and thought it was only attempt to disrupt her classroom.  The school district placed the teacher on paid leave. Regardless of the teacher’s experience, America has diverse population representing many different religious and ethnic groups all with differing customs and rituals.  All teachers should be trained to be more sensitive and informed about customs and rituals that might differ from their own. 

Belittling and defiling a child’s culture or religious belief dehumanizes the child.  It nullifies his importance as a person and insults not only the child, but also his community and his belief system.  The district rightly took punitive action against the teacher, but needs to take a step further.  Training teachers to identify and react to behaviors, customs and religious beliefs outside their own might prevent a similar situation from occurring again.  Teachers who cannot treat students with differing cultures and belief systems with dignity should be eliminated from the profession. 

Every child has a basic right to feel important and safe in schools.  Every child has a basic right to feel respected.  Respecting a child’s belief system and culture is important for that child to flourish.  If an educator fails to do that, they should no longer be teaching in public school.  

Flying: Helping Students Soar

Flying

Helping Students Soar by Reducing Obstacles:

 Ignorance, Fear, Poverty, Instability and Inattentiveness

By Jill Jenkins

“The more grounded you are the higher you fly”

J. R. Rym

Even though I have been retired for almost five years, I keep contemplating teaching questions like why do some children soar while others flounder.  I recently finished reading Michelle Obama’s book Becoming.   As a child, Michelle was not wealthy or powerful. Her father worked for the water department in Chicago and suffered from MS. Her mother was stayed at home until Michelle was in high school. The family did not own a house, but lived in an upstairs apartment at her great aunt’s house in the south side of Chicago.  Still, Michelle was well grounded in a loving family who had high expectations for their children and provided a rich interactive environment. Her great aunt provided Michelle and her brother with piano lessons, her parents demanded she and her brother speak correctly, and her grandfather’s home was full of music and laughter.  Michelle’s parents sent her brother to a Catholic high school and Michelle to a magnet high school so they could both be challenged intellectually.  As a result, both Michelle and her brother qualified and attended Princeton University. Michelle became an attorney and later a hospital administrator and her brother did equally as well.  As one might expect, both Michelle and her brother flourished. However, not all children are as well grounded and flight for them is difficult. Regardless some like Elon Musk and John Rockefeller succeed despite childhood hardships.  According to Elon Musk in a recent interview on Today Show on NBC, he was bullied at school suffered and from an abusive father.  According to the documentary, The Men Who Built America, John D. Rockefeller, despite having an abusive, alcoholic father, John became unimaginably successful.  What is the recipe to helping a child become successful?

            Students who are grounded with strong financial backing and parents who provide emotional support, high academic expectations, a sense of self-discipline and provide many and varying experiences for their children don’t just fly, they soar.  Students who are grounded with parent who may not be able to afford every experience for their children, but provide emotional support, love, discipline, and high academic expectations still fly high. What about those who do not provide for their children financially, emotionally and have low or not academic or behavioral expectations? These students education will be bereft of many experiences that enhance their learning and they will likely be stagnant.  As educators we don’t worry about the children who are grounded by a strong family love, high expectations for behavior and academic success, and a variety of enhancement activities in a rich, supportive environment.  Whatever we do will only help enhance what the parents are doing, but what about those who do not have this kind of family?  First, some parents are ignorant that children need a rich environment and some lack the resources to provide it.  Second, some parents fear change and fear losing their children.  As a result, they fail to provide resources and activities that the child needs.  Third, some children live in such dysfunctional families that neither emotional support nor financial resources are available for the child’s development.  Fourth, some students lack the self-discipline to endeavor through the intricacies needed to a master difficult learning.  

Some parents are either ignorant of the need to provide a rich environment for their children or are too financially strapped to provide it.  Some parents feel that if they have survived with only a high school diploma or less then their son or daughter certainly doesn’t need one.  One parent told me that he didn’t care if his son failed my class because it was only English, nothing that he would ever use in the real world.  The parents are unaware that to achieve in today’s technological world, students need some post high school education. Many parents fear that their child would be burdened with too much debt.  This is a legitimate fear considering the number of “for profit” institutions that have buried students in debt without providing them with a marketable skill. Some parents may want to provide their children with a rich environment, but can barely keep a roof over their heads and food on the table. These parents are often working two jobs.  For girls the situation is dire.  I remember my own father telling me that I didn’t need a college education because I’d probably get pregnant and never finish college. My mother told me as young as seventh grade student that boys didn’t like girls that were too smart. “Boys never make passes at girls wearing glasses.” I wore glasses and wasn’t interested in that philosophy.  Unfortunately, in many communities, discouraging girls from pursuing an education is still common.  Overcoming this attitude means educating parents and changing the social norms of the community.   Although these students may have the emotional support to be grounded, their families do not or cannot provide the rich, interactive life that child needs to reach his/her full potential.

“Despite her fears she found, the secret to an outstanding

life is risking the fall, for the possibility of flight.”

    Kyra Jackson

Some parents are afraid of change.  It isn’t uncommon for a child who earns a degree and pursues a career to relocate to another state.  Many families are spread across the country because rural communities offer few opportunities. My own daughter moved to New York because careers in journalism in Utah are almost nonexistent.  As a result, some parents are reluctant to encourage their children to pursue interests that might require relocation. Fear of failure, fear of losing connection to loved one and fear of the unknown reduces a child’s flight.

Some students live in such dysfunctional families that the child is never grounded emotionally or financially.  The Showtime television show Shameless depicts such a family where an alcoholic/drug addicted single father raises a family leaving the real parenting to the oldest daughter.  As a teacher I often saw similar families.  One of my former students was a sixteen-year-old boy financially and emotionally supporting four younger siblings because his parents were incarcerated. These children are so overwhelmed that it is unlikely they will succeed.  When an adult assumed responsibility for these children, they were able to succeed and sometimes soar.  For example another of my students was left orphaned when both of her parents died from AIDS, but luckily her godmother materialized and moved her from Puerto Rico to California.  Another student who drug addicted mother disappeared and with the help of an aunt, the three children were reunited with their biological father who provided a home, emotional support and a rich environment for them.  Sometimes the school needs to identify these students and connect them with the resources for a positive adult to help them.

“I was once told that flying involves long house of boredom, interrupted              by moments of extreme fright.”

                                    Franklin W. Dixon

Grit is a necessary component of success. Unfortunately, immediate gratification is the common denominated for many of today’s youth. Television, video games and the Internet have significantly reduced students’ attention spans until many students jump to a new topic if they find learning tedious.  According to Thomas Edison, “Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration.” To help students succeed educators have to help students learn self-discipline and develop longer attention spans.  Teachers are not just there to entertain, but to help students develop life-long skills to become successful. 

            Instead of closing schools that do not achieve on tests, districts and schools need to analyze why the students are not achieving.  Class size should be reduced to allow teachers to provide emotional support for their students.  Schools should provide a variety of interactive learning experiences including field trips, arts education, music, art and theater lessons, journalism and filmmaking classes.   Students should participate in sports and socially interact in positive ways. They need to eliminate educators or are not supporting students’ emotional needs, maintaining high academic and behavioral standards and expectations for students.  Schools need to offer opportunities to expand their experience and counsel both students and parents about how to get the financial and experiences resources to enhance their education. Whatever the child needs to be successful: art, science or just the belief that they can succeed.  Despite the few shooting stars like Elon Musk and John D Rockefeller who succeeded despite hardships, educators should do all they can do; so all students can “be all they can be.”