The Bryson Buzz

I’m trying really hard to be a good teacher.  I think I’ve changed a lot about how I view things and how I look at things in order to become this good teacher.  Here’s my dilemma:

In one of my computer applications classes, I have a student (let’s call him Henry).  Judging by the number and type of questions he asks on a daily basis, I can tell two things about him: 1. Henry has what we call “low academic skills”, and 2. Henry’s experience with computers is limited.

I try to do my best to help him by always taking time to answer his numerous questions and walking him through more steps than other students.  But, when it comes to the final product, I wonder if I should grade him on the same rubric as the other students.  Take his last project, for example.  His Keynote was riddled with grammatical errors and he was missing a few builds and transitions.  But, since the beginning of the school year, I’ve seen a marked improvement in his work and his ability to appropriately communicate with me.

So, I guess this is my question:  Should I grade Henry the same way I grade other students, or am I doing him a disservice by being lax with him.  Overall, I want him to be successful with the computer.  We have a 1:1 laptop program at my school, so he’ll need to be able to use it next year without me being there.

As I write this, I feel like I’m answering my question, saying, be gentle and celebrate the small success.  That will help boost his confidence.  But I would like to hear what others do in these situations.  After all, part of becoming a good teacher is questioning and reflecting on what I’ve done so I can do it better the next time.

Thanks in advance for anyone who replies!!

If you looked at the title of this post, you may not realize the word “inspiring” is intended to be an adjective, not a verb.  As an educator, most of the time I am looking for ways to be inspiring to my students.  However, yesterday, the tables were turned on me.  I was truly inspired by my students.

In addition to my responsibilities as a classroom teacher, I direct a small “pep” band that plays at the school football games.  As the years have progressed, I enjoyed being a band director less and less.  I won’t go into the details of why this occurred, for they are various and are irrelevant to my ultimate point today.

And so, another year begins, and yesterday I had my first rehearsal.  I was secretly embarassed of how much I was dreading this event.  And then the kids showed up.

There were three of them: YY, LJ and KL.  They got set up and we started playing a simple warm-up exercises, and we stayed there for a while because two of the three who showed were attempting to play a different drum than years past.  To my surprise, it wasn’t bad.  Not bad at all considering these kids touched a drum for the first time about two years ago (and we only play during the first part of the school year).  And two of the three had no musical background before joining band.  But I digress…

So, warm up goes well, so I start some alternating RLRL sixteenth notes.  I expected it to be rocky, and it was, but it smoothed out quickly.  Again, I’m surprised.

Next up, we did some independent rhythmic exercises, and practiced listening to one another.  And I think my point is made; these guys were doing an excellent job.  Three kids who haven’t touched an instrument since last December were tearing it up on the first day!  I was so pleased with them, I couldn’t stop smiling.  That was when it hit me; for the first time in probably two years, I was getting excited about the band again.

I don’t think YY, LJ and KL realized what they did for me yesterday–just three kids.  And even if my band doesn’t exceed 10-12 members all total, if those 10-12 are committed to putting their full effort into it, I am completely OK with that number.  I wish our administrators and football spectators could understand that size doesn’t matter.  To quote my favorite paranoid lunatic with a heart of gold, “it’s small, but it’s fierce.”

My husband and I found a connection long before we knew we would one day marry-a love for baseball.  To say I love it the way he does is a falsehood, but nevertheless we enjoy watching games and talking about players today and of the past.  One thing that comes up time and time again is whether a player is a “for the love of the game” kind of player or one who does what he can to make the ridiculous salary of a professional athlete.  Someone who we agree falls in the the former category is Cal Ripken, the name who played a record 2,632 games in a row and spent his entire career with one ball club, the Orioles.  On the flip side of this is Alex Rodriguez, who got a ridiculous contract to play in Texas, but didn’t want to play there, so he transferred to the Yankees.  That guy makes more money per at-bat than my entire salary.  This same guy wanted to renegotiate his contract for MORE money (something like $300 million) or he would live New York.  YIKES!

Anyway, there is a point to all of this.  My “for the love of the game” analogy translated well into other areas.  For example, I use it when talking about Flemish composers of the Renaissance; they’re more like A-Rod than Ripken.  The same can be said of teachers sometimes.  And now I get to my real point/soapbox.

A few weeks ago I attended a workshop for teachers of all grade levels and subject areas from our diocesian schools.  Since the high school, where I teach, is going 1:1 with MacBooks, certain freshman teachers were required to come to learn about some software and tools that will be used with the laptops.  Some of these teachers would have never voluntarily given up their summer time to be at this workshop, while most of us came willingly and ready to learn.  As I sat and watched the other people around me, images of baseball players danced, well, slid in my head.  I saw teachers sitting around, not collaborating, not using the new tools we’d acquired.  Maybe it’s because I’m a “digital native” or maybe it’s because I started teaching in the 21st century and didn’t need to change my teaching habits, but the more I watched this, the more anger and disappointment festered inside of me.  Shouldn’t a teacher’s number one priority be making sure our students learn and are successful?  Shouldn’t a teacher be willing to adapt so that students can absorb information to the max?  Is it too much to ask to integrate something familiar to students so they may better find meaning and relevance to newly taught information?

So, back to my original analogy. I see a kind of collaboration between baseball players and teachers.  There are some of us who really try to make the most of what we teach, who are more committed to helping students; we are the “for the love of the game” people.  Then there are those “going through the motions until payday” people who cling desperately to dusty, 20-year-old lesson plans that reduce the amount of work to be done.  It’s lazy and selfish and every time I see one of these teacher it makes me continue my personal reflection and pursuit to better myself as an educator.

I will now step off my soapbox.

I’m going to try and post a YouTube™ video in the comment field of this post.  I’ve been trying to think of ways to incorporate what my students are already doing (playing on MySpace™ and YouTube™) and make it relevant to my class, Music Appreciation.

If anyone reads this and knows of a cool music video on YouTube™, try to embed it in the comment, or leave me the link.  I’m always trying to find good stuff.

Here’s to the everpresent pursuit of learning!!! More soon to come!