Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Um...this entire thread is based on one essay by a college student so why not?
Where are you getting that? It's a research paper written by a college professor.
Quote:
As a professor, I have been able to collect valuable information that has been obtained
through a three year study with students enrolled in the Introduction to Teaching and Learning
course. This study initiated in August 2002, spanned eight semesters and included 210
undergraduate education students.
Um...this entire thread is based on one essay by a college student so why not?
As a supposed "science" teacher I would expect you would be familiar with both a review of the lit and a capstone piece. Apparently not.
Anyway, all of the "positions" of the author are supported by primary research and it is NOT an essay but is rather about research using attitudes found IN essays and the correlation with teacher effectiveness. Again, one would think someone claiming to be a subject expert would know the difference. Telling.
I did that and had great success. I had issues with some teachers...who INMO should not be teaching...they had something messed up in their personal lives and took it out on students. Teachers should have enough self awareness that if they cannot differentiate and separate their personal life from their professional life...they should not be teaching.
And if they consider teaching as a "consolation" job...because they could not make doing other stuff...they need to keep that bitterness away from kids. They blame the students attitudes for not learning...when really...they need to look in a mirror.
Sure...I had tough kids...but my students all enjoyed my class...and many of them worked hard..sure...there were a few sour apples...interesting though...they realized they were the odd one out when not doing homework or participating in group assignments...and they wanted to be included...and part of the group...even the mean, cynical, jaded ones. If you make learning meaningful to them...they participate.
Last edited by jasper12; 07-25-2012 at 08:50 PM..
Reason: edit
You are trying to place the blame for a poor attitude on the teacher and it doesn't belong there.
I would suggest this research indicates the solution may lie within the attitudes of teachers, not necessarily that teachers are the cause of poor attitudes.
And yes, it is research even though the results were reported by only one person...thought you would have learned this in your Intro to Ed Research class in grad school.
Ivory, until you have a genuine paradigm shift away from blaming kids/parents/coworkers/administrators for any inability to reach all students in your classroom, your teaching will not change. If you put at least as much effort into changing how you interact with students as you do into locating an excuse outside of yourself, you might discover you CAN make connections with students, even difficult and entitled ones.
As a high school student I believe that a large part of learning does fall on the teacher. Typically I am an A+ to B student but there have been classes that I get lower grades in because of lack of motivation and that I feel is something teachers should help with. For example my bio teacher was amazing, he played guitar and wrote songs about mitochondria and bones, and everyone could tell that he genuinely loved his job. This has been the only teacher that I went to visit every day just to say good morning and I looked forward to class - I don't even like science. The lowest grade any of his students received on the state test was an 85 compared to other teachers who had students whom failed and the next year those students were placed with my teacher and they all passed. And they had a good time.
Prior to this year I wasn't a big fan English, always did well but I never enjoyed It my teacher however, made it worthwhile and she made it her priority to show that she truly did care about us, and truly loved her job- she was open with us and shared what she did as a teen and how she doesn't want us to end up like her.
Well now that my rant is over i just want to say that I do think teachers play an important role in students success.
Well now that my rant is over i just want to say that I do think teachers play an important role in students success.
You aren't ranting....this is valuable perspective from a student. And classroom teachers on this board, including me, need to reminded from time to time that everything we do should be about students...we are in the business of educating students. Your perspective, opinion and input just might teach US something about how YOU learn best.
I have taught for one of the lowest and most ghetto district in my state. While yes, I keep a positive attitude most of the time, the vast majority rests on the student. I have always been there for my students and told them if they ever needed help I would be there.When it came time to utilize that help(extra credit, tutoring, etc.), how many do you think came? I think the most that I ever had were 5 students and they were football players that were forced to come by the coaches! When I failed the ones that were making F's then they decide that they want to do the make up work and stuff. Well guess what? Too bad. I'm not grading it. We are doing these kids a horrible disservice. Do you think professors are going to put up with this? The majority of them do not so why should we? The students attitude is to do the least amount of work and earn the highest grade possible.
And that's just academics, I have been cussed at, threatened physically, yelled at, been told that I should not go out, should not have a life or facebook, shouldn't date and that I should just stay home and read books. I'm serious. They totally dehumanize me. I finally had to explain to them that I am a person just like them. I live in a small area and sometimes it is hard to avoid them. I guess what I am trying to say is that this whole coddling mess and "it should be our responsiblity since we are an adult" attitude is crap. Am i strict? Yes. Mean? Maybe..but I will tell you now, I had only 4 students fail for the year out of 136. As long as you are CONSISTANT and let them know what your expectations are and follow through, you can make a difference. But if you baby them, throw the blame at other teachers, then you will get young adults acting like babies, because that is the kind of behavior that they are imitating and we all know that young ones imitate what they see and hear.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
