How do you do it? Create empathy with your students, find great activities that will educate them and keep them busy and entertained, don't be obsessed with the official 'objectives' and instead teach them something that they will understand and find useful.
So your goal, as a teacher, is to educate them by keeping them "busy and entertained"???
And as far as being obsessed with official "objectives"....are you talking about standards? Are you even in the U.S.?
I work with the same exact student population, [...]
No, you don't. If you did, you'd know that conventional classes don't work with these kids.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Linguist92021
Honestly, and please don't take this the wrong way, but it doesn't sound like teaching, it sounds like babysitting. I could definitely come up with all kinds of fun things to do, and the students would love it, love me, and be very motivated to take part, because it's not challenging, it's just fun. I remember your other thread, where you asked for ideas for activities, you said it didn't have to be anything specific or content related, just something for them to do (??)
Also, no admin or teacher I have ever met would be ok to have the lessons planned on standards based objectives thrown out the window, just to have a classroom full of at-risk kids be quiet.
I didn't say I ignored my objectives, I would be sanctioned and expelled from teaching if I did. I simply said I wasn't obsessed with them.
There's nothing wrong or dishonest about educational games or fun activities. We do lots of those but my classes are also hard work - in fact, my students often complain that 'we work too much' (sic). Nevertheless, they never refused to do anything and one of the reasons is because of our games, activities, etc. They are fun and educational but they also sweeten the pill and facilitate the hard work that comes next.
On the thread you mentioned I was trying to share ideas for activities (any activities, not necessarily related to the subjects I teach) but got zero help because the people who replied didn't have any ideas to share. Moreover one or two posters made some pretty arrogant and insulting assumptions about my teaching when they know nothing about my work and the school I work in.
Flavio, apologies if we've come across as arrogant or insulting in the other thread. I (and I'm sure the others) never meant to have any of my comments put you in a hard place. We honestly were simply curious about what targets you were attempting to reach, so we could better tailor our advice.
All I can say I guess is that going only by your own admission you seem to be a 'great teacher'.
I would disagree however that all instances of students refusing to work is a failure on the part of the teacher. Since you say you have never had a problem with it, congratulations to you, and I hope you don't have to deal with it in the future. However you should be open to the possibility of it occurring.
I did a little bit of research into your previous posts, and the way you approach your lessons makes a little bit more sense to me in light of the fact that you work in Africa with students from the slums. I would imagine that the educational structure in Africa is very different than the educational environment here in the United States.
If you didn't know in the US, we have a huge nationwide focus on standards and clear objectives in our schools, so large that teachers are under a lot of pressure to make sure that every activity fulfills a specific objective.
I don't want to make any assumptions about the state of education in Africa, but like I said, I imagine that the environment is very different. I'm sorry if there were any misunderstandings between us because of that, but it would be extremely helpful if you explained your situation when you start threads because it is not the typical situation of many of the teachers here and we like to be informed of the background information to best tailor our advice.
