I wish my teacher knew....

[waaaseee]

I wish my teacher knew more about the students in my class.  

In the 7th grade, I knew a student named Phoenix. Even though I hadn’t spoken to him much it was pretty clear to me that he was an at-risk student. Although he would pay attention in class, work his hardest and be punctual he would rarely get above 50%. In the 2 years I knew him, his average didn’t increase and his progress was stagnant.

It was clear Phoenix needed help, and it was clearer that help wouldn’t arrive. Why? With a staff-student ratio of 1:30 and 10 grades each teacher we had taught 300 students. No matter how hard they tried, there clearly wasn’t enough time for every teacher to spend where it was required.

From what I observed, the students that got most of the instructor’s time were those who explicitly asked for it. Those who explicitly asked for it where those who were confident in themselves or their work and were doing so to attain marginal improvement. Those who weren’t good did not explicitly ask for time, and like Phoenix didn’t largely receive any.

Last week before the final exam, Phoenix sat next to me. And we both learned something.

I observed Phoenix through all of the lectures, and his face instantly gave away signs of where he was confused (the difference between diffusion/osmosis). I also observed him do his classwork, and sure enough he was stuck at the question assessing diffusion and osmosis (hint: osmosis involves a membrane). After the class, I casually asked him about the particular question and explained the answer. He did substantially well on the test that week.

I wish my teachers knew the students in their class, as equally as in a one-to-one setting. Everyone cannot afford personal tutors, and with so much technology at our disposal it is sad we haven't solved this problem yet. 

Phoenix, unlike his name, didn't rise from the ashes. He flunked, dropped out, and subsequently disappeared. 

I wish my teacher knew more about the students in my class. I wish my teacher knew what confused Phoenix. 

[Bobby2]

Hi Wasi that really struck a chord with me. Thank you for being perceptive enough to kindly see a need and assist a fellow learner.

If only something like Canvas had existed back in the 80s... However, something like Canvas does exist now and could be used for the Phoenixs' is our classes. As teachers and fellow learners I'm sure we could harness the potential within Canvas to get to know and support all learners better.

I wonder if people already are using it in such a way and how they are going about it? Discussions, collaborations and other blended learning tools could really come in handy in these situations.

May no more kids like Phoenix get lost in the system and disappear like he did.

[rconroy]

I totally agree with you, Bobby! In middle school. I was one of the kids that fell through the cracks. Mostly due to dis-interest than anything. If Canvas had been around when I was in school. I know I would've done better. Actionable data from a teacher point of view is so important. 

waaaseee Thank You for this blog perspective! It's a good one that we need reminded of from time to time.  

[waaaseee]

Thank you  @Bobby2 ‌ for your acknowledgment and pointing out that technologies like Canvas are a HUGE enabler in situations like such. As you so eloquently put it:

May no more kids like Phoenix get lost in the system and disappear like he did.

[waaaseee]

Actionable data from a teacher point of view is so important. 

That's what makes you guys the best!

[laurakgibbs]

The title of your post really leaped out to me waaaseee‌ ... I have an empathy prompt for the students based on this same idea, and the students have written some powerful responses. Here is the prompt; it's based on an article I read in the New York Times:

Empathy Challenge: I wish my teacher knew...

Here's the New York Times article:

What Kids Wish Their Teachers Knew - The New York Times 

The whole reason I prefer teaching online is that it multiplies the opportunities I have for interacting with students one on one while allowing me to be super-flexible in the learning process for each student.

And teaching about empathy is something I do through a H.E.A.R.T. project; it's an optional part of the class, and for some students it's an important part of the class. I learn a lot from reading their responses to the challenges they can do here based on health/happiness, empathy, attention, reading and time. 

Learning by HEART 

It's a companion project via my growth mindset project:

Growth Mindset Resources 

We all get to grow together. 🙂

[Bobby2]

Wish I had been in your class Laura .

[laurakgibbs]

Thank you  @Bobby2 ‌! I was bored for most of my schooling... I like to think the young-me would have enjoyed my class. And all kinds of other students too (I love the range of students who show up for Gen. Ed. classes at my school!)

🙂

[waaaseee]

Wow! Thank you for making me feel less lonely laurakgibbs‌..I imagine you do the same for your students as well..I really commend your Empathy project and any effort made by educators to make the student feel more at home at school is heart-warming..

The responses shared in the NYT article were really really moving. It made me recall that Phoenix's mother passed away between the 4-5th grade and he switched schools and then he moved and came to our school due to some personal situation. He missed a lot of classes due to the transition, and since classes are usually built upon the previous ones he just fell behind recursively. 

I've also felt that maybe all of the responsibility does not fall on the teacher, but somehow fellow students should also be involved in helping those who lack behind. If not, what are we actually teaching our future generations? Simple stuff like making an assessment out of helping classmates on their assessments (pairing one high grader with one lower one) is bound to raise empathy among students. Plus, students teaching each others will definitely make them emphatize with the teacher more :smileysilly:. 

Lastly, like  @Bobby2 , I too wish I was in your class . 

[Bobby2]

Nicely said Wasi, I like that you have shared the responsibility - and learning opportunity with the students. Heck, we are all learners aren't we!

[waaaseee]

True that  @Bobby2 

[laurakgibbs]

Thank you, waaaseee! When students have sometimes chosen to share with me what is going on in their lives, it really affects me... and often, of course, they don't share, so I always remind myself that there could be things going on in their lives about which I have no knowledge but which are a huge part of the school experience for them. I know sometimes I am really struggling (like right now, my dad is on hospice, and my whole daily routine is totally disrupted), and I don't share that with them, so I hope they will treat me with patience too, like I try to do for them.

About sharing: one of my students wrote this blog post about an activity she did in a group she belongs to where they shared their fears anonymously and supported each other; if I were teaching in a classroom, I would like to do an exercise like this. I'm pondering how I might also set it up as something to do online.

Here is her post:

Ton of Fun: Learning by Challenge: I wish my teacher knew.. 

I think a good way to practice compassion and empathy to while respecting people's privacy is to reciprocate comments anonymously. I have participated in something similar to this. It was at an event called Summit. We were placed into family groups. At the end of the day, we sat in a circle with our families and wrote on pieces of papers anonymously what our worst fears were. Then, the papers were placed into a bag. Each person drew one piece of paper out and read it aloud. Everyone then discussed, gave advice, and give thoughts on the fear. It was really reassuring to see how caring we all were to one another.

Doesn't that sound great? It reminds me of something I heard Cathy Davidson describe as a starter exercise in one of her classes where, if I remember correctly, everybody wrote a strength they could share with the class on a Post-It and also wrote about something they wanted to improve with help from others in the class on a different Post-It Note, and then they looked at those Post-It notes all stuck on a board and figured out what would be the best class activities to take advantage of their collective strengths as a class, and also the best activities to focus on in order to address the things that people seemed to most want to work on collectively as class. 

It's a different kind of exercise than the fear/empathy kind of thing, but seems to me to be tapping into the same kind of need for good group support.

Thank you so much for starting this discussion. This is the kind of thing I am always glad to find at the Community. 🙂

[nbiddinger-c]

This is such a impactful blog post - I too have had students who fell through the cracks and it is a heart breaker.  There have been times when I've been able to catch a student before the fall.  Most times, the insight into the student came through an unexpected moment of connection.  Thank you Wasi Khan for boldly sharing this.

[kmeeusen]

I love this whole discussion, waaaseee‌

Unfortunately, I think we are preaching to the choir here, and only those who care are participating.  I actually copied your post to share with the faculty and instructional leadership at our school - it was incredibly moving and moved me in a profound way. However, it will likely be that I end up also preaching to the choir!

Kelley

[Bobby2]

You never know  @kmeeusen this blog post might just jog a choir member to more action, or bring a new choir member in.

[waaaseee]

 @kmeeusen  I am honored that you chose to share my post with your school. These are things I never got to talk with my own teachers, and I guess I found a home in this community in that aspect. How laurakgibbs‌ approaches the problem is phenomenal, and I would have never known had I not published this. For now, I am just grateful that a choir exists.

[waaaseee]

Indeed  @Bobby2 ‌. As practitioners it is easy to ignore the outliers, if this post even acted as a reminder I guess it served it's purpose. 

[waaaseee]

Thank you  @nbiddinger-c  for taking out the time to comment. With all this technology under our fingertips, I feel more could be done to not leave insight into the hands of sheer co-incidence.

[kona]

I enjoyed it so much that I Tweeted the link out! Definitely has been getting some positive reactions. Thank you for sharing!

[waaaseee]

Thanks  @kona ‌!