Where to now?
Today was rough. I imagine most of my frustrations are self-inflicted, but I have to wonder how much came from the students today.
It started with a handful of students not reading during an independent reading time this morning. I like to give my students opportunities to read throughout the day; read things that excite them or just interest them. A lot of my students enjoy these pockets of reading. Others apparently do not. A few students were off task–flipping pages, chatting with a neighbor, staring into oblivion–doing the usual things fifth graders do when avoiding something. After several suggestions and a few pleas to read, or even find a new book, these students still could care less about their reading. Or at least it appeared that way.
Then I wrote this:
My question about reluctant readers soon became a much much bigger frustration. It wasn’t the fact that a number of students weren’t reading at the moment, it was another issue; an issue of student perseverance and patience in the learning process.
So how do you teach that?
I work at a Title I school. We average about 94% Free or Reduced Lunch. Our kids come from poor homes. There is no question about it. Most of my students live in the now. If they have a dollar, they have to spend–even if that means buying something for someone else. For many it is about instant gratification. Sadly, many come from homes where if they don’t take advantage of something today, it most likely will not be there tomorrow. They are impulsive. It is how they survive.
So how do you teach with that in mind?
And there isn’t much that motivates them unless they get to enjoy it now, now, or now. “Mustang Bucks” (fake money put into baskets for drawings) are a joke to most. Missing recess is an even bigger joke.
So how do you teach with that in mind, realizing that little motivates them other than the instant extrinsic novelties?
I truly am at a loss here. I spoke with them. I asked them. I tried to discuss it. I got nothing. I’ve been at this school for six years and this is the first time I’ve ever felt like this.
Where to now?
Update: I feel I need to provide a little more context. Last quarter we did a fairly substantial Solar System project. Students drew, at random, their topic–they genuinely enjoyed the thrill of not knowing what they would learn about. Then, each group designed two guiding questions. The questions were to guide their research and inquiry. We then let them loose. They were given expectation of what the final product should contain, but the form in which they presented that was up to them. They dove in. Many go lost in the oceans of Google results and found themselves mindlessly wondering from link to link. They need help focusing back on their questions as the process continued. This took a lot of time away from other things we had hoped to do. Focus and refocus became the words of the day.
Now we are in another quarter. We have started another project. This time they chose their topic as a team. We are looking at natural disasters historically and learning about their impact on those who suffered through them and the impact on science today. For this project though, we provided each group with a list of links and videos to use for their research. No Google for this one. We had hoped to focus their reading and learning. But for some reason, most (if not all) have fallen flat. No excitement. Minimal effort. It could be the content. It could be a number of things, I suppose. It just seems uncharacteristic of these students. Like I said, I’m at a loss.
I guess my other question is this: How do you provide students with choice in the direction of the next project without getting too far away from the content that you are obligated to present them throughout the year? It is difficult enough to expose them all to it. How do you determine what they need to master and what they need merely be exposed to? I refuse to look at “the test” and teach from that, but I also want to make sure my students feel confident every time they go into the lab to test. I’m torn between what I know my deserve in my classroom each day and what I feel obligated to “teach” them by the end of the school year.
Featured Image — cc licensed flickr photo shared by paul-simpson.org
would love to skype or hangout if you are ever so inclined.
my skype .. monk51295
advice for right now..
there is never nothing going on…
I can see that. I’m just not sure what’s going on right now. The kids seemed to have tanked. It seems like I can’t excite them about class unless I surprise them with extra PE. How do you help students move from the extrinsic to the intrinsic.
I teach elementary school students and have never come across this situation – partly because younger children love to read and are excited to prove themselves.
I am trying to understand how it has come to this situation as you said it was the first time in your 6 years in the same school. Have you wondered why this specific group of students is so hard to motivate?…
I wonder about it everyday. Maybe I’ve lost my magic
They are a great group of kids, but there are a lot of factors (that I have no control over) that I feel are limiting my influence. It is one of those classes that every Monday feels like you’re starting over.
On a different note, I dare not even ask if there are computers and internet connection in your class. If there were you could try hooking these reluctant readers by allowing them to access interactive online books. (these our our links but suitable for 3rd graders http://thebunnies.wikispaces.com/READING+links ).
The novelty and the multimedia format might help engage them.
Actually, we have a lot of technology. I’ve been writing a lot of grants. We are 1:1 iPads in 5th and 6th. I’ll have to take a look at the link. Thank you for sharing.
Wow. What a day! I know those all too well. I taught for two years at a high needs school in the Bronx, and even now working at a private international school I deal with many of the same issues you have identified. I wish there was an easy answer to how to motivate kids or how to teach them patience. I think the first thing that comes to mind is to be patient.
So much of what you have talked about should be happening at home. Kids learn these behaviors from routines and life at home. As teachers, we can only do so much. I guess, when I was in the Bronx, I simply found the things I loved and I taught them, slowly, methodically and with a tender peace. The first year, i was aggressive and angry. Daring the kids to learn, but after I nearly burnt out, I decided to go slow.
We did breathing exercises, we looked at Art, listened to music. I tried to make learning about life, not school. Some days this worked, most days it did not. Change things up. Take em outside for walks, watch movies, release your own anger in wonder.
Having said all that, some years, some groups, some kids just don’t ignite no matter how hard you blow on the sparks. Let me know how it works out…Hope that helps.
I like the idea of “tender peace”. That is something I definitely need to learn. But you’re right, a lot of what we struggle with in class are things that should be learned at home. Sadly, the culture/community that most of my students live in is a bit disheveled. Everything is day to day. It is tough knowing that I can’t influence everything. I need to be that sanctuary so many of them need. I appreciate your comment and taking the time to read my post…it’s like someone sent you a message…a direct message of sorts
Thanks, man.
A few thoughts. I’m not sure if any of this will make any difference:
1. If it is truly independent reading, they need to find a genre they connect with. I got frustrated the first two months of last year when students wouldn’t finish a book. Finally, I realized that they just had to find the right book / series / genre. So, if it is student-directed, this might be part of the problem.
2. Sometimes the issue is solitude in learning. Some might disagree with this approach (it really is pretty coercive), but I made my students work silently at times. We agreed upon it as a class norm to benefit the quiet kids and to recognize the need for silence and solitude in the world. So, when it comes to silent reading or silent blogging or silent problem-solving, I made it clear that it simply wasn’t an option. Each time it happened, I pulled a kid aside after class to talk about this. I wore them down in this sense without having to resort to a system of punishments and rewards.
3. I had to start my minutes out really low. We started with five minutes of reading and upped it to ten after two weeks. However, by the end of the first quarter, we were at half an hour and the students looked forward to it.
4. Sadly, the timing matters. Kids want to talk in the early morning. Those coming from self-contained environments are used to doing reading as a cool-down after lunch. So, that very well might be a big part of the issue.
5. I had a reading intervention class like this. They were at a low-level and they had only done read-alouds and fluency work in their past. It took awhile to find high-interest books that were at their level. My solution with them was to do a series of teacher read aloud book previews (along with short video previews) for each book and let them pick. It worked. Not sure it would always work, though.
6. For some students, the issue is the skill that needs to be modeled. So, I used to tell students, “Today, I want you to really focus on visualizing” or “I’m going to be asking myself clarifying questions while I read. You might want to try that as well.” My good readers ignored me and rightfully so. However, the vast majority of the class took this to heart. Reading for pleasure came only after they felt like they had learned to gain a new skill. It was really backwards for me.
Okay, so totally different context than what I previously thought. It might be the content. It might be that they need to develop their own questions of inquiry and run with it. It might be that they want something more creative in the construction of the project or that they need a context of a problem to be solved (example: a natural disaster is happening, you need to create a town plan and you need to learn from the mistakes of the past — a shot in the dark there, I suppose)
I really wish we could Skype about this.
Well John, I think we discussed most everything we needed to in our Skype call. I appreciate the time.
Just to clarify – are you just reaching the level of frustration now, or is this group actually different? I have found myself in this situation with independent reading quite frequently over the years. I have such a group right now. When I saw that they would not read independently, and it was become a ‘relationship killer’ I pulled back right away and we read a novel together (audio book through iTunes, or I read). We just wrapped that, and now I have to decide if we can try again. I have audio books in my class -one can listen with headphones on my computer, and I bring my iPod loaded. Sometimes that works, sometimes I can’t figure out what they will like. I have a lot of different types of reading materials, but what is hard is that the instant gratification stuff they can burn through pretty fast (flip, flip, flip, what’s next). It costs me a lot of money, and it’s a four hour round trip to a good book store with a wide selection. I guess I can keep you posted. I also want to honour the frustration of keeping students engaged.
To be honest, I think that my frustrations were merely drawn out by the lack of independent reading. It is much much more. But yes, my class this year struggles with a lack of focus and hyper-impulsivity. Each day feels like I’m starting over. It could me a lot of other things too. Perhaps I’ll need to write another post
A very interesting post. I appreciate your honesty and integrity and how you are asking yourself such difficult questions. Too often in education (or life for that matter) when we meet resistance we often default to our fall back, or how we have always done things. I wish I had the answer for you, but I don’t. I have been really working on Project Based Learning for the last two years and sometimes I find it magical and sometimes I struggle just like you are now. I think by asking questions and being open to the answers you are on the right path.
Thanks for sharing.
Thanks Darcy. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve thought about going back. But it actually pains me to think that that could be the only way they learn. I know they can find more meaning and value by digging deep and being resilient, but I just don’t know how to teach/model that. I’ll just keep trying and asking you all for help.
Great job in describing your dilemma. Sounds very frustrating. I just want to quickly chime in with a recommendation of the book Readicide by Kelly Gallagher. While that suggestion won’t remedy your situation right now, it would help to give you some big picture ideas on sparking student creativity, deeper thinking, and a love for reading.
Thanks Curt. I’ll take a look at the book. I can use all the help I can get.
I may be standing in left field and see this from a different perspective yet adding my school experiences into the mix I noticed a serious difference between project one and project two. A Bar. Project One had a bar for them to reach to yes you had to corral a bit they are Students in the end but you gave them something they could reach for under their limits their speeds their belief structure. Project two you removed the bar and told them what they had to do which garnered the easiest response from a group who already feels their life will amount to Zero by every news channel repetitiveness of this generations will be the first to be worse than their parents followed up with a good helping of helplessness about what has happened and the world they must now live in. TED.com had a video about Marshmallows and how beneficial it is to people to understand the ability to wait for reward. Your first project in many different contexts worked that way and it forced you to fall back to teaching like grandma does because at the root of it all is the difference in being Told what to do vs Being asked what do you know and can you prove it to me. If you doubt the idea I present a two week test. Stop by a couple of old book stores Old books stores and get a few of those OLD dictionary’s One for every 4-5 kids. Put them on your desk at the front of the class. Have the kids count off (diagonally because its different) Than present the assignment. In two weeks I am going to give out three grades for this next assignment. First each group must choose a word from one of these books that has 11 letters or more. Than they must present two explanations for what it means. One a written short story using that word as plot. The second part is to find three web-pages that use that word differently than you used it in your group story. When your done I will go through and mark spelling, punctuation errors on each paper that they will be taped to the board for peer review and You will decide who gets what grades. You are welcome to ask questions about punctuation you have the dictionary’s to check spelling, and last but not least there will be no failing grades as long as you do something your group will pass it is up to you to decide what grade your group is going to attain. Good luck. I will end with a personal quote of mine that has been a haunting question for me. “The student Asking questions is the only student learning so how do we create situations where we are fostering curiosity verses preaching at them?”
Smile, I will let you decide if the punctuation errors are for the pun of it.