How much should teachers change based on their students?
How much should teachers change based on their students?
You know, if you'll think back to when you're in high school, we never changed. And our students today aren't going to change either. So should we change for them? All right, it is January 9, already 2022. By now you probably got in a day or two, maybe three of substitute teaching, regular teaching whatever mode you're in. Now, some of you might have even some of you that have been substitute teaching, maybe graduated in December, and you've already got a teaching job. I know of some new teachers at the high school I had been teaching it, it's kind of opened up for me now, because it's my fault or not my fault. My choice, I guess, because I had told the high school that I just left, they've hired a teacher to fill in the role I was taking for about six weeks. And they've hired a new position. There's other new positions at that high school. I told them that me and my wife were vacationing, the entire month of January. And at the time, that was true, it's still true. But we got a couple of different vacations scheduled, and we've got some days in between there. So I've already picked up a substitute teaching job, we just got back from Vero Beach, Florida, which was beautiful. But tomorrow, January 10, I'm going to go to a middle school that I haven't been to in two years, I enjoy going there, it's really close to where I live, it only takes me maybe 10 minutes to get there. I love the administration there. I love the students there. I know a lot of the volleyball players that play there. So I'm really looking forward to my tomorrow. I'm not trying to keep it a secret from the high school. In fact, some of those teachers and even for the students probably listen to this podcast, I expect to be back with them in February for another long term row. So I thought just for these handful of days, I'm home like, probably only seven school days, I would just experiment, go back to some of the middle schools and meet some of them again that I miss. And we're doing that. So I guess we're all kind of in the mode. Now. We're over the hump for the school year. We're in January. We've got about three months to teach before many of us will be going on spring break the time flies, man, it seems like August just got here. And we just started but here we are in January of 2022. hope everybody's doing well. The reason the opening was as it is, if you think back, you can think of teachers that were special for you. You can think of I still see some of them today. I ran into what it's kind of a it was a joke because one of the my favorite teachers and he knows this from both middle school and high school. I ran into him at a volleyball game the other day I was the referee on the stand and his granddaughter was on the team. And I just heard him behind me say hey, I think that's Greg Collins, he was talking to somebody next to them. So when I had a break, I went and talked to him. And he was a social studies teacher. Back in the day. He was a he became a bank professional later, but I know that math was his minor. So the first time I had him as a teacher, he was my math teacher. And he was one of our favorites. And he remembers, I remember the day when he told us to tear up the first three pages of our notes because everything he gave us was wrong. So he was there to be a basketball coach. And he was good at that too. But because of all that when I went up and talked to him, he said, Greg, you know, I tell everybody that you gained all your math knowledge for me and I said, I tell them the same thing. And we had a good laugh about it. He's such a great individual. And as special as he was for me, I didn't really change for him. I enjoyed the way he taught me. I think he changed for me. There are students out there everywhere, even the straight A students. I don't think they're going to change for you. And then on the other end of the spectrum, you've got some students who not only won't change But they'll let you know they're not going to change. I've had students Desplat tell me when I asked him to come up and talk to me, they just say no. And you know, you got to deal with it in your own way and go from there. So, but that's our subject for today. Since you know that for the most part, these students aren't going to change for you, you've got some choices to make. And to set your mood for what we're going to talk about, let me ask you this question. Are those schools in place for the students? Or for the teachers? Do you think you're in there in place for the teachers, you're wrong? Those schools are there to educate the students. So should we then as teachers think that we're so important that every student has to do things exactly the way we want them to. Most recently, when I was in long term roads, I would be occasionally contacted by a parent. And they would share with me things that that student had been through that year. And what they're really wanting to do is to see what can my student do to improve their grade? Now, that becomes some real pressure. Because you got to decide all right, do I offer this student some bonus credit, that I really didn't offer the other students who got their work done in the first place? Do I just remind them of the work they didn't turn in that would help their grade? Do I give them a special new assignment? What do you do in that situation? Well, I'll tell you what I have done in just a moment. But here's the the base that I want to lay as we have this discussion. We come across students all the time, they come from different walks of life. I'm in Kentucky right now, I'd say the issues we have, while not less important are different than the issues you have at your school. Our job, as adults, think of it and forget the teaching part for a moment. Our job as adults. If I just run across a person who needs just a little bit more help, it doesn't bother me at all to help them. If I come across somebody that's down on their luck, do I go out of my way to help them I like to think I do. Now the guy that standing at the top of the interstate ramp, if that's the same guy every day, for the rest of my life, would I be less reluctant to help him on day 10 than I was on day one? Well, maybe again, that's still a decision you're going to have to make. But think about just how much better the world would be. This is very philosophical, all of a sudden, if we all just help each other. There's a song from the 60s that I remember by a group called canned heat. It was called Let's work together it went on to become referred to as the hippie national anthem. But it was basically just saying, you know, if we all help out each other, and we all work together, we're going to be a lot better off in the long run, we're going to get along better. I remember when I used to live in St. Louis, this was my first few months, we moved into a place that we didn't stay at very long. Some of the tenants there. I wasn't crazy about one of them cut their own screen door accidentally. So while we were gone one time, they took our screen door. So just little incidental stories like that. Still in hubcaps and I love St. Louis, don't get me wrong. This can happen in the home in the city I am setting in right now could happen anywhere. But it was just kind of area we chose to get out of. But at the same time, I remember this would have been back in 1980. There was a monster, two feet snowstorm one evening, and all of a sudden these same people that were stealing screens and being rude to each other. They were helping each other because they knew that one person couldn't dig their car out and get them on the road. They knew they had to have help and because we were in a serious situation together. We all helped each other out. Think about that when you're teaching kids. We're all in a situation together. We have different roles. Our students are in a learning role. We are in a teaching row. So how do we go about making sure that we all grow together in that respect? Now, I've always been one of those that I don't necessarily, in fact, I don't at all go out of my way to find out background stories about students I might be having trouble with, because I want to make up my own mind. But at the same time, you're going to have teachers come up to you and say, Now, this student, you might need a little extra effort with them, here's why, here's their background situation, here's their home situation, here's why they might just need a little extra attention. And that's what we need to listen to and be aware of. But yet, we don't want that student to feel bad about it. So not only do we maybe have to give them a little extra care, we have to recognize the fact that we need to figure out a way to do that without putting everybody else at a disadvantage. I've made some comments before in classes that I've regretted. Sometimes I've accused a class of being one of those classes that misbehaves more than the others. And that's not fair. Because even though that might be true, it's probably only about 10% of the students that are really giving you a hard time. And sometimes, these 10% of the students are just wanting a little help. Here's been my experience. So far, some of the stories I've shared, some I have not, we have got so many new listeners now it's really taken off, it's been crazy. We had twice as many listens in 2020, over twice in 2021, as we did in 2020. This podcast began in summer of 2019. So I really thank you all for that. I shared some of these stories very early on. So I'm going to reshare some of them today and kind of put them all in the same location. One of my favorite stories to share has been the fact that one of my first long term teaching situations I ran across a student who constantly I mean, he wasn't violent. He didn't use profane class. But he was so disruptive in class, I had to have him set close to me so many times. And ironically, when he set close to me, he was much better behaved and in fact, began answering questions. In fact, I remember a situation. Unfortunately, I had to calm him down for it, because there was a competition, a math competition up at the board. And it's something simple that the two students that were competing against each other should have known and they couldn't figure out. And he got so frustrated that it was taking them so long to figure out, he jumped up out of his chair, walked up and said, Come on, guys, it isn't that hard, worked it out on the on the board for them. Now, I had heard some background stories about that student, what they had been through in their personal life with parents and all that kind of thing. And I tried to take that into consideration. I don't want to change anything because of it, because I want to treat them equally with everybody else. But I did kind of show them some extra attention. I encouraged them what they could do to get an A on the next test. And you know, it pays off. When the student made this, it happened to be in a non educational activity. It was a school activity. But that student actually came up and sat next to me he saw me in the bleachers sat next to me instead of next to the other students that at least show me that I meant enough to him that I had changed myself enough in the way I treated him that his way of showing appreciation was the set down next to me and basically just by setting there and have casual conversation. I know that he's comfortable being around me. Now. If I run into him since then, yes, as he ever given me any trouble. No. Has he ever given any other teachers any trouble? Yes, no, I haven't been there. But I know that he's been in trouble on a couple of times. But I like to at least think that I changed myself enough that maybe he can be a little bit more serious about his education I at least want to think that I was willing to change out wasn't insisting that he act exactly. Like everybody else. I changed for them. For that person. I changed the way I gave him materials the way I taught him the attention I gave him. And it paid off, at least from a standpoint of he was comfortable when I was teaching him in the future. More recently, I had a class of freshmen class, very rambunctious, sometimes out of hand. But again, it was only like 10% of the class. But I couldn't have yelled at them, which I did. I felt bad about it. They knew I felt bad about it. And they heard me apologize to them and saying that I shouldn't lump everybody into the same situation. Now, when I said that, they had the students that knew I was talking about them feel bad about it. No, they didn't. They, I mean, they're not going to change. That's what our topic is, they are not going to change. So how can I change to make things better? Well, I kind of went out of my way, I would talk to the individual students, just casually, I might say, Oh, by the way, you know, right, now you got a high D average, but you've got two assignments that you haven't turned in. Why don't you do those two assignments, that will get you to a C, and then we'll talk about the final exam you have to take later and what notes you have to study for. So they did that they made up their work and got third grade up. Now, I didn't have to do that. I could have insisted they changed for me, you know, the assignments, you should know they've been out there for weeks, I'm not going to say anything else to you, it's your job to get them done. Instead, I chose to change on myself. I went with him one on one obviously didn't announce it in front of everybody, that would not have been the right approach. Although I have seen teachers who do that, for some strange reason. They think that by pointing out to a student, their failures in front of everybody else, that that will give them the emotional desire to increase their grade, well, it doesn't work that way, believe me, it doesn't work that way. So that was the approach I took. So that helped with that student, they got their grade up. Another student in the same class, absolutely shocked me. The student talked out in class, he participated, he would do his assignments, probably the minimum, we go into the final exam, he knows he needs a really good grade on his spinal to make his overall grade for the year look much better, keep his parents off his back. And to put it mildly. And I was I shouldn't have been. I underestimated the kid. I gave him some attention. I would help with individual questions. They knew that I would not give them the answers. But I would say things like, remember back on that day when we were doing this. That's what this pertains to in this. Oh, yeah, I remember that. That helped him a little bit. Well, it turns out that this student ended up getting a high B on his final exam. And man, I thought he was going to jump out of his skin to use an old fashioned phrase, he was so excited. He knew how that was going to affect his gray because that final exam was 20% of the first, you know, the first half of the school year. So he knew that that would help his grade immensely. So I didn't realize that I had encouraged him enough to get him to study like that. But we'd had the same conversation. I told him, I changed for him. I just didn't just throw a bunch of stuff out there and do it. I said, Alright, here's how far behind you are. Do this one. And this one in this one. They're right here. You know, you knew they were there. But sometimes it becomes overwhelming. They get so far behind. They don't know what they should do. So I said do project a do project big project. See that's how this will affect your grade. Not only did they get those projects done, but when they saw how it affected third grade. They wanted that to continue. So I changed for them. I gave them that little extra attention. I changed in the way that I allowed them to do certain projects, and it helped out a lot. And they helped out with their grade. I know there was a story one time about a student who had been through a situation with parents because I had actually read about it in the newspaper. The student was typically a straight A student and they basically did not do well on a test. I went up to that student and I told her listen, you know, I understand you've got a lot of things going on right now. Now, I'm going to give you a second chance on that test if you would like to retake it, and the student retook it did much better. Here's what's going to happen, we're going to have a lot of students, students do not want to change. I've joked that I've had prob probably taught, I think over 2000 students now, because eight different classes have been involved. There's some overlap, I guess, some that I knew in the sixth grade are now freshmen in high school. So there's some overlap there. But students aren't going to change in the most part. Unless they feel like that you have their best interest at heart. Okay, so try your best to evaluate each student, you're going to need to do that whether you're a full time teacher, a substitute teacher, because let's face it, most substitute teaching jobs. Now, if you just do one day at a time, you're still going to see students for more than once, when you return back to that school for a second job absence. So be ready to change them. When you go back and teach for the same teacher, perhaps you're thinking, Alright, I remember those classes. These students were in second period, I don't think I got across to them, as well as I wished I could have, what can I do differently on this day? How can I change my approach to that child to make teaching them more successful, always have that in the back of your mind, okay? Students are going to have things going on in their mind all the time. They have family situations, they have relationship situations, they have lifestyle decisions to make, all of those are going through the same thing. It would be hooba. US that's a good old fashioned word to kind of get a feel, you know, as you know, as I've told you, before, I like to stand out in the hallway and meet the students, you see who they're holding hands with, you see who they're talking most often to, you can see their interactions with the administration and with the teachers. I know, the highest guard been teaching at the principal there, I would occasionally see him chess bump some of the football players. And I think that's kind of cool. I know, there's a teacher, I think he's down in Texas, homage Brewer, I believe is his name. They call him the skateboarding teacher. It's a small thing. But the very fact that he skateboards down the hallway and kind of shows up for all for the kids and gives them that little extra attention. That means so much to the students in those areas. So figure out your thing, my thing is probably joking around with the students being a little sarcastic with them, Unless I see that it's backfired. And then I'll back off. But remember, those students, most of them are there, because they're told they have to be there. Now a lot of them want to do well, some of them just want to come in and occupy a seat. So now we've got a decision to make how are we going to teach those differently? Can we teach the students with the highest concentration level, the same as we do with as the lowest concentration level? And the answer is no. In that regard, we can't expect the students for us to just yell, snap our fingers and say, you're going to do it this way. We have to kind of individualize we have to compartmentalize and decide, how should I approach this student just a little bit better. I know the one of the teachers that I taught for long term that was leaving, she told me, she said, I know you're familiar with Infinite Campus. But here's one area I go into a lot by the student to come up and say, you know, here's your grades, here's what you need improvement in, show each one of them individual attention in the best way possible. Some of you are still have over 30 students in a class and it's hard for individuality to take a big effect with that many students but do your best. Hopefully you've got some help. Just be aware, maybe if you can't do individual attention, maybe you can just change something so that certain groups of students might understand things better. Some of them want to understand, might be embarrassed to ask to understand and they get left behind. So remember, when you were asked Student You didn't like to change, or at least you didn't like to admit that you were willing to change. That's just kind of the attitudes we had back then. So, as you teach those students, they might not change for you be willing to change for them in the way you approach them, both disciplinary wise, teaching wise, education wise, friendly wise, I still have students come up to me all the time, share stories with me about what's going on. Maybe they just want me to know that they shot a deer during deer season, things like that. That's special to them so students won't change. You need to change for them. And just like canned heat, said in the song, let's work together and we'll all improve our education as a result.