Underachieving

Chapter 10 Perception is everything, right? Perception is our reality. When it comes to our willingness to learn and our confidence in ourselves, we will work harder when we believe we can achieve and that we have the support of those around us. Students are the same way. Of all the goals I have for myself, as a teacher, relationships are at the very top. I hope that every student in my room perceives my support and belief in them. The best way I can show them that I care for them is to take the time to get to know them-- not just academically, but all the way around. I spend time asking  them about their lives and give them plenty of opportunities to share what life is like for them away from school. I communicate with their parents in multiple settings so that I can understand what the children are like off campus. A teacher can have an amazing window into a student's life just by listening to what others say about them, and how they interact with others in unstructured moment...

Chapter 8 Feedback continues to be one of the things that I strive to improve on. Every year, I start strong, set goals for myself, and make minor improvements. I always struggle at the same time of year -- January. I feel the crunch on STAAR writing and get so focused on prep that feedback settles on the back burner. I recognize the importance of it, believe me and every year I know I get a little bit better at it. I provide both written and verbal feedback to my students via their writing/reading notebooks. I focus on specific strengths  and leave them with questions and ideas for growth. One thing I would like to institute next year is students providing feedback to each other in their notebooks. I think it will be even more valuable coming from peers. Our students do have e-portfolios, which I think is a great idea. I would like to spend more time on them. Usually we take time to work on them a lot at the end of the year, while working on our "growth over time" essays...

Chapter 6 I think that as educators, we are sometimes a little too quick to judge parents based on their child's behavior. We must work together for the success of all students. When it comes to the underachievers, I think we should assume that parents are just doing their best and are probably every bit as frustrated as the teachers. So, let's do that. Let's work together to figure out what these kiddos need to achieve. As teachers, we have very little influence over what happens in the homes of our students. What we have to do, is get "buy in" from parents that we truly care about the kids and want them to succeed. We need to communicate effectively and responsibly from the beginning about strengths and weaknesses. Rimm's Trifocal Model is the perfect way to do that. I feel like at Lakeview we are headed in the right direction. When it comes to all our students, we hold conferences where we have data that clearly lays out the positives and negatives. We t...

Chapter 4 Effort over grades? What a concept! How do we recognize effort over a number grade if that is what students and parents place all the importance on? Unfortunately, this will take time. I think that if we learn to do this as soon as kids come to school, it is our best chance to alter everyone's thought patterns and move them into a "growth mindset." If we start giving specific praise and feedback in Kindergarten, modeling for parents, providing this type of feedback in journals, papers, etc, there is a higher likelihood that it will sink in before upper elementary, when things start to get more challenging. I believe we need to show teachers and parents, through education, WHY it is more meaningful to praise effort over grades. We say it is important, but do we really understand the impact that it will have on young minds later in life, if we choose to only reward good grades? In the last few years, I have seen many students who show giftedness in one area ov...

Chapter 1 - Introduction As soon as I read the title of the book, I knew this would be a helpful class! Not only do I work with these students every day, I live with one in my house.  I have always said that I have endless patience for those kiddos who struggle with dyslexia or other disabilities, and who try their best, but still cannot catch up to their peers. My weakness has always been that I cannot understand those who have the ability to achieve the highest of goals, but for some reason, "choose" to coast by and put a serious lack of effort in all they do. Why do they choose this? I always ask my self, "How can they be so smart and choose to goof off, not check their work, or just not care?"  In my mind, gifted kids are those who outperform their peers on IQ tests and attach themselves to certain topics that interest them and become almost obsessed with learning more about them. However, their grades don't always reflect their abilities. Which brings me...