Wk 2-Response

Response to Christen Kauffman

We are all...yes I said ALL...guilty of stereotyping our students. It is scary to say I have even heard teachers tell students that they are a lost cause. But how much that “lost cause” is our fault. How much of that can we change with just our perception. The book tells a story of how a guest conductor chooses to see their orchestra. They can see, “The jaded and the disaffected - or the tender and glorious lover of music that they really are.”

We all have those students who slouch back in their chair, hide in the back row and allow the fly on the wall to distract them. But I think what can change a student is not only their perception but ours. If we look at them as the disaffected student who doesn’t care, then consciously or subconsciously we will not provide them with the same little bits of reassuring and tools we give our other students. But if we can look at them as a glorious student who needs an extra push or a maybe sometimes a nice hard shove in the right direction, who is to say that our perception shift doesn’t change them forever?

Christen- I can definitely understand where you are coming from. So many times we see students in the wrong view. In working with at-risk students I feel like I am always pushing them into the right direction. There are some days that I feel I have made a difference and they truly understand and yet there are others when I feel they don’t understand that I am giving them the tools to be successful and to make it in the world.

I guess I am a teacher/life coach most days. So many students do not know anything about values and morals, all which are important in life. We have taken on an all school behavior plan and our motto is that students at Jefferson Elementary are Safe, Respectful and Responsible. Every choice good or bad fits into one of these categories. It seems to be working and I am hoping that it is life changing to the students and families at our school.