Take the Challenge Part 2 (STB#14)

The FFA food drive was a success! 

Two weeks ago I wrote a blog about taking on challenges. In fact I wrote a blog about taking challenges at the beginning of my whole student teaching experience as well. Challenges are "things" we all encounter. I label them "things" because challenges aren't always obstacles and they aren't always glorious. I have seen them in action these past couple of months; however, once again I can't help but to share about how a challenge this past week has changed the dynamics of the classroom.

At the beginning of this week my cohort received an email from our student teacher supervisor that challenged us to raise the bar in our last 10 days. The challenge was to set a daily goal for ourselves to such as have a meaningful conversation with 10 different students who you have not connected with yet or talk to students not in your class. I decided to take on this challenge to see what would results.

Of all the different types of challenges I have faced this year, I must say that this was probably my favorite. This week I broke some barriers with many of students. Some of these students I have felt never really wanted to get to know me or just haven't warmed up to me or I have tried and just haven't been able to "break the ice." On the flip side maybe I just wasn't doing enough to reach out to these students. In these last few weeks I have really challenged myself to have a different attitude in the classroom. This change of attitude has really changed the whole dynamic of my classroom. It has allowed students to open up more and interact with me more. With this attitude change and my personal challenge to connect with those students that I haven't yet, this week has shown its gems.

Some of my classes contain students that teachers "warn you about." Although I have been given the "warning" I have tried hard not to let the perspectives of others effect my goal for student success of all students. I believe that if we take the time to get to know our students on a personal level we may better understand them as people and make connections that can positively change their behavior inside the classroom. We maybe able to then stop tagging a warning label on students. This week I made some major breakthroughs with three of these students. These three students I never thought would come to respect me as their teacher or listen to what I had to say; however, this week I saw a sudden change in attitude among these students. One student started becoming interested in the classroom materials and started completing and handing in work on time after I had talked to him one on one and expressed how much I want him to be successful in my class. Another student has opened up with me and his peers after I made one joke with him that turned into a classroom inside joke. Yet another student just needed someone to talk to one day and came to down my room to talk to me about a stressful situation he was going through. Although these students would be considered challenges in some classrooms, I chose to get to know these students and find ways to engage them in class. What I found is that students don't need an ISS, detention or suspension, they simply need someone that believes in them.  

It took me awhile to figure this out. At first I was guilty of getting frustrated with students and threatening them with ISS or taking away privileges. In some situations this is a necessary consequence; however with many of my students it simply didn't matter to them. I couldn't figure out why at first they wouldn't care if they got and ISS or suspension, but I began to realize that for many of these students that was a typical day for them. It wasn't anything new or out of the ordinary to spend the day in ISS. A consequence like that didn't change their behavior in class. I had reanalyze how I responded to students and my attitude. Letting the frustration build up was not helping me in any way. I started challenging myself to be more relaxed and to find ways that might boost student engagement and motivation. One important aspect was getting to know my students on a one-on-one basis. I started having more conversations with those students that I didn't have a "connection" with yet and showed interest in them. As a result my students have opened up more to me. The "tough guys" joke around with me more, have shared their frustrations and concerns with me, and even go out of their way to just come and chatw . I have really valued these conversations with students and always end conversations by letting them know that they can do great things in this world because I believe in them. It may sound cheesy, however, many of my students have never heard anyone tell them those words and I think they are important words for students to constantly hear in order to help them to believe in themselves.

Students on our Longwood Gardens field trip!

As I approach the last week, I want to challenge myself to leave this message with all of my students. I hope that I have taught them a little bit about animal science, mechanics and leadership but I through it all I hope that I have taught them a whole lot about themselves and their true potential in this big world. I truly think this will be a hard week as I will have to say goodbye to my students. I would say student teaching has been a challenge, but it was a challenge worth taking.