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17 thoughts on “Can Some Students Learn Better the Grammar Way?”
“and the deep and painful lesson for the teacher in this situation is to dig deep and learn to completely disregard what the child says because the child is wrong and too young to understand how outrageous her comment really was.”
This is the tough part, I think. I heard a saying before that said something about negative comments, no matter how small, stick in the mind a lot longer than positive ones. It’s easy to get bent out of shape over something a student says for some reason, even though, as Ben says, the child is wrong and we are right. Even though we know we are right and we know they are wrong, for some reason we allow those little comments to stick.
I agree. But at some point we have to learn this, and not just about our teaching. Whether it takes us five years or fifty thousand lifetimes. And the latter time span would not be too long considering how precious the gain. To know that there is nothing wrong with us, that we are not wrong, that we are not stupid, that we are good, and that the opinion of another person of us simply does not count, for the simple reason that they really don’t know us, they can’t know us, is worth the wait. Or we could fret and lose sleep because somebody said something. What do they know? They don’t know us.
¨She said that I have not taught her anything all year¨.
I had a similar remark from an eighth grade student today ¨You haven´t taught us anything¨. Yes, it does get to you when you´ve been trying so hard and this is the response you get. However, when I asked the same kid to translate a paragraph from the Piratas novel he did it perfectly. Something is getting past his bad attitude!
Well this child is obviously one smart cookie. She is “finally” LEARNING something. You see, we do not teach so that students will LEARN, we teach so that students will ACQUIRE. Hence Jeff’s student’s success with Piratas…now that is ACQUISITION.
with love,
Laurie
I am that teacher and I am crying right now as I read all the wisdom and kindness in your responses. Of course I should have remembered that I am the teacher, that I know that this method works, and that I shouldn’t let such remarks shake me. It’s just that I didn’t have a clue that this girl felt this way…I have no idea why she didn’t transfer to the grammar class this semester when she easily could have. I asked her and she just shrugged.
From what I’ve heard, her mom is not a person I want to deal with at all. But that’s beside the point. I’ll move on now…I’ve just never had this situation in my three years of doing CI, but in the other years, I was the only teacher they’d ever had. I’ll talk to the librarian–that room abuts mine–and see if we can work something out. The other two students are less hostile, just more disruptive.
thanks. I really started doubting myself. I thought I was much tougher than I actually am.
I’m not tough. I really need them to like my class. One comment and I reel. Not good. Really not good. I agree so much with Laurie re: Jeff’s kid who had aquired in spite of a surly attitude. They DO acquire this way. They merely learn in the other way. It’s so true.
Connected to this hard part of the year, we must not forget that thread from about a week ago about finding stuff to do when auditory CI and especially stories start to lose their force with each passing overcast and cold day. I want to get a list up of CI stuff to do in the spring. Just reminding the group that if you have something that really works with squirly kids in the spring, pls. share it here. Mine is dictation.
Hugs to you…you are not alone. We all have folks who throw eggs…or worse…at us. Another TPRSer once told me that “light attracts the dark.” Sometimes, when we are doing the right thing, we actually attract criticism in that manner. That is why it is so important to remember that are not alone.
with love,
Laurie
I had a student throw his planner at me last year……………he got a lunch detention.
Lori,
This was a rough week. Our temps. in Minnesota dropped down into the teens today and I did NOT want to get out of bed. No hiking here. Just hunch and run into the building.
We cannot yet see Spring Break, much less Spring. Summer, what summer? These are the days they pay us for. The easy days are for free. Hang in there.
My assistant principal said today that this week has been the worst so far this year, she deals with all of the student misbehavior in our school. Next week’s a new week!
“These are the days they pay us for. The easy days are free.”
“These are the days they pay us for. The easy days are free.”
Yes, worth reading twice. Oh, I love that–I’m printing that out in huge type font and putting it where I can see it. Nice to know that I’m not alone in having a rough week this time of year.
thanks, Shannon.
“These are the days they pay us for. The easy days are for free. ”
Like.
This week I had teachers keep students after school to prepare for the TESTS. This is the first year anyone has done that so the pressure on Core teachers must be immense despite the fact that the school was just graded as the 4th highest in the state for our k-8 schools (there are 194 such schools in Fla.). So it isn’t just the weather.
Now might be the time for quick brain break games that allow students to see what they comprehend as well as continuing our routines. The routines offer structure, the games novelty. Both novelty and structure must be there for the brain to feel safe enough to absorb and acquire.
Good time to share those brain break games and–as Ben said–the other CI stuff to do to give us a break from auditory. It is hard to get the right balance between routine and brain breaks, structure and novelty.
This group saves my sanity and helps me keep life in perspective.
Lori,
I just happened to open Dr. Krashen’s lectures in Taibei. Here is the definition he gave on “acquisition”.
“Language acquisition is a subconscious process; while it is happening, we are not aware that it is happening. Also, once we have acquired something, we are not usually aware that we posses any new knowledge. The knowledge is stored in our brains subconsciously.”
The fact that the student felt she DIDN”T learn got because she was actually “ACQUIRING”! That should speak the highest of your teaching:)
P1 from Explorations in Language Acquisition and Use by Stephen D. Krashen, 2003
Haiyun
thanks. I think I need to explain the difference to my students again between learning and acquiring!
lori
“Also, once we have acquired something, we are not usually aware that we posses any new knowledge.”
We need to educate our students about this notion more. At least I do. It’s plain to see. We’re redefining expecations of them and it makes sense to help them redefine what it means to be successful in this type of a class.
What’s a good metaphor? The skiing one from a couple weeks ago that sparked Ben’s reply to his haters? Riding a bike?