Have you ever noticed that in the short period after SSR ends and the class begins there is a subtle feeling coming from some of the kids that they really don’t want to be there, or only kinda want to be there? Of course, this is with the exception of the happy outgoing ones, but therein lies the problem – the happy ones from good, usually white, families then dominate the class. It’s the same old story – the few dominate the many in the U.S. and American schools are no different. (Can anyone say “cheerleader” and “football player”.)
The many kids who aren’t, metaphorically, cheerleaders and football player, right after SSR, automatically – because it has been drilled into them for years that they are not as wonderful as those other few kids, assume their role as less important in the class.
Those few kids then get ready to very subtly fake their involvement in the classroom, to deflect as much of the input as possible for whatever reasons (they process more slowly, they have learned they don’t count as much, they have problems at home, they are shy – those kids).
(à suivre)