Karen in Alaska is now in a situation like Jeff’s. Here’s the information:
Hi Ben,
It is my turn to send you a parent letter. A parent just sent me this letter. I have been meaning to call the parent or email them because their kids just sit in my class with shitty attitudes and like bumps on a log. When I try and talk to them they are really awkward. I asked one kid how he was doing and he said “I don’t know?” Really? I also have to mention that we just were learning the itsy bitsy spider in Spanish as a segue into learning about the past tense. I made them preform the song in front of the class. Why? So that they would learn it. They would never take the time to learn it had we not done this. Would I do it again? I am not sure. I am not sure if it is helpful in their acquisition of the language, but a part of me says that is something I did in English as a child to learn English, so maybe there is something to songs…. Here is the letter I received and I am a little unsure about how to reply especially because I am having an administrator breathing down my neck at this time (he came in and observed me for 70 minutes last week, leading me to believe it was my formal observation only to tell me that my students are very distracted and that they are not engaged – this is another story [it is the same admin as before] of being bullied professionally. I feel like I am flying too high on the radar right now and I am worried about this parent possibly going to the administration.
Mrs. W,
My sons currently attend your Spanish class. They are having a hard time following the structure of teaching in class. They purchased workbooks at the beginning of class and they say you have only used it once, and plan on using it only for extra credit in the class. It would seem that the students should have had the option to purchase the workbook if it were not going to be used as part of your everyday curriculum.
I understand they have been asked to sing in the class. Some are just NOT singers and do not feel comfortable singing. Would they be able to translate the songs without having to sing? They would be happy to do that.
Ryan and Riley are very structured kids, both at home and school. By their own discipline, they stick to a strict routine of study, work and play. When they attend a class that doesn’t seem to follow a structure, they are put in a mode of chaos and have a hard time focusing on what is going on. Do you have a syllabus you follow, so they can prepare before class? They did not have this problem when attending Señorita Cooper’s class. They were far more engaged in the class and were able to learn a deeper understanding of the language.
Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
A.
Karen continues:
I have a structure to my classes and am confused as to why they would think that there is no structure. I do not want to come off sounding defensive but their understanding of the language is very low. It seems that they have memorized word lists and have not had much more than that. They do not understand simple things that my Spanish 1 students could understand. Pobre Ana was the most difficult thing for them to understand and it is a very easy reader that they should have been able to breeze through. So, I am unsure what this deeper understanding is and do not want to stet on any toes when I write them back nor do I want to sound like I am defensive. I guess what I am hearing in this letter is that they cannot understand nor synthesize the language. They are down at the recall of data (remembering) end Bloom’s Taxonomy which really is not a “deeper understanding.” ARRRGGGGHHHH! I know that I am not amazing at teaching Spanish 2 this year as I been lucky to only have one prep for the past 4 years so I am not as on top of my game as I could be but I think that a part of what they are talking about is more of their bad attitudes getting in the way than anything else. Any ideas?
Karen
My response:
This says it all. It reveals that the new class (your current level 2 class) is too much for them bc they now must go up the taxonomy towards real rigor, as defined on the posters we have here on the site, and they don’t want to. You cannot make the parents get this. Easier to attack the teacher than require a change in their spoiled little memorizer taker kids. Unless you educate them to that effect.
So the first thing we can say is true is that the parents and that administrator clearly don’t get it. So, in that situation, anything you do would appear defensive. So I would drop the idea of educating them, except to a certain limited extent as described below in terms of jGR, and clear the entire year off, like you clear a computer back to a certain date and anything that was added into it after that date is automatically gone. That’s what I would do.
I would stop the songs. I would go back to the simplest of CI instruction, simple CI in the simplest of stories and spend the entire class on one sentence and look straight at the little recalcitrant kid for the entire lesson. My goal would be to have that kid understand one sentence by the end of class and I would keep referring to jGR the entire time. I would make sure the parents knew that this was going on and I would make sure that they knew jGR and how their kids need to conform to that interspersonal skill. I would get the administrator on board, however it can be done.
The thing is that the first grammar year screwed those kids. They found an easy way to an easy grade and now they have to be a human being.
I will put this out to the group and, as always, we will get good feedback.
First Jeff, and now you are having to do what we will all have to do in our careers. Patiently bear this ignorance, change what we can change in our own teaching – the goal is to reach the kids with comprehensible input – and not change that which doesn’t need changing. This really is all about the St. Francis Prayer.
Related: https://benslavic.com/blog/2010/08/18/what-do-administrators-see/
