One of my students -Pamela (not her real name) – is on a remediation plan for some offense. She did something wrong. So she has to get a signed blue note from each of her teachers every day, as a way to keep tabs on her. The grade has to be reported on the blue slip.
She is my best student. Watching her listen in class is poetry. Her grades are three F’s and two A’s. The F’s are predominantly in classes which require only the left hemisphere of the brain, the linear analytical memorization classes. The A’s are in French and Geometry, which require the whole brain.
Her counselor told me that she is going to try to graduate from high school and that she has hope, in spite of a very bad home life (counselor is not allowed to tell but she said it is b-a-d). My question is, what would become of this girl in the game of analysis and memorization that she would have encountered had she been enrolled in a book based class, one of those like they did in the last century? 4 F’s and one A might be too much for her to try, to not give up on life.
CI and the Research (cont.)
Admins don’t actually read the research. They don’t have time. If or when they do read it, they do not really grasp it. How could
2 thoughts on “Pamela”
Wow, very sad. It’s very sad that children in this country have to have the lives that they do. It sounds to me as if you and the Geometry teacher are in a good position here, you two could possibly be the people that help her rise above the crap she has to deal with at home and “inspire” her to graduate high school and get out of where she is. This is all coming from a new teacher though, I still think I’m going to change the world! I think this girl definitely deserves to be one of the main stars in class.
It’s amazing how many students have straight F’s and an A in a TPRS class. WAKE UP!