Literature for Special Problems

Call me crazy, but I truly enjoyed teaching 7th grade language arts because I could help my students pull their creativity from deep within and develop it on paper.  I recently stumbled across a wonderful website filled with tips for language arts teachers of all grades: http://www.carolhurst.com/index.html.  There, teachers will find that any problem can be tackled with a book.  Got bullies?  Go to http://www.carolhurst.com/subjects/bullies.html and pick one of the many books on that topic for your grade level.  Then, ask your little learners to develop a similar story.  What about geology?  Carol Hurst recommends Everybody Needs a Rock (An Aladdin Book) because not only does it teach about Mohs' Scale of Hardness, the author also shows young readers about taking your time to make a decision.  Wow!

So, whether you teach fiction or nonfiction, second graders or seventh graders, the information you find at this website will provide the important link between literacy and curriculum.  Here's a quick link to the Table of Contents: http://www.carolhurst.com/toc.html.

Happy teaching!

Is a child's self esteem misunderstood?

Has your child's teacher told you that she has low self esteem?  What exactly does that mean?  It's possible that she is simply too shy to volunteer answers during a group discussion.  It's also possible that she feels dissatisfied with everything she does.  Which is the worse scenario?  Obviously the second. 

I've seen well-meaning parents attempt to make perfect children by requiring them to re-do incorrect homework assignments.  When that happens, a child sees that his work is not good enough to hand in to the teacher; nor is it good enough to satisfy a parent.  His self esteem goes down a few notches. Yes, we want our children to succeed, but not at the expense of their basic self-worth.  How then can parents get their children to do better in school while building on their self-esteem?  Simple - by focusing on what they did right, rather than what they did wrong.  Let's go back to the homework issue.  If you look at a math assignment and see four wrong answers but six right answers, focus first on what the child did right.  Then, when he sees that he has the capability for getting the right answer, show him that four answers could be improved. (Don't say they are wrong, simply say they can be improved).  Now here's the hard part, parents ... walk away!  Let your child figure out all by himself what he needs to do.  If he decides to hand in the paper with the wrong answers, then accept that maybe he was tired that night and simply couldn't think about math anymore. It happens!  Harping on him will chip away at that self-esteem problem the teacher mentioned.  Repeat the process the next night by again observing what he did right.  Eventually, your child will learn that he can get the rest of the answers correct if he builds on what he knows.

So, how then is self esteem misunderstood?  Because many parents and some teachers feel that every child needs a reward for good behavior.  Does anyone give you a reward to doing the dinner dishes, getting the kids ready for bed, and then putting a load of laundry in the washing machine before you collapse in front of the TV?  No?  I didn't think so.  You've formed your own intrinsic reward system because you know if you didn't do those things, your home would fall apart.  A child needs that same intrinsic motivation, and that's why it's so important to walk away after you tell your child that some of his math problems need to be reconsidered.  Certainly, you can welcome his smiling face when he fixes them, but then comment, "I'm sure your teacher will be just as pleased as you are with your progress."  Ah!  You found the magic words - just as pleased as you are (intrinsic motivation) - not how pleased you are (extrinsic motivation). 

A recent study has shown that low self esteem causes increased materialism and raising self esteem decreases materialism. So, by raising your child's self esteem through intrinsic motivation, you'll be saving yourself some money.  And that's wonderful motivation for any parent!

Happy parenting!

Parents vs. Teachers

Teaching is one of the few professions where the "clients" think they know more than the professionals.  A parent wouldn't take her child to the dentist and say, "She has a chipped tooth.  I think you should extract it because it's ugly."  She wouldn't take her child to the hairdresser and say, "Now take about two inches from the back and an inch from the front and then layer it the rest of the way so it looks like this picture." (Although I have seen some parents get almost as demanding at the salon!)  My point is, why do parents think that they know what's best for their child's education and criticize a teacher's methods? 

What's even worse is when the parent question's the teacher's comments.  A teacher explains to a parent that his son hit another child in the schoolyard.  The parent turns to his son and asks, "Did you do that?" to which the son naturally denies the accusation, leaving the parent glaring at the teacher.  HUH?  You believed a ten-year-old over a professional educator?

Or how about the parent who wants to know what the teacher "did" to her child to make him behave so poorly in class?  Again I say, "HUH?"  Maybe the teacher should set aside his or her professionalism and ask the parent what she did to model such disrespectful behavior at home. 

Finally, there's the parent who doesn't believe that the teacher taught the material well enough, causing her child to fail the test.  Could it be that her little angel simply wasn't paying enough attention to the teacher's instruction?  Or was too busy with two sports and piano lessons to have time to complete the homework?

The bottom line with today's rant is that teachers don't get the respect they deserve for all the time and effort they put into planning, implementing, and grading their students' work.  Parents should realize that the teacher has the degree which has been sanctioned by their state to teach methods they learned in college.  Why is that so difficult to comprehend?  I don't tell my plumber how to fix my leaky pipe.  I don't tell my carpenter how to fix my sagging door.  And when my children were in school, I worked with the teachers to understand how my children would be better prepared for their daily instruction.  Isn't it time parents learn that teachers are actually on their team not playing against them?  By working together, parents and teachers will cooperatively reach the same goal - the best possible education for the children.

Happy parenting and happy teaching!