"You have a student who is an only child, young compared to the others in your class, and whines all day because he does not get what he wants. What are the top 5 ways to improve his behavior?"
You consult your team mates and the answers come fast and furious...
Call parent to inform of child's behavior..... number 5 slides open. Ding!
Ask child to do something for you so he feels important...number 3-Ding!
Create a sticker chart where you give him a sticker every time he doesn't whine. ... number 2 slides open. Ding
Start tracking time of day and location of whining so you can be proactive about the whining and head it off before it begins... number 4. Ding!
With time running out your group leader blurts out, " Have a sticker chart that allows him to earn a prize from the prize box for every two stickers he earns so the reward is immediate." ...number 1!!!!! Ding!!!
It is now the next team's turn.
"Are you ready?" the announcer asks? "Ok. You have a student who doesn't do their homework. Is often off task. She disrupts the class by blurting out constantly and also has frequent angry outbursts. She is learning little if anything and is disrupting the learning of the other students. How do you get her on track so she can learn and the other students feel safe?"
The other team huddles briefly then answer confidently...
Call parent to inform of child's behavior..... number 5 slides open. Ding!
Ask child to do something for you so she feels important...number 3-Ding!
Create a sticker chart where you give her a sticker every time she stays on task ... number 4 slides open. Ding
Start tracking time of day and location of outbursts so you can be proactive about the outburst and head it off before it begins... number 2. Ding!
With time running out, their group leader says, " Have a sticker chart that allows her to earn a prize from the prize box for every three stickers she earns so the reward is immediate." ...number 1!!!!! Ding!!!
The game ends and everyone is a winner!!!
And everyone is a loser because --
There is no quick fix. There is no magic bullet. There is no magic wand.
Teachers can be the entire pit crew of a formula 1 racing team.
They used to be specially made and hand crafted.
Teachers can be Merlin and Houdini rolled into one.
They need to be, because kids need to learn to function in a world that isn't fair. No one's life is perfect. And even those in terrible conditions have occasional slivers of sun.
There used to be an art to teaching.
Now there is a script.
Teachers found ways to connect with their students so they could know how to reach them.
Now they document behavior to- generate- data- that- will- inform- decisions -made- by -a- committee -that- may- or- may- not- ever -interact -with- the- child.
Teachers found ways to weave incidental events into their plans.
Now they can't stray from the script lest they be reprimanded for failing to follow the pacing guide.
There used to be solid ground to stand on. And older teachers will tell you things come back around.
But it seems as though the solid ground has been placed on a roiling sea.
Those people who may or may not ever see our student, attend conferences by phone or in person. They scroll through their network of colleagues who also haven't been in a classroom in years. They read trade magazines written by scientifically based people in their hermetically sealed labs who expound on the virtues of having today's student learning XYZ -- to be sure they are prepared for that magical world known as college and career ready. And those people who don't know our kids, don't know our community, and in many cases don't know us, make decisions that change with the seasons in an attempt to be the first to discover THE way to teach the kids in rural Kansas to know the same things as the child in urban Minnesota, and they will both know the same as the suburban child in Connecticut.
Because differences need to be eradicated while at the same time celebrated -- as long as the celebration is in context. If you know what I mean.
Fair. Equal. Same. These are words that relate to manufactured cookies.
But we aim to please so...
We make excuses where we should make clear our expectations.
We standardize in our attempt to differentiate.
We sympathize when we should empathize.
And that's why we will be there for the next episode of "This Student Needs Help."
And we will clap when the number one answer is "... to pick from the prize box." Because as you know, every child responds to a trip to the prize box.
And if not, he can always earn a trip to the Bigger and Better prize box.
Maybe I should buy stock in stickers.
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