I know I haven’t blogged very much about my student teaching experience. I have struggled with the privacy and legality of the students. I of course would never use their names, but I still worry about if it is right or wrong.
I am going to take my chances and talk about a student. I have “taken to” a particular student this semester. From day one she appeared very quiet in class. I knew immediately after grading papers that she was a struggling student. She is also a 504 student. For those of you that don’t know what that is, a 504 student is a student that has some sort of learning disability. This can be anywhere from ADHD to dyslexia. Jane (not her real name), has been diagnosed with dyslexia. She goes to the learning lab to take all of her tests and quizzes. Our students have a quiz every Friday.
My first month, Jane was failing each of these quizzes. She does well on classwork so her average was teetering dangerously between a C and a F. Unfortunately, quizzes count as 40% of her grade, so when she made a 50 or below, her average would plummet. Test count as 50% and she would fail those too. Lucky for her, they only have two tests a semester.
Jane is Hispanic. I say this because the Hispanic community tends to put very little importance in education. I am not sure if it is because they don’t care, or if it is lack of communication (language barrier). With this said, when I would hand back the quizzes and test, I would watch Jane. Her response wasn’t an “I don’t care” response. Her shoulders would drop and she would immediately shield the grade with her hand as she looked over the red marks. She was embarrassed. I knew then, that she cared and wanted to do well. After a month of this, one Monday afternoon I handed her back her quiz. I bent down and told her to come in Thursday and I would help her study for the quiz on Friday. Her eyes lit up immediately and she said, “You would do that?”
I said, “Of course!” On Thursday morning, there she was. I sat down with her for 40 minutes and when over all the information for the quiz. I drilled her and gave her funny ways of remembering things. I even made her sing a couple things to certain tunes to make them stick in her head. She came again on Friday morning. We went over the information again so it was fresh in her mind. After she handed me her quiz on Friday, instead of putting it on the bottom of the stack, I grabbed it and graded it. I graded her paper three times to make sure I wasn’t missing something. She made a 100. I quickly went to her desk, trying to hold back the tears (other kids were reading), and bent down. She looked at me and said, “How bad?”
I said, “ONE HUNDRED”.
“No, really. What did I make?”
“Jane, you made a one hundred.”
“Ms. J, I have never made a one hundred on a quiz. Are you serious?”
“Yes, darling. I am serious.”
She put her arms around my neck. At this point it was borderline scene in the classroom. Jane came in every Thursday and Friday after that. She has made A’s on every quiz since that day. Her average in English is a 87. Last week they had a major test. She came in and studied hard with me. I knew the test was going to be short answer, not the multiple choice/fill in the blank she was used to. I knew she would struggle with this test. She did. She made a 54. I went to tell her and she cried. She told me she tried so hard. It took everything in me to keep my cool. I knew how hard she studied. I knew she would struggle because she struggles with the simple structuring of a sentence. This is a weakness for her. When I told her what she made, I told her to come in Monday morning to make corrections. She said, “Why bother?” **Students can retake tests only. They are not allowed to make up quizzes.**
“Why bother? Because look how hard you have worked for that 87!! You are so incredibly smart, and I KNOW YOU are capable of much more than a ridiculous 54! I will see you Monday morning, Jane. You don’t have an option here. If I didn’t think you were smart enough, I wouldn’t make you come in. You can do better, and I EXPECT you to do better.” Sure enough, Monday morning she came in to make her test corrections. Monday after school she came in for her retake. Instead of sending her to the learning lab, I made her take it in the empty classroom. She handed it to me and left. I then turned it over to the teacher, and told her because I felt too close to this kid, I was afraid I would not grade fairly. So I stood there behind her like a kid waiting to open presents on Christmas Day. Every time she reached for the red pen, I winced. I finally had to walk away and wait. After about five minutes, she held up the paper with a bright red 87 at the top. I ran out the door looking for Jane in the hallway. She stepped away from her friends when she saw me, knowing why I was coming her way.
“Did I fail again?”
“87!”
She jumped up and down with excitement.
This is the reason I want to be a teacher. Look at the impact a teacher can have on a student! We can make them, or we can break them. In the two and a half months, this student has gone from a 72 to an 87. Did it take that much? NO! It took someone that cared. It took someone telling her that she was capable of more. It took someone pushing her to her full potential. I know when I am a teacher, I am going to look at each student as an individual with needs. Whether it be a study partner, or someone to encourage them. Seeing the face of a student that made her first 100 on a quiz, made it all worth it. I can’t wait to be a teacher and experience this all the time.
I have grown close to many of these kids. I have about three other students like Jane. Their average has gone from C’s to B’s in a matter of a couple months. The only thing I did was tell them how smart they were. I told them I KNEW they were capable of more and I demanded it. Teachers are holding so much power in the palms of their hands. I hope that I am able to turn that into something wonderful...for EVERY student I come across.
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