Chapter 16: Creating Academic Success

I was shocked to hear that seven thousand students drop out of school daily in the United States! That is such a large number, and it is so sad! This is why I became a teacher. I wanted to make a difference in students lives, especially in the underachieving, low-income students. I have had the privelege to work in a low-income school for five years. I have been able to touch many students' lives and hopefully bridge the gap for some of them. Every August before school starts, I watch Freedom Writers. This movie always motivates me to do everything in my power to make sure my students are loved and feel smart. Even in third grade, my students know who the smart kids are and who the "dumb" kids are. I hate that! I want everyone of my students to feel smart because they are! They all have different skills in life which makes all of them smart! Some of my students do struggle and have to work harder in school, and they are the students that are already done with school. When I take a step back, I don't blame them. Who would want to spend seven hours everyday feeling like a failure? In my classroom, I try to create an environment where everyone feels smart. I work on making sure my students know their strengths and how to use them to help them in life. It is important to me that my students can talk to me on a personal level. I want them to feel comfortable to talk to me about anything, even the bad. I try to make it out to my students' sports games to show that I care about them even outside of school. When a teacher creates that personal relationship with a student, they can then relate to them on the academic level. I believe that if a teacher shows an interest in a students' life, then the student will take an interest in what the teacher is teaching. Many of my students come from a rough home life which does affect their learning. Several of my students are below grade level in reading and math. I push my struggling students. I set high expectations because I believe they can reach them. In small group, I work with my students to teach them skills that they will need in reading. My small group reading level is at an instructional level, but it is not as challenging as our textbooks. Through small group, my students learn strategies to use when they are reading on-level text and struggling. I believe that it is essential that struggling readers still are pushed to read on-level text, but they have strategies to help them along the way. With my struggling readers, it is important to go over background knowledge and make connections throughout the reading. A teacher needs to make it real for the student. This will aide in their comprehension. When a student feels confident, they are motivated to complete the given task. Teachers can also use the Thinking Maps to help students in their learning. I am going to try to incorporate some of the Thinking Maps in my future classes to help organize information. As a teacher, it is my job to make sure my students feel smart, and I will do everything to make sure that every child that walks through my door knows that they are smart, and they can do anything they put their mind to. If every teacher had this mindset, I believe we could change education!