Lesson # 3: Discovering what exactly?

This blog contains comments from EDUCATORS who find themselves on the front lines of a war that has been waged against public education across this nation since the landmark decision  in 1954 of Brown vs. The Board of Education of Topeka.  Herein are the thoughts of Educators who serve young people across America today. While the daily challenges to increase student achievement have been discussed in circles across this nation, few of those voices include those who are the true soldiers in this battle to educate young people.

The lessons taught to students, present and past and their reactions to various assignments, can serve as a mini-lesson for those adults who are responsible for raising children.  We are particularly concerned with those students who are being raised in one of the many poor and segregated urban centers across this nation.  This blog serves as an authentic assessment of where our young people are in relation to what is expected of them and it will enable the reader to visit the urban classroom to gain insight into....THE CHRONICLES OF AN URBAN EDUCATOR....

I was assigned freshmen students at the beginning of this school year, and having taught upper classmen, being able to relate with them, I thought it best to get to know my ninth grade students before delving into lessons on a pacing chart designed by a school district that believes students are pieces of machinery to be pieced together on an assembly line.  I opened up the year with a discovery portfolio.  Students were instructed to complete questionnaires and online surveys that determine the way they learn best.  Not surprising, approximately 80 percent of my students are musical/ kinesthetic leaners--- rap/hip hop and street dancing learners.  Not that there is anything wrong with this, however, what college am I preparing them to go to if the only way they CAN learn is through hip hop music and shaking “what their mama gave” them?

Contemplate the ramifications of generations of young people who assert that they learn best through music and dance rather than the traditional model of books and paper.   Consider what that means for the Urban Educator in general and to the larger community more specifically?

Lesson #2: Teaching World Languages

This blog contains comments from Educators who find themselves on the front lines of a war that has been waged against public education across this nation since the landmark decision in 1954 of Brown vs. The Board of Education of Topeka.  Herein are the thoughts of educators who serve young people across America today. While the daily challenges to increase student achievement have been discussed in circles across this nation, few of those voices include those who are the true soldiers in this battle to educate young people. 

The lessons taught to students, present and past and their reactions to various assignments, can serve as a mini-lesson for those adults who are responsible for raising children.  We are particularly concerned with those students who are being raised in one of the many poor and segregated urban centers across this nation.  This blog serves as an authentic assessment of where our young people are in relation to what is expected of them and it will enable the reader to visit the urban classroom to gain insight into….The Chronicles of an Urban Educator….

In my World Language classroom, students were instructed to listen to a native speaker describe an activity that he or she enjoyed. Next, students were to match the native speaker’s statements with a photo illustrating the mentioned activity. As the native speaker began to talk, students immediately began to speak as well with comments such as, “What?”, “I can’t understand what he is saying.”, “Why can’t he just speak English?”

The objectives for my students were to affirm learned vocabulary, hear a native speaker and understand while moving  beyond the students' comfort zone.  The comments from students forced me to discuss how conversations in a World Language are the same as those in English  and that in all cultures we communicate about what we like and dislike. Instead of the planned lesson, we discussed the importance of trying to understand a concept that may seem difficult. The first step, I had to explain, is to follow directions and listen. Listening entails paying attention for recognizable words or sounds. How can you understand if you do not listen to what is being said first?

My major challenge is that I have students whose immediate response is to refuse to try when confronted with a perceived difficulty. It is incredibly difficult to motivate students who are told at home that studying a world language "does not matter" and that "you will never use it anyway." 

Contemplate the ramifications of generations of young people who choose to NOT learn about other languages, other people, and other places.   What does that mean for the Urban Educator in general and to the larger community more specifically? 

Lesson # 1 - Love or Respect?

This blog contains comments from EDUCATORS who find themselves on the front lines of a war that has been waged against public education across this nation since the landmark decision  in 1954 of Brown vs. The Board of Education of Topeka.  Herein are the thoughts of Educators who serve young people across America today. While the daily challenges to increase student achievement have been discussed in circles across this nation, few of those voices include those who are the true soldiers in this battle to educate young people.

The lessons taught to students, present and past and their reactions to various assignments, can serve as a mini-lesson for those adults who are responsible for raising children.  We are particularly concerned with those students who are being raised in one of the many poor and segregated urban centers across this nation.  This blog serves as an authentic assessment of where our young people are in relation to what is expected of them and it will enable the reader to visit the urban classroom to gain insight into....THE CHRONICLES OF AN URBAN EDUCATOR....

Lesson # 1

Students were assigned a reading selection by Niccolo Machiavelli.  As a warm-up writing activity, the students were asked to think critically about the question, Is it better to be loved or respected?  The answers my students gave were, without exception, a powerful example of the real and current challenge in public, urban education.  The students all asserted that it was better to be RESPECTED than to be LOVED.

Shocked and deeply pained at the same time, I utilized myself, as so many other urban educators do, to teach a poignant lesson about how, while I understand the importance of respect in the "hood" context, "there is no paradigm known to man that transcends the infinite power of love."  As I shared with my students how the love I receive from my parents empowers me to BE regardless as to whether others respect me or not, they each began to nod their heads in affirmation that they too, after additional instruction and more time to think, desired the unconditional power of LOVE rather than RESPECT.

Consider the many layers of challenges that a teacher has to address and peel away before any real information can be taught.  Listen to the lyrics of the hip-hop and rap that these young people listen to.  Read the comments of professional athletes and entertainers that these young people sadly and too often idolize for shallow, yet dangerous reasons.

Contemplate the ramifications of generations of young people who assert that they would prefer respect rather than love and what does that mean for the Urban Educator in general and to the larger community more specifically?