To read or not to read, that is the question

Today a student brought up in class that we should not read the text book next year.  She felt that the textbook was complicated, confused her (and other classmates).  Her thoughts were that if we did not read the textbook that we could spend more time at home doing practice problems which would allow us to practice and apply what we learned.

This is something that I have tossed around in my mind many times this year.  What I worry about is that students will not do the problems if they do not have a grade attached or will copy the problems if they do have a grade attached.  Also if we moved away from the text I could do more in class assessments but less formal quizzes.  Another  negative is that I think it is beneficial to read a difficult college text as to me one of the main proponents of an AP class is to prepare you for college.

Now I thought what we could do instead of reading is have small video clips of each major concept that is covered in a chapter.  Students would be required to watch those clips and do problems at home that demonstrate that they have mastered the knowledge.  We can then extend the conversation in class and help clarify all the problems.  Now the truth is that I can do the same as above with the reading

So as you can tell, I am conflicted in the search for what is best for students.  I would like to hear your thoughts about what is best not easiest.

Cheating

A couple of days ago an issue involving cheating came up in another teachers classroom.  I brought up the situation in one of my classes and was amazed that everyone in the class had cheated on a test during the course of the year.  While I realize that their maybe a gray area in cheating (discuss later) but I did not think cheating on a test was something that every student in a class participated in.

Cheating to me is gaining or allowing someone to gain an unfair advantage.  So to me if you give someone questions on a test, or you allow someone to copy your homework in my opinion that is cheating.  Now I understand that is a gray area in students minds but that is an argument for debate.

Each year our school newspaper, which I have tremendous respect for, prints an article about how cheating has increased in our high school.  As a teacher in the building I always feel like a failure when this comes out.  How can we as teachers do such a bad job in setting both an environment and tone that would discourage cheating?  Why does this not infuriate both teachers and students as it does not send a good message out about the school we are part of?

Today, a student justified cheating because they did not think the teacher gave them a just amount of time to prepare for the test.  That is not a reason to cheat but a reason to talk to the teacher about the course load.  Most of us as teachers will try our best to work around situations and put the student in the best position to be successful.

I was asked today, "Did I every cheat in high school"  I do not remember cheating but the truth is that school was not that important to me.  There was not the pressure to get into high stakes college, nor the fight for scholarship dollars. 

When I was in business my ethics were challenged often.  I remember one day when our comptroller told me that one of our suppliers made a 10,000 dollar mistake in our favor.  He asked me what to do.  My reply was immediate, "You should not even have to ask me, get on the phone and fix it right away with the supplier". 

I just think we should do the right thing.  If I was not a good enough business man to make money without taking advantages of some ones mistakes than I did not deserve to run a company.  As a student if you are not prepared you should take the consequences.  We all make mistakes and we should use our mistakes to learn from and become better.

Really want to hear your thoughts about this topic.  I do not want to judge but learn from you. 

Reading

In working with struggling ninth graders, it has become apparent that they read very little in all their subjects.  Somehow they have lost the desire to read and many of them have reading levels probably two levels below their grade level.

The central office is very proud of the new curriculum which offers rigorous books and rigorous writing assignments.  The only problem with this curriculum is that hardly anyone of the lower level students are reading these books.  So while we have best intentions, these books are turning our lower level kids off from reading.

I am at no means a reading expert, but I do realize that you can not improve your reading skills unless you read the material.

Watch this clip

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gokm9RUr4ME

Then answer the questions should we give students choice in what they read?  Can we build a library of choices which all address the same central theme that might inspire or light a spark for these struggling readers? 

Love the Journey

I just went to visit my Dad for his birthday.  When thinking about my Dad I started to think what is the most important lesson that he taught me in life.  It was to love the journey.  While my Dad was a result oriented person, he taught me to love practice.  Somehow I was the type of person who enjoyed shooting 500 jumpers a day and never once thought about all the people I knew who shooting a basketball came easy.  It makes me smile today when I hear students state, I would get as good as grades as (fill in the blank) if I studied as hard as them.  Almost like hard work was not a great attribute.

There have been times when I have realized that even though I think that I am working harder than I have ever have before the truth is that I needed to work harder.  That to get the desired output that I wanted that the work and effort I needed to put in had to increase.  Was it easier for others?  Absolutely but to be honest that was not something that my Dad would let cross my mind.  His question was always "what could have you done differently to get the output you wanted?"  What do you need to practice to get yourself better?  How do you make those around you better?

When I finally realized that I could compete in the classroom with the same intensity that I competed on the athletic field this came into play.  I was never (not once) the smartest kid in my class but I realized that if I outworked everyone in the class I would get the desired output of an A.  While many students are frustrated that work comes easier to others, I loved the fact that if I worked hard enough that I could get the same A as the smartest kid in the class.

There was no real talk about GRIT but instinctively my dad taught me that if you loved the journey you would excel.  So where Will Smith tells you never get off the treadmill, my Dad might have said sometimes you even have to speed that treadmill up, you need to work harder than you think to accomplish what you desire.