Monday, March 8, 2010
Tempting to be Sarcastic
Situation: I'm working through a booklet with my grade nines. I ask the group to turn to page X and hold up the page, describing what to look for on the page. Sam has not looked for the page after everyone else has begun working on it. He is distracted, not slow or incapable. I help him find the page. Later, same thing. We're on to another page in the same booklet. Sam has not begun the work. He asks what the page number is, after the instructions have been repeated three times. I say to him: "Sam, you're two steps behind everyone else. Find that page now!" That announcement seems to be on the edge of depreciative, but my tone is still upbeat and positive. I really don't want to single him out in any derogatory way. In terms of what to change in order to help Sam focus, what am I missing? He sits at the front, I can see what he's doing and I've seen him get down to the task when he wants to...
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What a fine line to tread. Rob, how this has changed since I was a young student looking out the window. I was physically in the class, but mentally on a surfboard miles away. I recall,
ReplyDeleteso often, a witticism that bordered on the sarcastic that brought me back to the class. In itself the boundary of mutual respect would proclude this. For all of the Sams in the world, the ongoing question seems to be asked by you in April. How to we reach them?
Will G.
SHAJIA AHMED:
ReplyDeleteThe teaching skill of the teacher is not catering to Sam's needs. The teacher has to look for ways to get Sam going and participate in the exercise. The lesson is beyond his understanding due to Sam's different intelligence.
Perhaps the question is how interest is he in the subject that day. If he does chose to work some of the time maybe those are the lessons he finds interesting or understands therefore he feels comfortable working on them. Also perhaps he would work better if he were paired with a partner... if the entire class were paired up, that way he wouldn't feel singled out, then his partner could help keep him on track with the tasks. Also maybe sitting at the front of the class he feels more pressure to have to answer questions or more probability of being called on, so as long as he doesn't do the work he won't have to answer the questions.
ReplyDeleteAlso, Sam being distracted in class could be the result of a learning disability. His inability to concentrate most of the time might not be under his control, perhaps some observation by the teacher and family(if they are willing) could help discover the problem.