Teaching With Humor That HealsQuotes From Page 153"Is it possible that a portion of our current discipline problems stems from a serious, heavily regulated approach to the learning process?"
"When a classroom is a lively , creative environment where laughter abounds, students of every age have a natural outlet where their curious minds can flourish. In our experience, a laughing classroom evokes delightful forms of play in the learner, while a tight-reigned classroom evokes devious forms of play (a blend of creativity mixed with rebellion)."
Page 155 The Up-Tight Test--See How You Do
Please Reply To the Following Question:
What is the greatest gift you can give your students?
One of the greatest gifts I can give my students is to value themselves for who and what they are as individuals. Along with that goes respecting themselves and others for their uniqueness. I know the term self-esteem was overused many years ago, but I have found it to be true, especially for the strugglers, and the almost at-risk kids, that if you have poor self esteem, you will likely have many problems in your life. The second gift I try to give my students is inspiration to learn and wonder and question.
ReplyDeleteI think the greatest gift I can give my students is an environment in which they can feel free to take risks. As a student I never felt "safe" to take a risk. I made it one of my goals to create a classroom where this would not happen to others. So, if a student in my room takes a risk and fails (I ask the student's permission first) I call to the class that we need a hip hip hooray for "John" because he just learned something. Then "John" stands at the front of the room and explains what he learned. We then follow up with 3 gusty hip hip hoorays. Sometimes a student will even just come up and tell me that they learned something and they need a hip hip hooray! Hooray!!
ReplyDeleteI have a balanced “tightrope” which seems to fit my personality well. I can see where behavior problems may stem from the tightness of your rope. As I was reading I was intrigued by the suggestion of acting out in a classroom is simply a negative escape of humor for some students. If they are in a very rigid classroom setting and humor or laughter is not incorporated, then the students’ tendencies are to be more devious. If we can rejoice and celebrate humor students may be less likely to act out inappropriately. I think the greatest gift that I can give to my students is love. Love takes on many forms and it’s something that many students don’t truly experience at home. Whether love is a warm hug or high-five or a compliment on their new haircut, students enjoy being noticed in a positive manner. Life is busy, full of hustle and bustle, and I think too often children don’t get that warm fuzzy feeling of love and caring from families. I want my students to know that they are all loved and cared about by at least one person in this hectic world. I want them to know they are important people and my day was made better by them coming to school!
ReplyDeleteI’m not sure I can easily name the GREATEST gift I can give my students. Limiting my thoughts to just one idea is difficult. These are some of the most important gifts I can give my students:
ReplyDelete~ the ability to put things in perspective and cope with frustrations and disappointments – i.e. I often tell my students: “If this is the worst thing that happens to you today, you are having a great day!”
~ self-confidence, willingness to take risks, make mistakes and learn from them, and belief in self
~ a love of books, reading, and learning
~ the ability to add fun and laughter to everyday tasks and activities—don’t take yourself too seriously!
As I have previously mentioned, I am an administrator in a male juvenile correctional facility. I hope the greatest gift I give a lot of the students I work with is the gift of life. For six years the Milwaukee Sentinel published a complete list of all the people who were murdered in Milwaukee Co. during the prior year. (this was about 15 years ago) At that point in time I was teaching math and was seeing approximately 140 different youth each year. Each time the list came out I checked the list over closely to see how many of the people on the list were former students. The fewest names on the list was 9 and the most was 17. When I did the math it came out to about 9% of my former students were ending up being murdered. Risk factors include youth who are gang members, youth dealing/using drugs, youth w/ anger management issues, and youth who like to mess with others. What I now preach to the youth I work with is don't place yourself in risky situations. The more often you do that the greater the chances of bad things happening. If you carry a weapon, chances are you will end up in a situation where you will use the weapon.
ReplyDeleteYour friends are more likely to cause you harm than your enemies. Hang with the wrong crowd, and you will go to jail with the wrong crowd. It is difficult enough to make good decisions when sober and drug free. Use and you lose. Things to think about: If you deal a lot of drugs someone will eventually decide to rob you and very possibly kill you. Everytime you sell drugs to someone you are advertising that you have money and drugs. You are painting a "bullseye" on yourself. You are also a "Get Out of Jail Free" card for your friends. When they get busted they will turn on you and give your name to the cops so that things go easier on them. If you are dealing a lot of drugs the competition will decide to put you out of business, some are good shots; some are not. One of my former homeroom students is in a wheelchair now because the person shooting at him was a bad shot. Had another student who lost his sister when rival gang members were shooting at him, missed, and hit her. Suggestions that would have sounded stupid if made to you at 5:00P, become great ideas at 2:00A after a night of smoking pot, drinking alchol, and hanging with friends from the "hood". In real life there are no "do-overs"; most times there are no second chances.
I think one of the greatest gifts you can give to your students is the knowledge that you truly care about them. That one thing encompasses so much on a daily basis. It means that they feel comfortable, it means that they know they can always talk to you, it means that they know that someone thinks they are special. When these feelings are in place, it makes the classroom a fun place to be...a place where you can laugh with each other and still know when it's time to be serious.
ReplyDeleteI think the greatest gift I can give my students is a love of learning. Learning is a life long experience which should be exciting and fun. One of the reasons I love teaching second graders is because of the joy they have about school. They are excited when we learn something new. We have wonderful discussion where almost everyone participates. They are proud of their accomplishments and aren't afraid to pat themselves on the back. At the end of each week, we do a "wrap sheet" where they can tell about what they've learned and comment on how things are going. I watch this closely to make sure that they feel good about school and that they are enjoying themselves. If I see someone struggling, we talk about it and try to make it better. As their teacher, it is my job to make coming to school interesting, relevant, and fun!
ReplyDeleteI think in the balancing act between order and playful fun, I’m fairly balanced. You need to be in order to avoid stress and burn out. It is tricky because on any given day, you need to expect the unexpected and rally through. However, by establishing your expectations (when to work and when to play) early, a positively managed classroom environment will be created.
ReplyDeleteI think the greatest gift that I can provide to my students is freedom: the freedom to read, the freedom to inquire, the freedom to choose, the freedom to explore, the freedom to be themselves.