Yes, No, May-be So...

I don't think I have been as wrong about my student learning capabilities as I have been about their ability to be trusted. I came into my classroom with the idea and belief that everyone could learn if given the right tools and the proper equipment. After the first semester I quickly learned that to be not true and had to revise my teaching styles. My biggest assumption has been believe my students "know better" when in fact some of them don't. The reasons I believed this to be true were because students today are bigger in stature than students of my youth were, the use of foul language contradicted that of a child, some of their conversations were as racy as the Dayton 500 and they all said the same thing "I'm GROWN". I had been tricked (mentally) into believing they were little adults so naturally I expected them to "know better". It was only after I began to reflect on classroom discussions and their naivety did I realize that these were children that I was dealing with therefore they could learn...with a totally different approach. I was then able to curtail my lessons to fit their needs and levels of understanding. I had to give it to them in an informative way and also in a way that they could go home and relay what they learned to other members of their family as well as community. Thus began the "Mrs. Jackson Free Legal Advice At The End Of Every Lesson As A Ticket Out Of The Door Strategy" that I used to get them to show me what they learned by the questions they asked (or by the ones sent home from their parents). Just in case you were wondering, most of the questions were related to parole/probation/legal aide and so forth...