Being a high school history teacher in a suburban setting, I am faced with many racial and social backgrounds in my classes. I have a pretty good group of students this year and most of them work hard for their grades while there are always the “slackers.” However, one student stands out to me the most when it comes to working hard, yet slacking.
Michelle is a junior in my U.S. History class. She is Latino and comes from a middle class, hard working family. She is extremely smart and always behaving. However, what I find weird is that she hands in all her homework, completes it correctly, but strangely has the wrong answers in her work. I fear that Michelle is purposely putting the wrong answers so she will not be teased by her friends. Occasionally, Michelle will put the correct answers on her homework or on a test. When this happens, she gets an A+ because of her hard work and study skills. I praise her and tell her all her tests could be ‘A’s’ if she allowed herself to succeed. Whenever I praise her, I notice that her friends and other classmates make fun of her and call her a brown-noser.
WeI believe this is the reason why Michelle won’t allow herself great achievement. Most of her friends are Latinos and come from poorer backgrounds. Because of her cultural competence, she is aware of the social factors that surround her. She realizes that she would rather get bad grades than to be made fun of. I have talked to Michelle and we have worked out a system where I will not praise her for her hard work and she will put in all her effort and work for the correct answers. If this is what it takes for Michelle to achieve the grades she deserves, this is what I have to do to help her succeed.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment