EDible News: Alyssa Strassler, Contributor
A few weeks ago, some of my fellow teacher candidates and I had the privilege of attending an Interview workshop organized by my practicum facilitator. This workshop was intended to provide us with pertinent information and helpful tips regarding interviews with school boards. Joel Chiutsi, a vice principal in the York Catholic District School Board, spoke to a group of about 40 student teachers about potential interview questions and suggestions for "level 4" responses. Seeing as I am in my final year of the Concurrent Education program at York, I have attended many workshops similar to this one, so I was not expecting to learn anything new or surprising; however, I was mistaken.
During the workshop, all of the information given by the guest speaker was extremely useful for all of the teacher candidates. We had discussions around topics such as accommodations and modifications, equity and diversity, the importance of communication and 21st Century learning. All of these terms have been used over and over again as they are incredibly important when talking about student learning in educational institutions. They are all essential for teachers, new and experienced, but there was one idea that really left an impression on me.
When a student fails a test or receives a low grade on an assignment, typically a teacher sees the student as being guilty of something. Maybe he did not study enough, maybe he did not pay attention in class because he was daydreaming or talking to his friends, maybe he should have asked for help if he did not understand a concept being taught. Instead of trying to pinpoint what the student did wrong, we may have to find a mirror to help us determine the problem.
As teachers, we must always be reflecting on and reviewing our own pedagogical approaches to learning. When a student does not succeed, it is really a reflection on our own teaching methods. Perhaps our instructions were not clear enough; perhaps the assignment did not provide that particular student with an opportunity to excel using his own strengths and abilities; perhaps we did not allow enough time for student inquiry. Therefore, when a student does not succeed, we cannot disregard that one and focus on the other twenty-five that did. If this occurs, we must self-reflect on our own teaching to change it, so that all students can learn and succeed.
I recently gave my Junior class an assignment to complete where they had to create comic strips illustrating a stressful, family situation and a strategy that can help deal with the stress. There were some students who were very successful and surpassed my expectations yet there where others who struggled to meet the success criteria.
One student in particular completed the assignment, and met all the success criteria but it was not what I was expecting. He illustrated a stressful, family situation, but the strategy he used was different than the four strategies we discussed earlier in class. I was going to suggest that the student redo his assignment. But I thought for a moment: Did I specifically say in the instructions and rubric that students must use one of the strategies from class? No, I did not. He did the assignment and technically followed all the directions correctly. It was difficult to give him a high grade because it was not what I wanted or expected students to do, but to maintain fairness in my assessments, I gave him the grade he deserved without redoing it.
As teachers, we tend to focus on students, whether it is praising their work or criticizing it. Before criticizing it, we need to ensure our pedagogical approaches are equitable and dependable. Although we tend to feel defeated after telling a student he or she did well on an assignment when he or she did not do exactly as we wanted, we must find the courage to admit our mistakes and accept students' ideas even if they differ from our own, provided they meet the success criteria. I think students are not given enough credit for what they do every day. Yes, teachers must act firm and be friendly, but there are two more attributes that are often forgotten: teachers must also be flexible and fair.
