Hints that Help the Apathetic Student

The following hints and ideas assume that the teacher is trying to help motivate students who are apathetic and/or at-risk for failure due to apathy or learned helplessness.

• Bad grades do not serve as motivation for students who already believe that they cannot achieve better grades. Teachers should emphasize learning, not grades or performance. Discussions of “failure” in class may only discourage apathetic students.
• Nurturing in an age-appropriate way is helpful. Humans have a need to be validated as worthy of attention. If positive attention is not forthcoming, negative attention is perceived as better than being ignored.
• Learning tasks should be made relevant to the students’ lives and things that are of importance and interesting.
• Students benefit from having choices of assignments. This gives them some control of events that they may feel they have lost. They become empowered. 
• Teachers should make an extra effort to know and understand the apathetic student and realize that there are fundamental differences that separate them from most of their classmates.
• Teachers should find positive traits and accomplishments to reinforce. These might include basic things like a single correct idea, good handwriting, a clever observation, etc.
• Use a team effort of other teachers and professionals in the school to arrive at a plan for apathetic students.
• "Tough love" methods can be counterproductive when used by those inexperienced not familiar with the techniques.
• Beware of warnings from other teachers about their experiences with difficult students. Teachers should plan based on objective information and techniques.
• Make a special and patient effort to establish a caring relationship; offer extra help before it is requested.
• Recognize that apathetic students may have reading and math deficits and try to offer lessons that recognize these deficits.
• Stay in touch with parents and drop hints about how they can help.
• Don't give up!

Find more articles on education by Harvey at http://harvey-craft.suite101​.com/

EFFECTIVE TEACHERS READ, THINK, POST POSITIVE THOUGHTS

The teacher who is indeed wise does not bid you to enter the house of his wisdom but rather leads you to the threshold of your mind. ~Kahlil Gibran

A good teacher is like a candle - it consumes itself to light the way for others. ~Mustafa Kemal Atatürk

When you teach your son, you teach your son's son. ~The Talmud

The average teacher explains complexity; the gifted teacher reveals simplicity. ~Robert Brault

Who dares to teach must never cease to learn. ~John Cotton Dana

To teach is to learn twice. ~Joseph Joubert

Good teaching is one-fourth preparation and three-fourths pure theatre. ~ Gail Godwin

Knowledge comes, but wisdom lingers. ~ Tennyson

I am not a teacher, but an awakener. ~ Robert Frost

Wonder is the desire for knowledge. ~St. Thomas Aquinas

To define is to destroy, to suggest is to create. ~ Stephane Mallarme Teaching is not a lost art, but the regard for it is a lost tradition. ~Jacques Barzun

Don't try to fix the students, fix ourselves first. The good teacher makes the poor student good and the good student superior. When our students fail, we, as teachers, too, have failed. ~Marva Collins

The object of teaching a child is to enable him to get along without his teacher. ~Elbert Hubbard

Teachers are expected to reach unattainable goals with inadequate tools. The miracle is that at times they accomplish this impossible task. ~Haim G. Ginott

The art of teaching is the art of assisting discovery. ~Mark Van Doren

Reasons for not Grading Homework

The most common reason for grading homework is because students expect it to be graded. But if one thinks about it, why would we give a grade on an activity that has all of the defects and problems of homework. 

• Homework easily can be copied from a classmate.
• Students do not have equal resources for completing homework.
• Some have Internet access, many do not.
• Many students do not have the bare essentials like a proper place at home to study or parents who can or will help.
• Homework is often more of an indicator of effort than learning. Please don't grade effort!
• Frequently homework is merely checked off if students have it but not graded. These checks are, by mysterious methods, "converted" into grades.
• Of all student work homework assignments are the most likely to receive zeros. The accumulation of zeros can unfairly skew the total grade fair below the total grade as indicated by tests.
• The effects of zeros on beginning learners can place many dangerously at-risk. Failure does not motivate, but frustrates and discourages.
• Homework is often assigned over weekends and holidays thereby interfering with family plans. Kids need a break.
• Many students have nights with hours of homework. This can be counterproductive, especially for young learners.
• Homework is often assigned for punitive reasons. Don't do it!
• If it is known that a student won't (or can't) do homework, continuing to assign it an giving zeros without intervention is wrong! 

Copyright Harvey Craft. Contact the author to obtain permission for republication.

The Secrets of Positive Teaching

1. Understanding. All teachers have a few students who create problems. Often they come  from dysfunctional homes or suffer from emotional problems. Try to understanding that bad behavior does not mean that a child is bad. An understanding teacher may make a huge difference in the life of a child.

2. Patience. Lack of patience is the undoing of many a teacher. 

3. Expectations. Those who enter the teaching profession with unrealistic expectations about student behavior are in for unpleasant surprises and much disappointment.

4. Sense of Humor.  Humor is one of the qualities most appreciated by students, and is a valuable tool in defusing classroom problems. Laughter is therapeutic.

5. Speak Softly. Screaming at students demonstrates that the teacher has lost control and creates lasting resentment in the students. If screaming becomes the norm, it becomes less effective and more and louder screaming may be required.

6. Be the Adult. The teacher is the adult in the room. Accept the role and set a good example of how an adult should behave.

7. Be Positive. State classroom rules positively rather than as a list of "don'ts."

8. Avoid Sarcasm. Even when sarcastic behavior is directed at a single student, others may empathize and resent the teacher's attitude. Sarcastic signs or posters should not be used even though they may seem cute.

Teach Positively. Don't teach Sarcasm to Students.

1. "I've told you 1,000 times..." It's not likely that saying it 1,001 times will matter.

2.  "...because I said so..." Respect is conveyed by offering reason.

3. "Life isn't fair." Perhaps not. Why make it worse by being negative.

4. "When I was your age..." Uh-oh. Here comes one of those tired old tales.

 5. "Shut up!" Only when you care to demonstrate disrespect, bad manners, and loss of 

     control.

6. "You could have done better." Maybe, maybe not. Don't judge.

7. "Is there something wrong with your hearing?" Good grief!

8. "What part of the word 'No' do you not understand?" Classic put down.

9. "Your mother doesn't work here." Rude and not even creative.

10. "No whining." Of course this applies to the teacher as well.

The bottom line is simple:


TEACHER SARCASM IS A POOR PRACTICE AND SETS A BAD EXAMPLE FOR STUDENTS! 

Teaching Controversies: Homework and other Teaching Myths

Much of what is referred to as” instructional practice” has been passed on through generations while prospective teachers simply imitate what their teachers did when they were students.

I recently retired from what I consider to be one of the noblest of all professions, namely education. During my 30 years I was privileged to serve in a variety of placements from teacher to district office employee. As I followed my professional path, I made pretty much every mistake one can make in the classroom. But I rarely recognized them as mistakes until I began to write grants. Grant-writing requires research, and my eyes began to open as I read more and more about school organization and teaching. I purchased books on education and joined several professional organizations. 

The more I read, the more I became aware through simple observation that research frequently disagreed with actual practice in schools. With the advent of the Internet, I began to seek out varying opinions about school practices that interested me, often sharing these ideas with others.

Frequently I found disagreement with my developing views, but managed to eliminate many bad practices from my teaching. I adopted a philosophy that required that I find empirically supported evidence to support what I did and what I recommended.

Many of the points listed stem from the tendency to “forget” much of what was formally taught and simply do what was done to us. Educator attitudes can be seriously impaired by the assumption that our former teachers knew what they were doing. Likely, most did. Just as likely a significant number used instructional and disciplinary techniques that were deeply flawed. I suggest that all educators seriously examine their beliefs and practices and objectively seek to validate their philosophies of education.

Homework. We have somehow managed to convince large numbers of parents that homework is the sine qua non of education. As far as I can tell, the jury will be out for a long time on this issue. The problem is divided into at least three considerations: (1) How much homework is enough, (2) what is the role of homework in instruction, and (3) how does homework affect a student’s grade, or should it even be counted as part of assessment. I stopped grading homework before I had been teaching for five years. I believe, as do many others, that homework’s primary use if for practice and diagnosis.

Continuing to apply techniques that don’t work. Albert Einstein’s definition of insanity was “doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.” How often have you heard a teacher expression frustration over a frequently applied method just doesn’t work as expected? As you listen more it becomes evident that the technique has been used for years.

I recall as a rookie science teacher complaining to the principal that two classes (homogeneously grouped by low standardized test scores and low grades) almost never brought their texts to class. Texts, I thought then, were the hub around which instruction revolved.

“If they won’t bring them to class, why do to you require that they take them home in the first place?” he asked.

I was baffled by his question. Why, indeed? Where was it written that students had to take textbooks home? But everyone required it (or so I assumed). Could everyone be wrong? The solution was simple: keep a class set of books in class. We would use textbooks in class as needed. Homework would no longer require removing textbooks from the classroom, but would consist of activities that students could complete without a textbook.

The new system worked well. The major problem now became the complaints of several teachers who felt I was violating a sacred practice.

Developing Responsibility. I will never argue that responsibility is a bad thing. But what is it? Responsibility is a concept with too many dimensions to be discussed here. Having been involved in dozens of formal and informal discussions about the topic, I have concluded that fundamentally responsibility means knowing the right thing to do and doing it. I believe that an examination of what teachers perceive it to be and how they try to instill it in students is needed.

Many years ago while walking to the school office I met the principal. We were good friends, and I respected him for his intelligence and keen judgment. As we approached one another, we slowed and stopped. I made an obligatory social inquiry about how his day was going. After a pause, and uncharacteristic scowl transformed his face.

“I wish teachers didn’t feel like they were required to teach responsibility!” he said, shaking his head and hurrying off.

I never discussed his statement with him again, but I never forgot his scowl and the frustration it implied. As years passed and I became involved in various administrative positions, I quickly learned the meaning of his words. The R-word became an almost daily issue in various ways. Simply for the sake of faculty clarification, I once held a teachers’ meeting to discuss what responsibility was and what was the teacher’s role in educating students to be responsible. I came away from the meeting with the feeling that teachers expected students to be responsible in the same way they wanted their children to be responsible, which was how the teachers viewed themselves as responsible. In a few words responsibility meant "Do as you're told!" The meeting left me conflicted, as it generated many views that seemed utterly “at odds.”

Among the questions I was cursed to juggle for years were:

• Does punishment help develop responsibility?
• Do rewards foster responsibility?
• Can teachers fundamentally change students?
• Do parents want teachers to “teach” their children to be responsible?
• Does homework develop responsibility?
• Should students be allowed more choices in school to help them develop responsibility?

The most significant idea that occurred to me was that responsibility is not “owned” by adults. Almost any list of irresponsible behaviors attributed to students (laziness, fighting, gossiping, cursing, tardiness, etc) can be applied to adults. The R-word, in reality, is reduced to two points: (1) Do as I say, not as I do, and (2) If a student is irresponsible, it the parents’ fault.

Rules. There can be no questions that rules are necessary in classrooms and everywhere in society. The problem is that class rules can influence the classroom environment in a positive or negative way. They can reveal volumes about the personality of the teacher or cause students to misinterpret whether or not the teacher is “good” or “bad.” Many teachers post their rules on the Internet. Scrutinizing these expectations” often reveals that rules contain pet peeves, are rudely composed, are based on antiquated practices, reveal a hunger for control and an over-reliance on the use of “zeros,” and are unnecessarily threatening. Their carved-in-stone tone leaves little room for exceptions and exceptions are unavoidable. Sarcasm is rampant (“Your mother doesn’t work here!”).

I posted one “rule” in my class: “Do the right thing -- just because!” I held a discussion the first day of class about what that meant. Students were always willing to take part in clarifying the statement, and they applied it to behavior, turning in work, mutual respect, and pretty much all issues included in class rules, including exceptions. When students violated “the rule,” there was room to discuss the violation as it applied to students as individuals. I found that one size rarely fit all.

Lists of rules, it seems, are never complete. Teachers and administrators are constantly finding new rules to address new issues. Frequently rules of this type are made in haste in response to an anger or irritation, and in the busy school environment they provide additional burdens for students and /or teachers. Rules should be carefully considered and written when emotions are not involved. Rules may have unexpected consequences. The problem may be solved, but those affected may harbor unspoken resentment. Teachers and principals might avoid problems by discussing the problem with the class or faculty before producing. Gathering the perspectives of others can often be a solution and avoid another rule.

How and why we grade. The most contentious faculty meeting I ever attended involved a discussion of grading within the school. The debate centered on alternative methods of grading, including median grading. I decided that most teachers would rather give up their jobs than abandon their grading method most of which were based on variations of “averaging.” That is, after all, what had been done to them in school and college.

In my experience I have encountered few educators who realize that the statistically proper way to determine a single, representative grade from a list of scores is by using the median (middle) score. The reason for this requires a little understanding of statistics. I suggest readers search the Internet for explanations. It is almost unbelievable after all these years that most of us are not grading properly because we don’t know better. Median grades have several advantages that are too lengthy to be discussed here, but one of the most important is that it solves the problem of what to do with all of those zeros.

On the day of the discussion, however, the most vocal teachers interpreted the “zero issue” as giving students points they didn’t deserve. To them, the issue seemed to be that zeros could be applied as punishment for poor work. Correctness in grading didn’t seem to matter. After all, widely used computerized grading systems included averaging as the only option.

However, even if simple averaging is OK, what about the multitude of ways teachers average? I’m referring how teachers determine the relative values of the different components of a grade. Tests, in my experience, count the most, but not always. Some teachers may not count homework in arriving at a quarterly grade but some count it excessively. Then consider the inclusion of questionable practices: extra credit, adding or subtracting points for non-academic reasons, arbitrarily taking away or adding points for punitive reasons, and on an on. That some students pass or fail merely because some have teachers who grade in manner that artificially lowers grades is unacceptable.

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 Answers to Assessment Quiz:

1. B      2. D        3. A       4. C       5. C       6. D        7. B         8.A        9. C       10. A

Controversial Topics in Education

The list below contains some contemporary issues in education like grading, assessment, discipline, and motivation. and more.

Should homework be graded?
What is the role of rewards in education?
What is the advantage of median grading over averaging?
Should students be graded on effort?
Should students be graded on participation?
How can teachers empower students?
What is the role of grades in motivating students?
Formative and Summative Assessment
Why should principals examine teacher assessments?
How can teachers differentiate instruction?
Rewards and Motivation
Grading Homework
Homework as a Teaching Tool
Traps with Rewards and Motivation
Sugar and Hyperactivity
Is a "Zero" a Valid Grade?
Punishment Does not Motivate Students

Homework and Student Learning

Tips on Assessment

Avoid Giving too much Homework
Teacher Evaluations
Teacher Evaluations and Student Achievement
Common Core State Standards
We're not Teaching Social Studies well Enough
The Newtown Shooting Tragedy
When Students Cheat

You might be a good teacher if you know...

Attribution theory.  The explanations that people tend to offer to explain their successes or failures.


Maslow's hierarchy. Describes how human needs must be satisfied in a specific order starting with basic survival needs. If these are not met then individuals cannot successfully advance up the hierarchy to needs that promote learning.


Summative and formative assessments. Summative assessments are formal test and quizzes on learned material and are graded. Formative assessments consist of a variety of activities (including homework) that are used to help students learn and are not graded.


Invitational learning. A model of education and counselling practice to promote people to realize their potential in all areas of worthwhile endeavors. Changes in student perception bring about changes in student behavior. Developed primarily by William Purkey.


Arcs Model of Motivational Design. There are four steps for promoting and sustaining motivation in the learning process: attention, relevance, confidence, and satisfaction (ARCS).


Controversies about Homework. Homework does not enjoy universal acceptance or application. Opinions about its effectiveness are a subject of intense discussion.


Motivation theory. There lots of them-- probably too many, but being familiar with five or six helps teacher understand how to better engage students.


Student empowerment. The process of allowing students to offer more input about their learning process. This can be done individually and collectively. A simple example would be to allow students to select a homework assignment which they feel would best help them learn a specific topic.

How much do you Know about Teaching?

One of the biggest barriers to being a highly qualified teacher is the loss of desire to continue to learn about students, teachers, instruction and the myriad of topics that define education today. Many teachers shun research often claiming that research doesn't define the real classroom. It's a weak claim. Even though there is good research and bad research there is a wealth of useful information from knowledgeable people who are passionate about their work.


Teachers benefit from being passionate about teaching. Those are the ones who belong to professional organization and are well-versed on contemporary educational issues. But their are the all-too-typical teachers who teach like they were taught. They need to know no more than what they recall about their favorite teachers.