Belonging in the classroom
The students in my summer school classes all failed sophomore English. It’s an interesting dynamic to have 46 kids in one classroom (with 36 desks) who all got “left behind.” The class periods are 2 and 1/2 hours long, and 17 of the students in my first block are also in my second block, which only has 38 students.
We started the week with the 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens and with the attached article by Richard Sagor entitled, “Lessons from Skateboarders.” Sagor is a professor and Director of the Educational Leadership Program at Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon. I mention that to give him some credibility.
His article ties in nicely with the core principles of THRIVING and the LIFE MODEL. I use it to help establish a sense of community in the classroom.
Download 644020skateboarders.pdf
His thesis is that what motivates humans to do difficult tasks is CBUPO.
CBUPO is an acronym “for the five needs we all have the innate desire to satisfy” (34).
We all have the need to (be)
Competent
Belong
Useful
Potent
Optimistic
After reviewing the literature on motivation, Sagor came to the conclusion that “when an activity satisfies those needs, we commit ourselves wholeheartedly.
He observed a group of skateboarders for a period of time and discovered that even though their failure-to-success rate was at least 100 to 1, they were still motivated to keep trying, to keep practicing, to keep aiming for success.
His next question was, “Why don’t these young people show the same commitment and expend the same level of energy in the classroom that they do on the street corner or on the athletic field?” (34).
He continues with “We often try to figure out what is wrong with these students. Perhaps we need to take a long hard look instead at what is wrong about how we work with students in our classrooms” (34).
I couldn’t agree more.
So, I give this article to students. I invite them to read it and annotate it. Then I put them into groups, one group for each of the 5 needs.
The group is asked to define their need and then thoroughly discuss what it would look like in a classroom where that need was being addressed/met for all students.
Then they compile a list of five things that need to happen in our classroom for their need to be addressed. They chart it. Share it. Respond to each others’ findings.
It’s a bit awkward at first.
Students typically aren’t asked to be stakeholders in what happens inside their classrooms. After they’ve gotten used to this new way of doing class, they take to it like ducks to water!
The belonging group wrote (I didn’t get a clear picture of their chart.)
Definition: To feel apart of, to feel comfortable in your environment.
What a classroom looks:
• friendly environment
• feel comfortable
• Share common interests with your peers
• No put downs; no name calling
5 Things that need to happen:
• Participate with your peers
• Feel comfortable to talk to peers
• Teacher needs to be approachable
• Set boundaries
• Share common interests.
What it says: “Competent is the ability to do something.”
“A Classroom where students feel competent would have the proper supplies to help students get their work done, and the students would feel full of confidence in whatever they do.”
In yellow, it says, “have balance.”
Definition: “to help others when they are in need of it.”
The rest, I think, is clear enough to read from the chart.
So, it’s a start.
I later projected sections of the article up on the wall and had them respond to a few parts.
I read them the sentence, “Although the idea of ‘leave no child behind’ is laudable, few have tried to analyze why so many students choose to be left behind” (34).
Then I asked, “why have you been left behind?” And I directed them to write their response on the back of the annotated article they were to turn in to me.
Here are a few of their responses:
“I was lazy, and at times I don’t understand the material. I’m always in my own little world. I can’t stay still, and I don’t go to class.”
“I was left behind because I was lazy in my English class and some of the work I didn’t understand it so I just gave up.”
“I was lazy and I don’t like to do work.”
“I was left behind because of my credits. missing credits.”
“I was left behind because I never did my homework because I was lazy.”
“I was left behind because I found the wrong best friend in the beginning.”
“I was lazy and didn’t study for major tests.”
“I was lazy and didn’t feel helped.”
“I was left behind because I came to this country 3 years ago.”
“It’s mainly my fault.”
“I was left behind because I didn’t take action.”
“I do not feel like I belong in school. Everything about it bores me . . . very close to death.”
Whew!
These students have been told for so long that they are lazy that they believe it and act accordingly.
They are actually detached and disconnected and unmotivated, and that, I believe, is different from being lazy.
No one has helped them see the value of completing difficult tasks or the benefits of working at school assignments for a period of time until they achieve successful results.
We have 5 more weeks together.
And, already, they have experienced school in a way they have never experienced before!
Get the article by downloading it. It’s short and totally worth your time.
Download 644020skateboarders.pdf
The article can also be found here.
July 20th, 2008 at 2:41 am
Since there are several authors blogging on this site, I find it helpful to know who is the author of each blog entry. Who is the one of this contribution?
August 17th, 2008 at 9:32 pm
As you can see, we figured out how to get the author’s name to show up. Happy reading!