You call her a slow learner? Perhaps it is her teacher...

I am positive this post will piss some people off, especially if you are an educator.  However…I highly doubt the people I really need to read this, actually even follow my blog.  So it will be lost in translation somewhere.  Whatever.  I will feel better having said it.  And as always, you do not have to like what I say or agree with it, it matters not to me.  Don’t read this then.

It takes a special person to be a teacher.  Period.  I could elaborate on that but what is the point.  I mean for 9 months, this person spends more time with your child during the day than you do.  Some are really good.  Some are REALLY not.  I do not know if I would be a good teacher or not and that is not even the point.  A teacher should go into such career because their ultimate goal is to make a difference in a childs life, because we know it is not for the money.  Unfortunately some of them are in it for their own benefit.  Shut the front door!   YEP.  Let’s get those test scores up so a certain teacher can be viewed as the crème de la crème of teachers.  Well lemme tell you how I feel about tests and scores too.  In a minute.

When I was in college I had a psychology class that I absolutely adored.  I don’t remember what year or number or anything like that.  I just remember what I learned, which is saying something.  The topic at the time was learning styles.  How people learn.  There are several studies and several research methods but this one pertained to Fleming’s VAK/VARK model.  Stating the following:  That there are three types of “learners” in this world. 

Visual Learners
Auditory Learners
Kinesthetic Learners

The first two are rather obvious…a person learns either by seeing things (pictures, visual aids, handouts etc.) or they learn by listening (lectures, discussions, tapes, etc.) OR, the third lesser known of the group which is learning by experience (moving, touching, doing, experimenting.)

We took several tests and did a lot of research to show us how we all learn as individuals.  I, of course, was a combination of the 3.  To put it simply, I have to see something, hear something and then physically document it.  For example, in a lecture, I needed the visual aids, I had to concentrate on the lecture and I had to write notes as I learned.  To prepare for a test, I had to completely RE WRITE my notes.  That is how I studied for every single test in college.  And let me tell you it sucked.  But it was the only way I could “learn” it. 

This would have been extremely beneficial information to me growing up.  I sat in many classrooms with many people who could see something and KNOW IT.  Hear something and KNOW IT.  Experiment with something and get it.  It was so much harder for me because I needed to do all 3.  Frankly it pissed me off.  Still does.

The problem with teaching a group of children ALL ONE WAY is that they DO NOT ALL LEARN THE SAME WAY.  For some it is like riding a bike.  For some it is like drawing a picture.  For others it is so much harder.  But what happens when you teach every single student the same way?  You lose the ones who DO NOT LEARN the way you teach.  If you teach via lecture mostly, then only the ones that learn by listening are getting the majority of what you teach.  If you teach with visual aids mostly, you have lost the listening group.  And so on.

My point and I do have one (I HAVE ALWAYS WANTED TO TYPE THAT…) in a smaller education system such as the one I grew up and the one my nieces and nephews have been a part of, this is a HUGE PROBLEM.  WHY?  Because when the work becomes harder and you don’t separate these kids based on how they learn and teach them based on how they learn, the ones that can’t learn start falling off and get lost by the wayside. 

I understand you are asked to educate based on a set of standards that the school (your boss) requires of you and a certain curriculum that is required of you, but is it ALSO NOT YOUR RESPONSIBILITY as their educator to make it your damn business to figure out how these kids learn so that you DO NOT LOSE THEM? 

There are 1000 reasons a kid hates school.  Most of them are because they don’t get enough sleep.  They need more mini-wheats for breakfast too.  For their brain.  Sometimes it is stuff going down at home.  Sometimes it is peer pressure at school.  I could go on and on and on.  BUT.  Sometimes they hate school because they hate their teacher.  Why? Well as a parent, you should find out.  And maybe it’s a conflict of interest.  A personality difference.  Maybe it’s because as a teacher you play favorites.  OR MAYBE it’s because you as a teacher are the one to blame.  No, you are not going to have every single student like you, but you damn sure better want to know why.  There is a reason a child doesn’t like someone, who by nature does not just naturally know how to dislike people (this is learned.)  And I bet if someone gave a crap enough to figure out why a certain student was struggling to “connect” with you, the reason 90% of the time would be, BECAUSE THEY DON’T UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU ARE ASKING OF THEM. 

Why am I so angry about this?  I shall tell you.  My niece loved school last year.  Highest in her class on her ISAT tests or whatever the hell they are.  This year, it is like pulling teeth to get her to go to school.  She hates it.  Yes, she is getting older…yes she is getting more defiant…but that is way too big of a change if you ask me.  And apparently it is because she is “too slow” completing her work.  REALLY?  She is 10.  Apparently she has to miss recess because she has to sit at the “quiet table” and complete her work because she can’t get it done when the others do.  OK…WHY IS THIS HAPPENING?  Why is she taking so long?  Perhaps she doesn’t get it?  Perhaps she DOESN’T UNDERSTAND.  And if that is the case then it is your job as her teacher TO HELP HER GET IT.  If you lose this child now, you lose this child forever.  You can’t go back and forth between teachers who want to help her learn and then next year to one that expects her to know something she clearly doesn’t understand.

I went through this with my other niece.  And to this day she hates school.  She hates it because there are certain things SHE DOESN’T UNDERSTAND.  If you went into this career to TEACH children, then DO YOUR JOB.  Children do not all LEARN the same way.  I would hope wherever the hell YOU GOT YOUR EDUCATION that someone told you this along the way. 

As you can see, it infuriates me.  Because if you take this out of a child at 10 years old, you take it out of them forever.  What is it?  IT is the desire to learn.  Why the hell would you want to learn something you do not understand?

Okay.  I think I am done.  However, in regards to the testing.  It is a proven fact that any student on any given day will test high and then turn around and exactly one day later, the test results will be vastly different.  Murphy’s Law.  Or whatever is responsible.  Does this mean you are the best teacher because they all had a good day?  But to JUDGE a child’s worth based on said test?  Bullshit.  I had to take the ACT twice.  My guidance counselor said I was not smart enough for a 4 year college.  I retook the damn thing and the second time I met said college’s requirements and low and behold I graduated with a degree…interesting since I was not smart enough for one.

My point is it is hard enough as a child these days to fit in, to just simply be a kid.  It is even harder when you don’t understand something.  I thought a teacher’s job was to make sure this doesn’t happen.

But what do I know…I am neither a parent nor a teacher.