Fulfing the Promise Chapter 3

Teacher Response to Student Needs:
A Starting Point for Differentiation
I have always known that I am going to be the kind of teacher described in this book. I just never knew that it had a name. As I read each chapter in this book I feel a fire burning deep within me. I feel a real desire to get out there and teach! I feel the need to get out there and teach! The quote at the very beginning of this chapter describes exactly how I feel about becoming a teacher and the type of teacher I have always known I am going to be-
"The good teacher communicates a deep regard for students' lives, a regard infused with unblinking attention, respect, even awe. An engaged teacher begins with the belief that each student is unique, each the one and only who will ever trod the earth, each worthy of a certain reverence. Regard extends, importantly, to an insistence that students have access to the tools with which to negotiate and transform the world. Love for students just as they are..."
I know that I will be the type of teacher described in this chapter. I will get to know each of my students, I will connect personally with each of them. I will be the kind of teacher who will shape my students' lives to reflect a greater hope, confidence, and promise.
I love that this textbook gives me suggestions in how to be much more than a "dispenser of information, a sergeant of behavior, and a captain of the test prep." This chapter suggest five ways in which I can respond to my student's needs for affirmation, contribution, power, purpose and challenge. These suggestions are at the core of effective teaching, "they are not apart from curriculum and instruction, but they breathe life into it." The five key teacher responses are;
1. Invitation
2. Opportunity
3. Investment
4. Persistence
5. Reflection
The invitation to learn is very important. It must be issued as my students enter our classroom from the very beginning and reissued throughout the year. I need to communicate with each of my students that I respect who they are, that I want to know who they are, that I understand each of them is unique and valuable, that I believe in each of them, that I have time for them, that I will listen to them and learn form them, that our classroom is their place too, and that each student in our room is needed. My invitation responds directly to my student's need for affirmation and contribution. It also begins to respond to my student's needs for power, purpose, and challenge.
I need to let my stuents know that I recognize the poetential inside each of them and I will help them develop habits and practices that will bring them success. To do that I need to provide many oportunities for each of the students in my classroom. I will need to provide "materials, tasks, applicaitons and problems that are rich with meaning". I will need to ensure my students that I will do all I can to create an environment where they can each become all they should be. This can be done by clearly communicating with each student that I have important things for each of them to do each day, that the things we do in class are worthy of their time, and that I will require hard work, but it is work with a purpose.
I need to show my students that I am invested in them. That I will give what it takes to make our class work for everyone. I need to let my students know that I think about them even after they leave my classroom. I need to make sure that I make links with my students' lives outside the classroom, through home visits, attending student events, or volunteering in the community. I need to let my students see that I am personally engaged in what I am asking them to do. I need to remember that this message of investment does not come from slogans on my classroom walls, but rather from living my beliefs.
I need to become the "persistent teacher" one who "does not assume a student who is having problems cannot learn, but rather assumes the student is not learning in the way he is currently being taught." I need to help my students understand that our classroom is the place where persistence is a hallmark, when one route does not work there are others we can find, there are no excuses but rather support and that there is no finish line in learning.
I need to let my students know that I belive deeply in their individual dignity and worth. I can show this by watching and listening carefully to each student, and continually asking, "how is this partnership working?", and "how can I make this better?". I need to make sure I reflect on the details of our classroom pracitces. This practice will help me to become more intuitive and effecient in addressing each of my students' needs.
As I enter into this world of teaching I hope that I will not loose sight of my vision, my hopes and my dreams. I want to be the type of teacher who sees the possibilities more clearly than the impossibilities. I don't want to become so "consumed by the job" that I forget why I am there and who I am there for. I will live what I believe! And I believe that I will be a differentiation teacher!