I'm the one who sits in the row on the side of your classroom, second seat from the back. I don't sit up in the front with the kids who cause trouble and don't do their work. You and I haven't talked much. I never raise my hand. But I show up every day. I try to do my work. and I don't like to call attention to myself.
I don't think I am very smart. Sometimes I think I understand what I'm learning. At other times, I'm not sure.
It helps when I talk about what I'm learning. Sometimes if I can explain it, then I know I understand it.
But please don't call on me. When you call on me and I don't know the answer, that's the worst.
I don't want the whole class to know that I'm not very smart.
We spend a lot of time in class talking. "Class discussion," you call it. You do most of the talking, actually. And two or three of the other kids, the ones who raise their hands or blurt out answers. It's not really much of a discussion.
Usually, you ask the questions, and those two or three kids answer them. If no one knows the answer, you answer it for us.
Most days, I can just sit there and listen.
Are you really tired at the end of the day from talking so much?
You work a lot harder than we do in your class. I don't think the others have figured out that if we just sit there, you will eventually do the thinking for us.
You know what would be helpful? Let me talk through my ideas with a classmate. I don't mind talking with a friend. I just don't want to share in front of everyone before I've had the chance to try out my answer on someone else.
I have another teacher who does this. He calls it "Think, Pair, Share." When there's a big question, instead of discussing it as a class, we first think for a minute about it individually. Sometimes we do a quick write. Then, we share our thoughts with someone else (that's the "Pair" part). After that, the teacher calls on some of us to share with the class. It's not so scary that way. My answer is our answer--mine and my partner's. When the teacher calls on us, it's okay for us to say what our partner said. I feel smarter then.
I hate to say it, but we need to work harder in your class. Not more homework. Homework is a pain, and you can just copy the answers from your friends in the cafeteria before school. We should work harder in your class.
I may never tell you this, but I like it when you are prepared, when you make us work hard, when you let us talk to one another about what we are studying, and when you fill up the time with interesting activities where we are busy learning.
It's not so fun for us just to listen to you. Believe me, we listen to teachers all day. Try it sometime. It's the most boring thing in the world.
But it's school. Maybe school is supposed to be boring.
You work a lot harder than we do in your class. I don't think the others have figured out that if we just sit there, you will eventually do the thinking for us.
You know what would be helpful? Let me talk through my ideas with a classmate. I don't mind talking with a friend. I just don't want to share in front of everyone before I've had the chance to try out my answer on someone else.
I have another teacher who does this. He calls it "Think, Pair, Share." When there's a big question, instead of discussing it as a class, we first think for a minute about it individually. Sometimes we do a quick write. Then, we share our thoughts with someone else (that's the "Pair" part). After that, the teacher calls on some of us to share with the class. It's not so scary that way. My answer is our answer--mine and my partner's. When the teacher calls on us, it's okay for us to say what our partner said. I feel smarter then.
I hate to say it, but we need to work harder in your class. Not more homework. Homework is a pain, and you can just copy the answers from your friends in the cafeteria before school. We should work harder in your class.
I may never tell you this, but I like it when you are prepared, when you make us work hard, when you let us talk to one another about what we are studying, and when you fill up the time with interesting activities where we are busy learning.
It's not so fun for us just to listen to you. Believe me, we listen to teachers all day. Try it sometime. It's the most boring thing in the world.
But it's school. Maybe school is supposed to be boring.
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