Journal #5

Looking back at your teaching last semester, what did you discover about the needs of students in your classes? What kinds of “needs” surfaced that surprised you? To what degree do you think you really understand the needs of your students? How wide is the “gap” between them and you? What might have surfaced in the reading or in your teaching (about the realities of students’ needs) that triggered a negative response in you? Try to identify why this response was triggered and how it relates to your biases.

I think one of the things that surprised me the most was how all of my students, regardless of their gender, race, primary language, etc. all needed help with writing. This was especially surprising to me as I expected them to at least have a general understanding of the mechanics involved in writing an essay by the second half of their 1st semester. This, however was not the case. As a result, I had to teach them from the ground up how to write, proofread, edit, and rewrite an essay. This experience taught me it is a good idea never to assume what your students know or can do. Next time I teach I will be sure to give a few diagnostic assessments at the beginning so that I can better understand what my students know and can do.

As far as how wide the "gap" is between my students and myself, I don't believe it is that wide. Although their needs and concerns obviously differ from mine, I do believe that I understand what their needs and concerns are. I would say the biggest challenge for me teaching them though was getting them to realize how important it was for them to do well in my class. I remember several times when getting an assignment back I was frustrated with how many of my students didn't turn it in. I began to realize that it was simply because they did not understand the gravity of not passing my class. They didn't understand that if they failed a semester in English then they would have to make it up by taking 2 English classes at a time since to graduate they all need to pass 4 years of English. Once I realized this need I decided to spend the beginning of the next day explaining this to them, specifically how failing a semester could severely affect any long term goals they may have. I believe it is because of this that I began seeing more and more of them do their work.


A bias I had related to what I just discussed was I assumed that just because students didn't do their homework it meant they were lazy or didn't care. After talking with one student in particular I promptly corrected this assumption. Sure, there were definitely students who didn't care and who were lazy. But there were also students who didn't do their homework simply because they didn't have anyone at home to help and encourage them, or they had such a messed up homelife that it made it very difficult for them to get their work done. Once I realized this, I started encourage many of my students who did not do their homework to stay after school in English tutorial to get their work done. This way another teacher or I could help them get their work done for the next day. Several students promptly took me up on this offer. It was a very exciting thing for me to be able to help them. I talked to one of them this semester and found out he is still going to tutorial and he is getting all his homework done! This was very encouraging for me to hear.