Educational Rant: The Student

I went to school today. Not as a teacher.  I went to school as a student.   Although I spend every workday and even an occasional weekend at school, in a high school, I don’t attend school.   I shadowed a kid today.  I met him at the front door and went through his day with him. Today I got to experience what it feels like to be a student at my school.  And it was easy, and it was not easy.  It was interesting, and it was not interesting.  I still need to think how it will impact my classroom, but here is what I got out of today.

We went to the first period. My student was tardy; therefore I was tardy. Having been a different type of student in my life, this was tough for me. The first period was Music Appreciation. We had a sub, and we were watching a movie. The sub had some trouble with a password or something. So we sat around for a while. I got on my phone and texted a friend. I got out my laptop and opened a document to take notes on my day. THen we watched the movie. Nothing too exciting, nothing too dull either.

The second period was Geometry. We have a new teacher at the school, and I was excited to go to his class. When we arrived, he was leaving, and a sub was coming in. He had a family emergency and had to go. The sub sat down, and so did we. I asked my student what we needed to do. I made him get the book, and we worked through some math problems that were written on the board. He didn’t know how to do them, so I had to look through the examples and figure them out. I like math. I used to love math, and I was very good at it, so I was kind of excited about doing some math. The students around us were not doing anything, just talking. My student was also talking to them, and now and then I would say hey, let’s figure out this problem. But, I am going to admit, the conversation was more interesting. There is a party this weekend at someone’s house. My student’s ex-girlfriend is in in-school suspension. That was a bad relationship, and it was off and on, but it is over now. She better not show up at the party. The class felt long to me although it went by fast.

Off to Art and then Social Studies. I was invited in by the teachers in each class and was given an assigned seat. I walked to the cafeteria for lunch and sat with a couple of students. Lunch also seemed long because I was bored. I did talk with a teacher for a while, but then I was bored. I had Language Arts, Spanish then Biology.
Somewhere during 4th period, I got hungry. I mean hungry. I wanted lunch. Then during 5th period, I was tired. I had low energy and just wanted a nap. Spanish felt ok, mostly just thirsty.

Here are the differences between being a teacher and a student- I got to go to the bathroom whenever I wanted. I didn’t hold my bladder for 6 hours. I got hungry during 4th period. I got sleepy right after lunch. Classtime goes by slowly, but the day goes by quickly.

What I noticed- A lot of kids have no regard for security when they say get to class. No one asked us any questions. Or maybe they did, but nothing too thought-provoking. I had this desire to discuss things. I wanted to have discussions….now, this could be just me.  All the classes are pretty much the same. The interior of rooms is stark and depressing. I got bored. My day was monotonous.

Here are some things that made me want to take notice of my practice:
In one class the teacher was doing a random seating chart. But he made me feel special by allowing me to have the seat I was in. I am serious; I felt special. It made me think that we may need to take the time to make a kid feel special, by some small act of kindness. The act of talking to my classmates was essential and helpful. I realize now why they do it, and it is not out of disrespect. A lot is going on the life of a kid. One of the friends of my student was all snuggly and happy with her boyfriend during nutrition, and then at lunch, she was in tears. Of course, I had to find out what happened so I had to ask during 5th period. I got my work done, but I still had to ask. Classes are longer than I perceive. They go by so quickly for me as a teacher, but as a student, they are not fast. I sat at desks. At one point I had the desire to get up and move around or at least stand. I did a lot of listening, some writing, and no reading…except when I was trying to figure out how to do the geometry problems and in Spanish class, we read novels. A lot of info came at me, but nothing challenging, and not much was asked of me.

Now, I realize, I am an adult. I have an education behind me, and I know how to learn and do school. Maybe to the kids content was challenging. Perhaps to them, they are doing a lot and feel differently. I did, however, talk to kids while I was out and about. They wanted to know what I was up to. I listened to their comments. Some may be hard for us to hear.
They feel no one cares. Like deeply. A few teachers do, but it is not an overall feeling. They are bored. No one asks them questions. They know they have a lot of time to get work done. There is no drive to finish an assignment. There seems to be no incentive to work hard. Deadlines don’t seem to be an issue- like accomplishing something during class. They are for the teachers, but the kids don’t seem to adhere or care or something. They are not challenged, but their work is challenging.   Go figure.  But the most common theme I heard is surprised that a teacher cared enough to understand their day.
To sum up my experience: Being a student is ok, but not fantastic. There is a lot that goes on in the emotional and social part of their day. The educational part is secondary for many of them. They are not pushed hard or challenged. They are not asked to think, in that there are no probing questions. Nothing is different from class to class. The teachers are good. The lessons are good. But there is a disconnect with the kids. Although class seems long enough, maybe it is because they are not engaged in anything engaging to make it go by faster. I can sense the teachers feel the need to cover content, to make sure the lesson is done. But I felt a gap or a missing piece to the puzzle. Hunger and sleepiness got in the way.  But, the one thing that is missing from the day of my student is knowing and believing that someone really cares about them and what matters to them.  This leaves me with some questions: How can we be teaching them if we cannot reach them?  And what do we need to do to reach them in order to teach them?