Saturday, March 31, 2007
Scenario #9
There's a student who comes into class and just doesn't care. We try to get him to learn and do work but he says it's pointless. I discovered that this student doesn't have a father and his mother is on every drug imaginable. How can I expect this student to do any work at all or even give a shit about anything we do in school when he has to think about where he's sleeping at night. Everything I can teach him in a classroom means nothing, why should he even care?
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6 comments:
The best you can do is make school as enjoyable and rewarding an experience as possible. Take extra care to relate the subject material to the real world. Also, maybe take the time to take him aside and ask him what can make the time he spends at school more rewarding. It's obviously better for him to be at school than at home. So ask him what you can do to interest him. After this he will feel personally invested and like he has someone who cares about him. Maybe one of his problems is that he feels alone.
I think in this situation it comes down to finding out what interests your student. If you can find something that he finds fun you will be able to reach him. If he likes trucks and you tailor a lesson around that he will be interested. He probably doesn't have alot of "fun" in his life. Another approach is to convince him that if he learns this he can have a better life
With this particular student you need to be willing to put as much time as possible and try to make a connection with him. It's important that you try to understand where he is coming from and find out what still interest him. Once you find out what he is still interested in, use it as a startig point to try and lure his motivation back in. Once you make a connection, you can then try to open even more doors for the student by introducing him to other people that could help him out or helping him join a club that might interest him.
I would show this student some understanding and compassion. I would sit down with the student and address some issues. If the student wasn't willing to engage with me, I would ask the student meaningful questions on what I could do to help them learn. I would list obstructions the student is facing, and I would probably explain some of my own obstacles. I want the student to know that they are not alone, and that I will work very hard in order for them to learn. I would let them know that I care about what happens to them, that I am proud of who they are and what they are becoming, but I would need their help to help them suceed further. I would be very compassionate and understanding from a real life point of view. This student is just lost and I would certainly do all I could to help.
This student is a difficult one to deal with but its one that we will probably all have at one point or another. In my personal opinion we should make that student feel comfortable and some how make him realize that an education is what will make his life better. School is a safe place for most students and they need to feel at home because sometime its the only home they have.
First of all, depending on the maturity level of the student, I would be honest with him about your concern. If the student is talking about his home life and being verbal about his indifference I would push him a bit. Ask him what he's proving by not doing the work. Ask him what he is trying to say by not doing it. Many kids try to speak through their body and their actions because they can't figure out how to use their voice. Ask the student if you don't want to do this assignemtn what DO you want to do? They will more then likely give you a few foolish answers to test and see if you are going to give up on them, but don't. It sounds like a lot of other people have given up on this student, don't become another person on that list.
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