During this time period and other stressful times for that matter, we tend to be a bit blameless and a bit more careless with our thoughts and opinions. This is most often when the "L-Word" rears its ugly head.
"I can't believe these research papers. They are terrible. Why are students so lazy these days?"
"Another Friday, another 12 students who did not turn in their work this week. How do we combat such laziness?"
And the worst... an actual classroom accusation:
"There is no excuse for lazy in this room. You don't have to like it, but you have to do it, so let's get to it."
Before I continue, let me say that I am just as guilty of using this in the past as anyone. I also completely understand the need to vent about frustrations that happen with our students and our jobs. But even when we feel we are only casually voicing our frustrations, our comments cannot be unspoken, and we may be delivering more of a message about ourselves as educators than about our students.
Instead of questioning why our students aren't working to their potential, what if we ask ourselves a few questions:
-Are we sure what we are asking is reasonable for our students' current entry points?
-Are we wielding grades as weapons for motivation, or using them to communicate to students where they are and where they are headed?
-What are the possible reasons (besides what we perceive) as to why our students aren't meeting their expectations?
-What have we done to show students the importance and relevance of what they are doing?
-What have we done to show our students how important they and their learning are to us teachers?
If the answers to these don't come easily, then we may need to reassess our approach. We may be creating the circumstances that we are labeling as lethargic. No student wants to be lazy. Even if they call themselves that, they don't mean it. (Think about a time where you've called yourself that in jest. It happens.) Students generally are not as apathetic as we deem them to be. If we haven't reached them, there's more we can try, but we don't get to assume things about their work ethic based on our past experiences. We are inadvertently perpetuating the problem, and that's not fair to them or us.So back to my challenge. Can you help me ban the "L-Word" in education? Can we work together to eradicate it from our conversations? From our classrooms? From our school culture?
Interesting post, Emily. Perseverance is priceless, and it's important that we model that as educators and lifelong learners ourselves. My favorite quote of your post:
ReplyDelete"If we haven't reached them, there's more we can try, but we don't get to assume things about their work ethic based on our past experiences."
This screams to me how we need to proactively look inwardly as to what we can change first as educators ourselves, in the learning experiences we're facilitating, BEFORE we can react, pointing the finger and making assumptions about our learners.
Also, if our learning experiences continue generating environments in which students may appear lazy, then we definitely need to change our delivery. For some reason, endless sit-and-get regurgitation and rigorous note-taking come to mind as "activities" that may need changing after a while. We must be varying our instructional delivery.
Easier said than done, but I accept your challenge!
Thanks for the encouragement at this time of year!
Sincerely,
@KyleHamstra
Calling students ANYTHING negative is bad in my book. They're LEARNING. They're testing the waters. They're trying different things. They may not be all that interested in what we're teaching! If teachers toss around the "L" word, I'd ask them to look at the "R" word - "relevance." Is what we're doing in class relevant to these learners who get to choose all their content outside of school?
ReplyDeleteAfter hearing the "L-word" 4x in 10 mins to describe a student the other day, my heart broke for him. You're right--it is a rough time of year and teachers are tired, but I didn't hear "lazy", I heard, "I give up on him", "He's not my problem", "It's not my fault". And, of course, I recognize it because I've been there, too (shame face). How can we make the biggest impact now that we're in a coaching role? I guess we need to talk to these teachers with empathy, reflecting with them, and modeling the dialogue that we hope they will use with their students. And, for certain, losing the "l-word" as we find ourselves venting about our adult frustrations.
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