As teachers, we should be continually looking at our practise. We need to be looking at how we can better meet the learning needs of our students. When we do this, we talk to colleagues, sometimes we talk to parents, but how often do we talk to the students themselves? Today, we did just that and here is what they had to say.
“I want the choice of where I work so I can learn how I need to. Not always how the teacher THINKS I learn well”.
“Kids are creative but schools don’t let us be that. They need to let us learn in creative ways. We can be boring when we are adults”.
“We need modern tools to learn with and internet that lets us use them properly without everything blocked”.
“We need more choices. It shouldn’t be everyone doing the same thing at the same time all the time. We all learn differently”.
“Teachers should control their anger issues. Kids WILL frustrate you because we’re kids! You should model how to deal with frustration and calm down”.
“Shouting doesn’t work for us”.
“Some teachers think that fear gets respect. They are wrong”.
“Strictness doesn’t equal respect”.
“Teachers! Don’t demand respect. Earn it like we have to”.
“Ask us. It’s not all about YOU. It’s about OUR learning”.
“If it’s boring.. we will probably be off task”.
“We should have ‘no classroom’ schools so we can get learning help from ANYONE we think will help us best & so we can use the whole school to learn”.
“Remember that some of us have stuff going on out of school and maths might not be the most important thing today”.
These are pretty powerful comments and show that kids are more in tune with their learning styles than we give them credit for. If we take these in, it opens huge opportunities for growth in classroom practise and ultimately student learning. I look forward to future discussions with students about implementing some of these ideas.
To be continued…
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