| Student Background Information |
| (Taken from notes from the past.) Student is very quick to learn and enjoys learning greatly. He is athletic, well-liked, and helpful in class. In a mystery still unresolved, his parents went to (Spanish-speaking-location — call it Hispaniolica) in mid-December and did not return until mid-February. He was not in school during this time. At the time he left, he had just made the Principal’s honor roll with a 4.0. He has large gaps in his background learning. I nevertheless recommended him for the regular Honors Program because I think he can rise to the occasion. Various people think I may be a little crazy. Student’s placement in bilingual is… interesting. Student was born in the US, started kindergarten in a small town in the northern part of the county, then went to another district also in northern Lake County. He was never in bilingual classes in the past. Because his home language survey suggested Spanish was used in the home, he was tested for bilingual placement when he arrived for 7th grade. Neither he nor his brother passed the English-language test used to decide bilingual placement. They qualified for bilingual services. His parents came in for a conference and decided to keep both in our bilingual program provided most their classes were “regular” nonbilingual classes. Why did this student fail to meet targets when tested? He says he has usually missed at least a week or more every year going to home to visit family in Hispaniolica. He missed two whole months this year. Still, this student picks up information quickly. Test results are honestly mysterious in his case. His brother has considerably more difficulty, especially in math. Again, absences may be a large part of the problem. In math, especially, long absences tend to have long-term consequences. Parental phones both say “this phone does not take incoming calls” since parents returned from Hispaniolica. I sent a note home saying we need an emergency number. I sent a note home saying my “gifted” student needs glasses.* My student promises his dad has said he will see what he can do about the glasses. His previous schoolwork is very uneven, but a lot is packed into that erratic performance. The eyesight issue has been going in circles for months. My student sometimes blasts through his work too. He says he usually finishes all his work at school when possible so he does not need to do schoolwork at home, which can be difficult due to siblings and erratic parent schedules. He often babysits. I nod understandingly while trying to figure out how to help him. Too few articles have been written about the effect of babysitting in lower-income households. I’m convinced this student can do much better than tests indicate – rather easily – though I know parental pressure is haphazard and mostly close to nil. Eduhonesty: I was culling my files when I found my many notes related to this student, and I thought I should use these notes to explain why I simply can’t plan “lesson plans for the year” or stick to a rigid curriculum. Kids like the boy described above can catch up their losses rapidly — but only if we individualize instruction. First, we have to find what material was missed during all those trips to Hispaniolica. Then we have to teach like a bat out of hell if the trips to Hispaniolica were long enough or frequent enough to dig deep holes in background learning. I put my guy in the front row, letting him advance his desk toward the board as needed. He sometimes took notes by copying from the person next to him because he was so near-sighted. One side benefit: My student’s seatmates knew he needed them and I believe worked harder on their own notes than they might have done otherwise. My student did catch up. He was managing Honors classes in high school when I left off. His brother dropped out in high school. Memorable quote from mom when discussing that brother: “I think he will drop out. School is hard for him. He should just get a job.” I’ve got so much packed into the above paragraphs. I’d like to emphasize one point. You can’t script this stuff. You just can’t. You can’t say, “Two-step equations will start on March 12th.” I DON’T UNDERSTAND WHY MORE PEOPLE OUTSIDE EDUCATION — AND INSIDE EDUCATION! — DON’T UNDERSTAND THIS FACT. We seem to have reached a point where we can acknowledge that today is not the 1950s. We understand that the 1950s were not the 1950s of myth, not all filled with kindly, wise fathers who knew best and mothers vacuuming in high heels and pearls.  Yet somehow political and educational leaders keep coming up with plans that treat children as interchangeable parts, despite the fact that we live in a diversifying world, a world that was never educationally equitable to start with. Equal instruction in an inequitable world results in lost kids who drop out, among other outcomes. P.S. Let’s start with those damn glasses. I can’t even estimate how many kids I have taught who needed glasses. If you are poor enough, you can get them for free. But you can’t get them for yourself in middle school; at some point a parent has to get onboard with the glasses plan. Notes? Did we send notes? Oh, yes. The nurse was backing me up. Administration entered my fight. The truant officer was hovering in the background. I loved that year’s administration. Mom promised to deal with those glasses when I could reach her. And the months rolled by. This is a snapshot of one kid and his brother. I have so many snapshots, all of them different, from kid to kid and from year to year. And there’s no way I or anyone else can know in advance what I ought to have scheduled for the middle of March. |
Notes from the Educational Trenches
Bringing Honesty into Education
