We need Teachers, not Content Specialists

I have been a private math tutor for the past 7 years. I have worked with a variety of students who are being taught by a variety of teachers and professors. With my students I occasionally disagree with their teacher's style or pedagogy. I currently have a student who goes to a private school in Dallas, TX. I have never disagreed with a teacher more with his teacher about pedagogy. This teacher’s name is not Mr. Smith, but I will refer to him as “Mr. Smith” because what this teacher is doing is far more important to my discussion than who this teacher is.

The first thing I noticed about Mr. Smith is that he takes two or three weeks to teach the concepts from a particular chapter. Mr. Smith then spends two to three weeks reviewing. Now to me two to three weeks is a little long to review, but I don't have a huge problem with that. What I have a problem with, is while they are reviewing Mr. Smith teaches the next chapter.

Now this might not seem like a big deal, but I hope I can help you understand that this creates a lot of confusion for a student who is learning all these concepts for the first time. Each chapter in most textbooks covers about 7 related, but different concepts or methods. So when a student sits down to take a test or quiz they have not 7, but 14 different concepts or methods that they have learned recently. I know that it is easy for students to get confused between different ideas, especially when there are 14 different ideas to sort through.

To make matters worse Mr. Smith is very particular about the way his students do their work. For example on a recent quiz my student lost half of his points on a particular question, not because he got the wrong answer, not because he did something mathematically incorrect, but because he divided by 7 instead of multiplying by 1/7. The teacher’s note said “Wrong form.” For those of you who are rusty on your Algebra, diving by 7 and multiplying by 1/7 are mathematically equivalent. In theoretical mathematics, like Abstract Algebra, there is a difference between these two operations, but this is not a class on theoretical mathematics it is a class of 7th graders trying to learn how to solve equations. I would also like to point out that occasionally Mr. Smith changes the way that he wants his students to do a particular type of problem. I don’t know if Mr. Smith would take off points for doing it the old way or not, but taking off points like this adds to the stress of taking his difficult tests and quizzes.

Yesterday, I went to work with my student because he has a test today. There were two things that he said that I couldn’t believe. First, because there were some conflicts in schedule, not all of Mr. Smith’s classes took the test on the same day. He didn’t want his classes that had one extra day to have an unfair advantage over those who didn’t, so Mr. Smith collected worksheets and other papers from his students who had an extra day. As a student, I know that studying the day before a test is one of the best times to review for a test. I can’t believe that a teacher would do anything to hinder a student who wanted to prepare more for a test.

The other thing that I couldn’t believe was that Mr. Smith said that if thought his students were struggling he would give them a harder test because they would learn better that way. Let me say that again, If Mr. Smith’s students are struggling to learn a concept, he will give them a harder test so they will learn more. This is contrary to everything that I believe about summative assessments. The end of chapter test is not the time that a teacher should be providing a learning opportunity; it is an opportunity for students to show how much they have learned. Also, from the student’s perspective, if I am struggling to learn the concepts from a chapter, receiving a difficult test and then failing that test won’t help me learn it. It will just strengthen my belief that “I can’t do math.” A belief that is already too common in our society.

It is no wonder that many of these students need private math tutors. My student’s mother believes that about half of Mr. Smith’s students have private math tutors helping them through his class. Remember, that this is a private school and these parents are already paying thousands of dollars out of their pocket for their child’s education.

If you are wondering why “Mr. Smith” has a job, it is probably because “Mr. Smith” isn’t “Mr. Smith,” it is “Dr. Smith” who has a Ph.D. from Harvard. I don’t know what it is in; my guess is Mathematics and not Education. The more I learn about this teacher and his pedagogy strengthens my belief that in our schools we need teachers who are teachers, and not content specialist. I like to think of myself as both, but I am first and foremost, I am a teacher.

Caring and in Control

As my first post, I would like to begin with something that is foundation to a lot of issues that I struggle with as a first year teacher. I know that my purpose as a teacher is to facilitate my student's learning. In order for this to happen I feel that two things must happen. First, my students must know that I care about them and second, I must remain in control.

I believe the old saying "People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care." I know that most people are are thinking "What's in it for me?" I think this is also true for my high school students. Many students are much more willing to learn from me after they learn how much I care about them and their learning of the material. For example, I was hired mid-year to teach at a small high school in north east Texas. My first day I could have started teaching, we were already behind most schools. I decided, instead, to spent the day talking to my new students and finding out things about them. Their interests, their goals, what they liked about teachers and what they didn't like about teaching. In addition to giving me valuable knowledge about them, I also sent a message that I care about them. This has set a nice tone for the rest of the school year.

Another example is a few weeks ago I announced my goal that 100% of my students pass the end of year TAKS test. When announcing that goal I also felt that it was important to explain why. The reason that I announced is because I want 100% of them to graduate. I believe that if my reason was for me to look like a great teacher, that would have shown and my students would have responded very differently to the goal.

Along with being liked, it is important not to loose control of my class. When I was in high school I had teachers who wanted to be liked, or feared being disliked so bad that they lost control of their class. My high school Spanish teacher comes to mind. There was another student in that class who had more control over the class because he would persuade her to do whatever he wanted. If she got angry and was going to give him a detention, he would talk his way out of it. If there was homework that was going to be assigned he would try to talk her out of it. I don't want to be like this teacher, because if I loose control of the class then I have lost the learning environment and my purpose for being a teacher.

These two desires often come in conflict for me. For example when a student doesn't do a homework assignment, I want to be caring and ask them why they didn't do their homework and then make a decision based on their response. If they didn't do it because they didn't understand it, then I help them understand it. If they didn't do it because they didn't have time, then I penalize them. I do this because I care more about them than the assignment. The problem with this is my students have spent years figuring out teachers and may say they didn't understand it even if they were just being lazy. I will talk more about my struggle trusting students later.

Another example of when these two desires come in conflict is when a student is acting up. I know that I don't know everything that is going on in these students lives. I know that they may have just had a bad break up with a significant other or experiencing problems at home. I try to be understanding because I care about them, but this kind of thinking makes it difficult for me to discipline. I usually just pull students out of the classroom and talk to them privately. We also agree on a consequence if it happens again.

Maybe one reason why this is so difficult for me is because I struggle with the fear of others not liking me. Maybe this is the foundation of wanting my students to like me. I don't know. I do know that I have a desire to be caring and in control and sometimes it is difficult for me to do both.

Introduction

I have been thinking about doing something like this for the past few months. I am a new math teacher who experiences things that most new teachers experience. For example setting and keeping rules and boundaries, time management, and attempt at being an approachable but respectable teacher.

I am more reflective than most teachers, meaning I think deeply about every aspect of my teaching. I think this helps me be a better teacher. I think blogging about the things I am thinking about will help me improve. I think this will also be beneficial to other teachers as well, so if you choose to follow this blog I hope you enjoy. I welcome your thoughts and input.

As you read, please remember that I feel like I struggle with writing. My thoughts may not be as clear as I want. My grammar and usage may be off. When you notice these things, please let me know so I can continue to improve. Thanks.