Low expectations. Perhaps there is no greater cause of the achievement gap and no subtler threat to low-income students than the low expectations thrust upon them from the moment they enter the world.
I teach English at a Washington, D.C. Public High School. With a school enrollment that consists of 99% African American students who all eat for free – society does not expect much from us. Indeed, that low expectation is met. In 2009, only 17% of our students were proficient in Reading. 15% were proficient in math. When I talk with other teachers and other community members about my school, they have never heard of it. When I tell someone the location of my school, I often am told how “bad” of a neighborhood it is. When I walk into my school building and the main office is scrambling to find people to cover the classes of teachers who…
As a first year English teacher, I grapple with what texts to use in my class everyday. Is this text too difficult? What are my students’ frustration levels? What vocabulary will they need to know in order to ensure comprehension? Is this text too easy for the more advanced students? Is this something that is…
read more »
As an English teacher, slang finds it’s way into my classroom and into my students’ papers on a regular basis. In my grad classes, we have often discussed the differences between Standard English (SE) and African American Vernacular English (AAVE) – more commonly known as Ebonics. Is there a “right” or “correct” English language? How…
read more »One of my students made up a missing assignment – the “Where I’m From” poem. A wonderfully nice and smart student who I have come to know a lot better this semester (he was switched out of my classroom after the first month of school because of schedule changes) and I am so glad he…
read more »In my ongoing discussion in my head, I consider the causes and contributors to the achievement gap. What singular factor causes the most damage? What forces are in our locus of control and what forces are not? What could good policy or good leaders do to close the achievement gap? Often times, we blame a…
read more »At the end of a Teach For America Corps Member’s two year experience, we will be asked one question: Based on your experiences, what do you think are the biggest contributors to the achievement gap? There is no doubt that the reasons for the achievement gap are multifold and complex. Nonetheless, at the halfway mark…
read more »I was watching the new Star Trek movie this passed weekend (forced against my will) and it got me thinking. The movie was not necessarily deep or moving, however, I was struck by a simple idea that became a powerful teaching force. The idea of believing that something is possible. (WARNING SPOILERS!) In the movie…
read more »It’s the start of a new semester. New semester. New students. New relationships. On the second day, I dedicated a day to “Where I’m From…” poems. These poems are without limits and strict rules. All I wanted to know was what was important to my students as they have grown up. What were they from? …
read more »Something amazing happened in my 9th grade English classroom yesterday. Something brilliant. Something noteworthy. My scholars read silently and independently for 20 minutes. As a first year teacher at a comparatively “difficult” school I have often wondered and doubted my abilities to manage a classroom effectively. Yesterday’s class proved to me that not only are…
read more »I have been a teacher for only 5.5 months but I want to share with you the first secret to success as a teacher: love your students; love your students no matter what. It seems like an easy assumption – of course, any good teacher will love his or her students – but in reality,…
read more »
Teach For Us thanks our national sponsor for its generous support
