This is for my educators who try to show other educators the BIG picture: Went to a high school who just got STEM accreditation (to possibly partner) and met with 5 (3 Biology, 1 Physical Science & 1 Chemistry) teachers. One biology teacher was complaining about the kids not being able to remember the names of structures in a cell and I said (Referring back to what my Spiritual brother @Damian said to me Sunday and to a group of us just yesterday) It may be that you need to work on building relationships....she rolled her eyes & looked toward her colleague like This dude is a QUACK....I said Kids, heck people in general, need things in the context of something You should build relationships with the various organelles OR even better relate them to something they know: I always related Plant Cells to Public Schools because most high schools have kitchens, so they make their own food; while many Charter Schools usually have their food brought in from outside source (like an animal cell). Then public schools have gates & fences (like the cell wall), where many charters have minimal outside perimeter structures (cell membrane). This also helps students understand the BIG IDEA that plants make their own food, while all organisms known as animal or animal-like eat. She kinda sat up to listen, BUT I decided to gut-punch dat @zz for rolling her eyes and asked (already knowing that she prided herself on teaching a CTE elective Agri-Science class and ran the schools greenhouse). Do you teach Plant Pathology or anything about plants in any of your classes? With assertiveness and pride, she answered, Ï certainly do! OK, then answer this...(decided to tell a joke) Why did the male stamen want to pollinate the female pistil? After a few seconds, I said THINK, you are the plant guru now!!After a few more seconds, she exhaled heavily and frustratingly lamented her having no idea....I whispered, Because he liked her STYLE....Now if you are the Bio teacher and couldnt pull that answer; how do you think that kids (who may not have the interest in plants or even Biology like you) feel? She looked at administrator and blabbered...Oh, I know style is one of the structures of the pistil--I was somewhere else with that. Doesnt matter, you flunked MY quiz (dont worry I didnt say that)....We really need to work towards treating each other and what we teach these kids like it has some importance in our lives...If you wanna just learn & recite facts, go on Jeopardy! Moral of the Story: 1) Dont ever get come at me with condescension and 2) Put yourself in the other persons shoes and try empathy Dedicated to Damian and Tia and Courtney; thank you each for our talks about building and handling people, our talk about parenting middle/high school students, and our deep discussion about Life in general as well as education fro a counselor perspective (in that order).
Posted on: Wed, 04 Dec 2013 19:55:51 +0000
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