The Power of Positivity

Teaching is kind of a funny profession. There are so many kids out there that need a quality education, because after all, what is the future of our country without well-informed, active citizens? However, this requires a special type of person to lead them that way. Unfortunately, there simply are not enough great teachers out there. So the question is -- why?

Apart from all the things that you probably think I'm going to say (long hours, low pay, etc.) I think that at its core, there aren't enough great teachers because new teachers get overwhelmed. A lot of the time, new teachers can only get jobs in the worst schools because these teachers are seen as unorganized, inexperienced and naive regarding their profession. What happens is these teachers have a terrible experience teaching, with all the things that make bad schools into what they are -- bad leadership, no community, low test scores, behavior problems, and so on. What happens next is predictable: teachers hate the kids, their job, the administration, and then they quit. And a new teacher is hired in their place. And most likely, the same thing happens all over again. This, in a nutshell, is how the Achievement Gap was formed and is sustained, from my very limited vantage point on it.

One of the things that I have realized recently is that when dealing with "children who we love the most" (read: the brats) positivity can go a long way. Take for example, a scholar at APA who I'm going to call Trent, for no other reason than I'm excited about how the new Cleveland Browns' running back Trent Richardson has looked this year. OK, maybe he's on an 0-4 team but he has run with passion, strength and quickness on that team and is a source of hope, which the Browns haven't had in a long time. Yes, I'm excited about an 0-4 football team. No, I don't want to talk about it.

Anyway, Trent has a lot going on at home. He is dealing with a mother who has recently fallen ill, and it has had clear effects on how he acts in school. Every day for the first month or so, Trent has come in without any sort of regard for respect of adults. He doesn't respond well to an adult presence at all, and is easily irritated when an adult even will try to help him with schoolwork. Needless to say, re-directions and consequences are a mess. Trent often "blows up" in class, despite many discussions between Trent and his teachers about what he could do differently and how to keep small issues small issues instead of turning them into big issues. This issue is compounded by a lack of adult presence at home, that we know of. Phone calls home are unanswered so we don't even know if an adult is aware of what's going on at school.

This is a situation that would drive many first-year teachers crazy. Hell, it would throw a lot of 20 year vets crazy. It's almost a nightmare situation, although Trent doesn't yell out frequently in class. It could be worse. But still, it's not good. For the first month, Trent has always been on my mind, and I've tried to find ways to help. Still, it's so frustrating to just want to help and being pushed away, especially with everything that is on the line in these schools.¹

After about a month of pure frustration, I could tell that Trent was getting the better of me. He was changing my mood every day when I came in, and I was constantly watching him in class to monitor behavior as opposed to teaching. I realized that this was not going to fly, so I tried something different. I tried to kill Trent with kindness.

Something new that my host teacher and I have introduced into class within the past week is something called "Homework Heroes." Every day, we go through homework and pick out what we think is the "best" one. This is really just a judgement call, in which we look for professionalism, full and complete work, and clear, correct answers. There are two Homework Heroes per class, and if you are selected as a Homework Hero, you get to wear one of these AWESOME FoamHeads from my host teacher and my respective universities (Ohio State and University of Minnesota) for the rest of class.

Yes, they definitely are that cool.²

Believe it or not, this has actually been a huge source of inspiration to do homework for our scholars. Since we've introduced Homework Heroes, we have seen a lot more buy-in to homework, which is awesome.

When picking our third set of Homework Heroes, I decided to give the Ohio State FoamHead to Trent, who had won the hat deservingly, doing all the things we would want our scholars to do on their homework. Now, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nearly pissing myself as I went over to  hand Trent his FoamHead. There were a variety of things that could have happened here. Trent could have thrown the hat, spit in it, or even simply mocked it, which could have ruined all the momentum we had built in establishing these hats as desirable.

As we called our the day's HHs, there was a confused murmur among everyone in the class when I called Trent's name. I don't think anyone saw it coming. As I went over to hand Trent the hat, I saw something I hadn't all year: a smile. Trent was so excited that someone had finally focused on something positive that he had done -- or at least this is what I'm telling myself. Either way, Trent did not show ANY negative behavior for that class, stayed on task, and had one of his best classes of the year to that point. Even after class, he asked me questions about the hat, what it was and why I loved Ohio State so much. I think I might have even recruited a little bit for OSU that day, even if it was by accident.³

So many times, "problem students" are only shown negativity and re-direction from teachers, which ultimately hurts everyone and benefits no one. I think that it's so important to show scholars that you pay attention to everything they do -- not just the negative. Showing a scholar that you appreciate the things that they do well can make all the difference in determining your experience as a teacher. Notice that you have to SHOW a scholar that you appreciate them, not tell them. These are two very different things. Just something to think about.

Although Trent's behavior has started to slip a bit since the middle of last week, I now know one strategy that I can try to correct poor behavior that has worked before. It is certainly not the only way to do things, and it definitely won't work with every tough situation, but it worked for this one and it will probably work for others too. That's a minor victory that's good enough for me to keep going.

Good vibes, y'all. Keep 'em coming.


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FOOTNOTES!
1 ^↩See previous post.
2 ^↩Side note: Is a Gopher the same thing as a squirrel? I thought they looked more like Prairie Dogs? This has been bothering me way too much every time I look at that maroon and gold mess of a mascot.
3 ^↩Hey E. Gordon, let's talk commission....