Week+7

= Who Are Your Students? =


 * __Who are your students, and how do you know? Lecture presented by Tanya Fitzgerald__**

This lecture opened with a list of names and some 2 or 3 digit numbers. We were told that this list was presented to a teacher by his principal; he assumed that they were his students IQs. The teacher worked throughout the year trying to improve on his students IQs. By the end of the year he had the students retested and was surprised by the results. Some students with low IQ’s at the start of the year increased dramatically, some stayed the same and some of the higher IQs even dropped! The teacher was confused by the results and showed them to his principal. The principal told the teacher that the original list was a list of locker numbers. The point of the opening slide (and the rest of the lecture) was not to make assumptions about our students. For the record I looked at the list and thought that they were heights in centimeters!

I really wanted to include this slide in its entirety because it has links to other discussion we’ve had about what a teacher is – what their responsibility is etc.

 To make the sixth point a reality the preceding points must be achieved. How can you make a difference in the lives of those with which you come into contact if you haven’t created a relationship with boundaries and respect? If teachers simply taught and didn’t model any good social behaviours or provide a good role model then they are at risk of being replaced with robots. The classroom is where young people learn how to interact with each other, hopefully developing the skills required in later years of education and beyond.

A simple point in getting to know your students is getting to know their names. And spelling them correctly and pronouncing them accurately. From first hand experience of a student whose first name was (and is) constantly spelt incorrectly and whose last name was often mispronounced this is a small courtesy that has a big impact. The teachers who said, “My that’s an unusual name, tell me how to pronounce it.” And tried until they had perfected it garnered so much more respect than the teachers who didn’t go to that effort.

As you get to you know students you gather information (don’t assume the information) to help build your understanding of your student. This will aid you as you build a rapport with them, help you to include them in a meaningful way, to understand any reasons for anxiety (due to past or current difficulties in life) and to determine any extra support needed for the student overcome challenges.

Not all students will be alike and some may have different educational backgrounds to their classmates. This is particularly important when you are considering prior knowledge when you are setting lessons. Students with disrupted schooling may be behind their peers (or even ahead if they have been educated outside the classroom or under a different system and have had the opportunity to advance). Children can have their schooling disrupted for a variety of reasons: prolonged illnesses requiring hospitalization, students from refugee background, family circumstances including having to move home often, social circumstances affecting the greater community (think about the students who were affected by the bushfires in February) and the list goes on.

In concluding the lecture Tanya discussed the diversity and the complexities in our classrooms today. In creating a welcoming environment in our classrooms we should be encouraged to celebrate individuals, differences and our own uniqueness, as well as out similarities.

Summary by Tegan de la Torre

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**Home** | Week 1 - Sir Ken Robinson "Ideas Worth Spreading" | Week 2 - Classroom Management| Week 3 - So You Want To Be A Teacher? | Week 4 - Planning for Learning | Week 5 - Models of Teaching and Learning| Week 6 - Teacher Code of Ethics and Code of Conduct | Week 8 - Issues from the coalface - VIt and planning