So, today I officially lost my optimism in the future of humanity
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I had to share this somewhere, with someone.
As some of you know, I'm a teacher in the 8th grade. We've been working on research papers lately, which every year is kind of a hassle. There's so much work involving source citations, finding materials, etc, that what is usually a difficult thing becomes a bit impossible at times, even when I'm dealing with top-notch students. Today, though, something happened that just completely floored me.
Now, let me say I'm usually very protective of my students. I might have strong words with them from time to time, but I realize that many of them come from homes and situations I couldn't possibly ever imagine. And to top it all off, I have them for one year, and I have no control over what's happened to them the 7 years or so before they came to me. Keeping those things in mind, it's easy to understand that from time to time my students don't have the same knowledge base and level of understanding as I think they should have. I try my best for patience and understanding in these situations, and generally the knowledge gap is easy enough to rectify.
That being said, however, there are certain things that every 8th grader should be able to do coming into my class, plain and simple. Today, however, I was floored. One of my students is doing his paper on Blackbeard the Pirate, who's real name was Edward Teach. He came over with one of my encyclopedias and informed me he was unable to find Edward Teach anywhere in the encyclopedia. I asked him what he was looking under, and he said "Edward." This, while frustrating, happens from time to time. Soem students have never really had to use encyclopedias, and don't know you have to look for the last name of a person. They should know that, but it happens. I told him he needed to look under "Teach" instead, and he started to look through the same book. I was a little piqued at this point, and then he looked at me and said "It's not in here. I can't find Edward or Teach anywhere in this encyclopedia." I then looked at the book he was holding.
He was looking through the Ms.
I'm sorry, but ?? I was, for once in my classroom career, completely and utterly speechless. To not know how to find someone in the encyclopedia, that's one thing. Frustrating and something they SHOULD know, but it's happened enough that I get some students haven't learned that basic skill set. But to not even realize that they're in the wrong book completely? That the "M" section of the encyclopedia would have nothing about "Edward" or "Teach?"
I'm glad to say, though, that I recovered and was able to talk him through it, so in the end he was able to find what he was looking for. But . . . how can I get these kids to move forward when something as basic as an understanding of the alphabet escapes them? In the 8th grade?
Now, I know some of you will see this and think, "Ah, what a terrible teacher! Not giving his students any benefit of the doubt, and then posting his frustrations here!" I assure you, that is not the case, but seriously, isn't this something that should've have been taught years before this student ever came to me?
And, in the same class, another student spent five minutes or so looking for her person, before she realized she was looking in the dictionary. grrrr.
The uploaded song bears no relation to this story at all. I just like it.
Comments (27)
That is pretty hilarious... thank you for sharing. I was in 8th grade not terribly long ago, I remember it well, although I try my best not to. It was a difficult age. I don't think I ever got my T's and M's mixed up though.
Great song from one of their best albums!
Kids... my teenage daughter can have sex, get pregnant, have a baby, and yet, she couldn't spell to save her life. Ignorance and idiocy have become the status-quo these days. And it's not all kids, but they (the system) spends more time trying to socially engineer our kids rather than teaching them the basics of reading, writing and arithmetic. They don't teach phonics anymore and some of the math that my 7 and 9 year old brings home is retarded. I don't get it. My seven year old (Matthew) brought his first Dr. Seuss book home today, Green Eggs And Ham, I've read those books to my kids for years now and they are so clever and helpful. My son tore right through it. Other books, that contain less information, are often harder for him to read! It's the dumbing down of our society... ignorance is bliss or so they say.
Btw... "Soem students have never really had to use encyclopedias" just thought I'd point that out for ya! ;-)
Honeydoll, I don't know if "hilarious" is the word I'd use, but you're right. It is a difficult age, and one I'd never ever go back to. And thanks for making me feel old! :-)
Eric, I agree. Dumbing down, social engineering, call it whatever you want, we are raising a generation of kids who are taught from the very beginning that everything they do is right, and they are special. And by "special" I mean "better than everyone else." Well, I'm sorry, but if everyone is special, than no one is. I have a classroom full of kids who feel great about themselves, and yet are incapable of doing basic things.
the American education system is getting worse and worse and by no fault of the teachers on the front line. my aunt is a teacher and i have friends who are teachers and they all try so hard. but sometimes the rules actually prevent them from providing the best education. something needs to be done, or America will become the weakest country in the world...
Agreed. I have so much paperwork and extra stuff that has absolutely nothing to do with my classroom, that I have little to no time left for actual preparation and teaching. And things just keep getting worse.
and this is why I make my students look up each word from their spelling list in the dictionary. Schools teach to the tests, and things like learning how to look something up has become a lost art. Try this tomorrow, ask the kids to write their name in cursive.........I am betting only half the class can do it. Sorry, I will get off my teachers soap box now, carry on
no, you're right. And I know for a fact many of my kids can't write cursive. And as for looking something up . . . most of my kids honestly do not show the ability to think for themselves, or figure anything out. Basically, they've gotten so used to all the answer being given to them they don't know how to find them on their own. IMO, this is the whole point of education in the first place. It's not what you know that gets you through life, it's being able to learn what you need to without having it spoonfed to you.
No chance you can move down to my school district is there? I could honestly promise you you'll never have to worry about black ice or subzero temperatures ever again!
Chuck that is some sad commentary right there. *th grade and you would think that they would know better. It's not your fault, it's the clowns before you that let these kids down.
Honestly I find no humuor in this, and that's not to disparge your feelings. This story is just sad to me.
chris, my feelings exactly. I'm not even sure if I can blame the teachers he had before me. Sure, at some point a long time ago he should've learned it, but who's to say it wasn't taught and he just chose not to listen? And next year, the 9th grade teacher might just as easily blame me, and in some way he'd/she'd be right.
I don't think it's possible to blame any one thing. And to lavish guilt on "the system" doesn't work, because ultimately the system is made up of so many parts that it can't possibly stick to anything. Is it his, for not listening? Parents, for not seeing what their child was failing at? Teachers? All of it? That's probably closest to the truth, but I'm really afraid that this is an indication of what's to come. I'm even seeing it at the college level. I teach the same thing, in pretty much the same way, as I have for the past nine years in my night class, and I'm seeing students less able to grasp the concepts, less willing to do the work, and more willing than ever to find shortcuts and try to slide by.
I'm afraid we're raising a nation of fools, honestly.
Don't worry it's the same everywhere Groon, we're raising a generation of fools!. Here's a new SCIAM article on the importance of free play in children, one of the reasons the new generation is getting dumber might be this?
I clearly remember having that problem in 5th grade.
Sometimes young minds have trouble grasping the simplest concepts.
I recall my teacher trying to humiliate me into understanding.
Ah, fun times
This is sad. I'm glad that children have teachers like you and Kevin. There's still hope.
no, there isn't. Give up!
Gotcha!
We are doomed....
Thanks to the internet we're living in a world of instant gratification; I think "less willing to do the work, and more willing than ever to find shortcuts" pretty much sums it up. If you want to know something, Google knows and Wikipedia is always right. Both are great resources, but should only be one of the many tools used to gain knowledge.
that is indeed sad, Chuck. i have one question, though, just out of curiosity ... was it ignorance or a lack of sobriety? were those students perhaps unable to think straight at the time? i guess, in a twisted way, i am hoping they were out of it (drunk, high, hungry, etc.) rather than completely clueless.
hahaha, laughing at derhmark's and poe's comment
i just really like the song. why are there so many M's in this damned encyclopedia? seems abit baised to me...
I wonder if perhaps the kid simply didn't realize that encyclopedias are composed of separate, alphabetized volumes? The concept of a book that isn't fully contained between its two covers might be new to an 8th-grader...
I am a librarian and this doesn't surprise me at all. When I was a kid we used to have library skills class in which we would learn alphabetizing, using the dictionary, how to use a table of contents and an index, etc. Now most library/media centres are run by volunteers and/or turned into computer labs. Just recently a teacher brought her class to my (public) library and said she probably won't bring her class to the library next year because they can find all they need with Google. Sigh.
And those students will be the poorer for it!
inrumford: I'd like to say that I have never resorted to the tactic of humiliation, but that would probably not be 100% true. Sometimes even the best teachers reach the end of their rope sometimes, and I certainly wouldn't count myself among "the best." Still, in this case I'm glad to say I did not.
democlez: I think you have hit one of the nails on your head with your comment about instant gratification. If they can type something in and get an answer in three seconds, why bother to do the work? I can completely see the logic in that argument, but still it chafes me that many of my students have no idea what it means to actually take the time to work hard for something.
Ilay: drunk or high was not the issue in this case, I'm certain. Not that we don't have those problems even in middle school, but this student I think was just honestly clueless.
zarpex: an excellent point, and one that I think carries some weight. My only concern, then, is did he not notice the twenty volumes on either side of the one he picked? That suggests other problems.
darmuzz: that is just sad. Going back to what I said to democlez, it's great to have the internet at your fingertips, but it is just a means to an end. It shouldn't be treated as the end itself.
What democlez said. Sad, no? But there is hope: the dedicated teacher. Thanks to you, Kev, and all the others out there, Groon. And thanks for streaming a treat from Stereolab. It really brightened my day; then again, their music usually does.
so far this is the only album I have by them, but I'm starting to think it's time to expand on that. A lot.
Never give up! These kids need you...I can totally relate being an art teacher to a population of underserved primary schoolers...some of them have never held a pencil, paintbrush or squished clay in their tiny paws before they got to school...but I say that's why you're there, you taught that kid something, even tho it appears frighteningly basic and woefully too late, you were there. and that matters.
Again; I really suspect the kid's confusion was probably to do with encyclopedias consisting of more than one book. If he went for the "M" instead of any of the others, it's likely because he assumed they were all identical. It just makes more sense than thinking he didn't know the alphabet. We all make mistakes. Well, not me, mind you, but seriously, folks; I think this was a misunderstanding of a misunderstanding.
"...I have no control over what's happened to them the 7 years or so before they came to me..."
But you have every opportunity to control what happens to them in the future. To be honest, I think you did the right thing if indeed you regained your control enough to guide the student without showing the frustration you felt inside.Who knows? Someday that student may recall the patient teacher who helped him when he most needed an alphabet lesson.
You're working on the big picture Chuck. Good on ya.
ongoingly, John, thanks for the kind words and encouragement. In the end, I don't know how much good I did from this one incident, but I guess it is something.
zarpex, I think you're probably on to something there. I'm not sure if it's a better issue there, or just a different one.