Support and Advocacy

Over the past week, I've had the chance to shadow two seventh grade boys.  I think it's important for me to reflect on these two experiences as a future middle school teacher.  My first shadow student attended a Chicago Public School and was quiet, but obviously wanted to be part of the group.  Being a woman, I'm not as aware with the pressure young boys feel to be part of a group, but it was easy for me to see that he felt somewhat on the outside trying to get in.  The other characteristic that struck me was his desire to please his teachers.  These two struggles came to a head when he was caught in his Math class sharing his homework with a friend.  The Math teacher went crazy, but I'll save my opinions of her teaching (which I disagree with on every level) for another time.  This poor kid; he's trying to fit in with friends, and please his teacher.  We all make mistakes, and he's facing such an uphill battle at this school; poverty, gangs, violence, and most kids not caring at all about school.  And yet he is at school, doing his work, and doing well!  Students like him should be told at every class, every day how much their work and effort is appreciated.  Instead, the only real interaction I saw was him get yelled at by his Math teacher.  What is he learning? His hard work isn't noticed, just his mistakes.  At some point he will just stop trying, because what is the point? 

What I observed at my second shadow visit was almost the complete opposite.  A suburban middle school with many resources and excellent teachers, the whole atmosphere of this school is vastly different from the Chicago public school.  Yet if I take these two boys and sit them next to each other outside of school, they have many of the same characteristics; they both want to please their teachers and do well, and they both want to fit in with friends.  Yet the boy at this school was told often that he was doing well, that his answers were on track.  He had extracurricular activities that raised his self-esteem and gave him a sense of self.  There were no issues with cheating among any of his classmates because every student was expected to work hard and be accountable for their learning.  And finally, he was aware that I was shadowing him, and was proud to be chosen as a shadow student and tell me about his school and classes.  The boy from the Chicago Public school was most likely never aware that I was shadowing him; can you imagine if he was told ahead of time, and the honor and pride he could have felt, as the suburban boy did?

So, what is the take away from this experience? It's easy to write these differences off as a lack of resources, and walk away; the CPS school will never be the suburban school, and we can't expect the same from those kids.  This is so wrong! These two boys were both hard workers, and both cared about school and succeeding.  The difference is that the student at CPS didn't have anywhere near the level of support or advocacy as the suburban student.  Obviously funding and resources would help, but we as teachers also need to be responsible for our students.  We need to notice and acknowledge what our students are going through and appreciate when they work hard.  We need to hold all of our students to a high standard of learning, and support and advocate for them so they can reach that standard.  Because they can reach it.  They believe it, and we need to believe in them.