Do You Know My Students?

Do You Know My Students?

I sometimes wonder if other teachers have students like mine.  First of all, I should point out that the school where I work is located in an obscure part of California with the highest poverty rate in the state.  This distinction is accompanied by a myriad of challenges that school-age children bring into the classroom.  One of the most noticeable characteristics of our students is their lack of readiness for school at any grade level.  Rampant behavioral issues, unhealthy attitudes towards school and high transience are daily challenges that face the dedicated teachers at my school.  It’s not uncommon for a student who is asked why he or she is not working to give an apathetic response such as “I don’t care” or “I don’t like to read”.

Do you know any of my students?  As a special education teacher, all of my students have an identified learning disability or cognitive deficit that interferes with their ability to access the core curriculum.  That usually means they have difficulty understanding or remembering what they hear or see.  In some cases, their ability to analyze, conceptualize or generalize has been compromised for some unknown reason.

The majority of my students do not come to school with a wealth of knowledge and personal experiences that can help them to understand their lessons.  Many of the kids do not speak or hear any English at home and respond in English only when called on by their teacher in class.  Unfortunately, many of them spend most weekends, school holidays and summer vacations staying at home watching cartoons, playing video games or watching movies in their native language.  Students who speak English-only don’t seem to have much advantage over non-English-speakers in this neck of the woods.

Necessity is the mother of invention

I suppose this proverbial saying aptly describes how Intelligent Intervention came into being.  The standard curriculum materials were not only uninteresting and unappealing, but also lacked a strong language development component.  The impoverished home environments of my students left many of them with minimal expressive and receptive language skills.  So, when I decided to write my own literacy program, my first priority was to include a strong oral language component.  I also needed a powerful hook to snag even the most reluctant learners.  Of course, every child loves cartoons, et voilà !

Now, when students are referred to me for academic intervention, instead of complaining “Do we have to do this?”, they tend to ask questions like, “Are we going to start lesson 6 today?”