Students Oppose Schooling, Not Education.

Seguin High School is a very large school that appears to be losing many of its students due to scheduling chaos and pre-conceived notions about the students by many of the staff.  How can students who are placed haphazardly into classes – filled to over-capacity and into the wrong placement- feel like their education is valued by the staff at the school?  Many of the examples Valenzeula shares from her time at the school are a sad commentary on teaching that is not geared toward student learning, but on teachers which are convinced students are to blame for their lack of learning.   I was appalled that a teacher would say in front of his students, as Mr. Johnson did, “… Look at them, they’re not going anywhere.  I can tell you right now, a full quarter of these students will drop out of school come May.”   I know from experience teachers can get frustrated with their classes, but negative comments about students should never be okay.  

Many schools lack resources and have overcrowding, but I think, as Valenzuela mentions, there need to be teacher to teacher connections to help teachers discuss ideas for improving classrooms and student learning and to discuss how to help students be successful in their school.  The teacher to student connections are often what help keep the students in school (or sometimes just in particular classes).   Valenzuela’s examples of teachers that were liked by their students (Ms. Aranda, Ms. Novak, Mr. Lundgren) demonstrate that connection and how important caring was for students.

            I was very interested in the student perspectives from both papers, and tried to compare them with my own students’ backgrounds.   As their teachers, we have to try to get students to see value in something (education) that is often very foreign to them – separate from the life they have at home or on the streets -  and put it in context with what their future could hold if they break from the cycle they may currently be in (whether it be drugs, gangs, welfare/poverty, abuse, young parenthood).   This takes time, and so many of our students drop out before we can reach them.   There is pressure from other friends not in school, or sometimes depression, and sometimes situations at home, that prevent students from attending.    Many of our students have already been unsuccessful at their previous schools and are prepared to fail again, and we need to change that mind-set, but we need to keep them coming to school first.   And of course it is a challenge to keep all students interested in all classes all day.  We have a caring environment and caring staff at my school, but it takes time to form these bonds, as Mr. Sosa stated in Valenzeula’s paper.   I need them to stay in school:  Who can teach me to make really good taquitos?