Expectations

The idea of adapting teaching your teaching style is not new information, but it is the way that teachers did it that is different; the refusal to accept failure. This almost seemed like a 'duh' moment while reading. of course you don't want your students to fail, but as I read it became clear that many students were not learning because they were allowed not to try. Excuses were accepted, allowed. I appreciated Carter's approach to interest his students in writing. Carter eased them into it, introducing music that students could connect to and then having them act it out and finally putting the story into words. By doing other activities it allows for a student to feel out what the characters are thinking, how they are feeling, and helps make it easier to put words on a paper. Something that I noted about the teachers from both case studies (Carter and Miss M.) although obviously wanted their students to succeed, presented themselves as professional, not as the students friend. They were almost cold, although not, in their teaching style. They just wanted their students to succeed. The story of Donny and his mother made me wonder at the school system in general; Donny's mother tried so hard to contact the school, to voice her concerns for her son and nothing was done. There cannot be an acceptance of failure in students because of their background or it is just "to be expected."