social and emotional learning

In Dance's article "On Being "Hardcore," a "Hardcore Wannabe," or "Hardcore Enough", the students are living in an urban area where their lives outside of school interfere with their school lives. Many students are faced with acting a certain way outside of school in order be accepted and feel approval from their peers. Thus, those personas, and actions make their way into the school also.  Dance comments  that some teachers are afraid to teach in urban schools because there is a perception of there being more violent students than there actually are. 

I think this speaks to the needs of the students. Why is there violence in the schools to begin with? Where do these needs to be perceived as "hardcore" come from? How do we reconcile school life with home life? What can we do for the students to feel safe in school? How can we teach the students to make better choices for their lives? The students need to see that the here and now for them is not a permanent situation. The live they are living right now is not the life they will have in ten years. They need be asked, where do you want to be in ten years, instead of where do you see yourself in ten years. Students who have little hope for the future will not have positive responses when asked where they see themselves in the future. Once the students have a good view and grasp of where they want to be, we, as teachers, need to help them find a path to get there. This could be through the students core content classes, or specials. In each class a student takes, there are numerous chances to reach students emotionally and socially.  

Students who are more reconciled with their emotional selves and have positive social skills do better academically. It also sets them up for success later in life. In the case of Malik, who ended up being pushed to drop-out, could have been saved. If someone had reached out to Malik, connected with him and showed him there was every chance for him to succeed in school, they "had his back" and would stand by him when in tough situations. His disillusionment with the school system was not predetermined and if the right teacher had stepped in as a mentor, Malik may have graduated high school. 

What we really need to do is teach teachers how to practice emotional and social learning. Teachers need to be taught to actively engage the emotional and social aspects of their students lives, make lessons apply to their lives, and see every student as an individual and not the stereotype. It can be hard to connect with students, but if they see you trying to connect with them, eventually they will respond. 

  Social and emotional learning not only helps the students in their academics, and futures, but it builds lasting teachers. Teachers who feel they make a difference with their students are less likely to feel "burnt out". Social and emotional learning creates and win-win situation for all those involved. 

Week 7

This weeks readings drove home that simply "caring" superficially is not enough. We all want to reach out to our students (at least we should) and we want them to reach back. Rolón- Dow demonstrated that  building connections and trust beyond academics is essential if we want our students to respond to our care.   

I was not overly surprised at the responses received from the female students. They are by no means encouraging or positive responses, but they are honest. Maria hit it right on the nose when she said, “What I'm trying to say is that they care about the kids' school work, not their personal lives, like what happens at home” (95). We have all had teachers like that. They are the teachers who are great teachers in the classroom, but their work day begins with the first bell, ends with the last bell, and they feel unapproachable for extra help or even questions. In truth, that is teaching, but not great teaching. 

What students need are teachers who can get on their level, and make them feel like the classroom or school is their home. It takes a lot of work, but little gestures and simple acknowledgements can go a long way in building rapport with students. I was floored when Mr. Rosenfield seemed to think it was okay to ask his student, Yanira, if it she was raised in a barn. Depending on some students cultural, geographical, or financial backgrounds, they could have been raised in a barn. It is almost asking a student if they were raised in the ghetto, or a trailer park. Mr. Rosenfield probably did not mean harm with his remark, but it was insensitive  and he did not seem to understand it. Furthermore, he made assumptions about the mother’s priorities, and made Yanira look the bad guy in the situation. Is Yanira truly the problem? Could it possibly be that Mr. Rosenfield’s attitude, and insensitivity are the root of the problem? I think Mr. Rosenfield plays a large in why there is a problem with Yanira in class. 

When issues arise between students and teachers, like Yanira and Mr. Rosenfield, students begin to build a wall between themselves and the system. They stop playing “the game of school”, and reject all lessons (academic, social, political, cultural, and relational) because they believe they are not a valued member of the school community. 

Teachers need to aware of how their students view their actions, and who they are. Just because they are not adults, does not mean their opinions matter. In order for students to feel safe enough to respond to their teachers’ caring, teachers need to care about more than academics. It is easy to remember to be culturally sensitive to those who are of different ethnic backgrounds, but we also need to be aware of the cultural age difference between us teachers and our students. A sixteen year old student and a thirty-five year old teacher come from different cultures no matter the race, religion, gender, etc.