Guided Study — Support?

Hooray for a successful first week of school! But it seems that every first week is always successful… at least for me. The tough part is maintaining the motivation of the students until June (or at least until May, when we test!). Wait, I take that back. The tough part is maintaining the motivation of the TEACHER until June!

Anyway, over the summer, I found out I was selected to be one of the content teacher for our school’s Guided Study Program, a program geared toward supporting our freshmen and sophomores in danger of not graduating. The idea is to support them early before they become juniors and seniors, where it would be much more difficult to help them make a turn around.

Following the first day of school, the administration met with all of the teachers involved in this program, both content teachers and those who teach an actual section of Guided Study. What was supposed to be a “short” meeting turned into almost an hour, which was fine, although another teacher did mention to me yesterday that he saw me falling asleep. Oops.  But I was awake enough to grasp the two important points they were making.

Meeting Successes

1. Motivation – We will be working with the toughest population in our school (I can definitely see that in my 5th period). How did they sell it to us? “Each of you were HAND-PICKED because of your abilities to connect with students and make a difference!” They hyped us up. They praised us. They made us feel like we were the most AWESOME teachers ever. Funny though, because as much as I knew they were doing this just to make us feel good enough to welcome the challenge, IT WORKED. I really did feel I could make a difference. Maybe I learned a little something about motivation in the classroom, too. That those positive words I say, even though I feel the students think it’s part of my job to motivate them, still have an impact.

2. Support – This was interesting. Aside from motivating us, the administrators also explained that we would have a mind-blowing amount of support from the counselors and administration. If we research a technology and want to implement it into our classrooms, they said they funds to do so. They are giving us freedom to experiment and try new things, since this program is very much in an experimental phase, as well. I do commend the young admin team for being very supportive and open to experimentation and change.

My Worries…

However, one issue I did have with their whole point of support is their focus on support using technology. Don’t get me wrong. I’m a very big proponent for using technology in the classroom, especially if research supports its effectiveness in the classroom. But in the end, technology is just technology, another tool a teacher can use in his or her arsenal of teaching. It is not an end all solution to teaching students who are struggling. And in some cases, I can see it as being even counter-productive if it is not being implemented correctly.

Now, of course I’m always thinking from a math teacher’s viewpoint, but the focus of support for these students should not be the question, “What new technology can be used to support these students in learning?”. I have two Algebra I classes, each with 36+ students, and all of whom were unsuccessful in this class at least once before.

Technology vs. People Support

I would very quickly give up most of my technology for more PEOPLE support in the classrooms. And when I say PEOPLE, I mean people who understand at least basic Algebra, and that I can work closely with so that we are always on the same page.

I had just read about another teacher’s experience in team teaching, and I could see that it could definitely be a problem if you’re matched with the wrong person. However, I am constantly checking for understanding. And just in this first three days of school, working on basic arithmetic operations with integers, I find it such a task to be able to get around to each and every student to give them immediate and proper feedback (there are so many mistakes being made). Having another teacher in the classroom would definitely aid in being an extra set of eyes and legs. I’m very willing to try this out.

Utilizing an Additional Support Class

The students in the Guided Study program do have an additional Guided Study class that they are taking, and all the teachers meet about once per month. However, I’m not sure how useful this will be in helping these students succeed in my math class. What can I do other than provide these teachers with worksheets to practice and/or preview the math?

Now, yes, I am excited to teach these classes this year. As my department chair says, it will “make you stronger!” I’m also excited to be a part of the Guided Study program, but this will very much be a year of experimenting on how I could best utilize the resources provided. I still feel there is something else I need to focus on to really get these students to succeed.