I remember very vividly and incident that occurred while I was a high school student in Germany with regards to class participation and expectations. While in Germany, I was put together with the same group of students all day. One of their required courses was Physics 3, meaning this was the third year of physics for these students. I however, had not taken a single physics class in high school! What was I supposed to do? As I sat in class the first day, having absolutely no clue what the teacher was saying, I knew I had to approach him to see what could be done so I could be a part of the class.
He had a very simple response: Sit in the back of the class, don't talk, and ride out the semester without bothering the rest of the students. No expectations, no assignments, no grade! I was left to my own imagination during that period every day. At the time, I was relieved because I knew there as no way I could grasp what they were learning. Looking back on the incident, I wish I would have been more outspoken. I wish some kind of accommodation could have been made. Better yet, I should have gone to my counselor and determined if there was another class I could have attended during that period. How fascinating would it have been to attend a real German school class on European History of the 20th Century? I would have loved the opportunity to study World War I and World War II from the German perspective. Even if that class would have been at a 5th grade level, I still would have learned more than I did in Physics!!
The moral of this story is two fold. First, as a student, be your own advocate. If you feel you are not receiving the proper treatment or a fair chance, speak up and let the adults around you know your expectations. Second, as a teacher, understand that every student is valuable and can contribute to the classroom. While I may not have been able to grasp all the content of the class, I could have acted as assistant on experiments or as I mentioned, found another class to be a full participant in. Never leave a student behind because of your pre-conceived notion of what they can handle.
Please, please don't tell me you got an "A" in Physics!
ReplyDeleteOf course, it wouldn't surprise me if you did . . . wouldn't that have been the simplest way out for the teacher? You make no waves with the teacher; the teacher makes no waves with you.
And, sadly, many students would be delighted to have been given the charge to sit at the back, cause no trouble, and get a grade.
But I think you already see that such a scenario cannot happen in your own classroom (and I highly doubt it ever would)!