One kid at
a time.
Talked to Mrs.
Jones. Her son was causing her no end of
grief. He is a peer oriented follower
who often misses class and goes to the library where he sometimes works and he sometimes
disappears. Sometimes for days. Mr. and Mrs. Jones don’t always know where he
is and this has been going on for a year and a half. Could we please hang on to her kid for an
extra month even though he’s already been enrolled for a whole year? Social 20-1 could be the one thing he could
hang onto-if he passes, then he can take Social 30-1 and graduate from high
school. I promised we would not give up on
this kid. That’s not what we do.
Got an
email from a co-worker. “Kendra” was in
her online class but the discussions weren't working out because there were no
active students in her cohort. She really wanted to talk about some
issues. Could she be moved to another
group? Kendra has
Asperger’s and selective mutism. Talking
to people face to face? Forget it! But if she actually wants to discuss issues online, that’s progress.
Speaking of
discussions, Clinton- diagnosed with ADHD and ODD- was entering into some
online discussions. Not in the
aggressive manner we had been led to believe might happen, but in a fantastic
supportive way. And while some educators
may say there can be no discussion like face to face discussion, his
conversation about “traditions” with a classmate - spending her first
Thanksgiving without her dad-was electrifying.
I wonder if that would have happened in a face to face classroom?
Bob
called. He just wrote his final exam in
Social 30-2. What was his mark? He had written the diploma
without having taken the course. He was racing through the content and currently had 38. With 68 on the diploma he knew he only needed 32% to get his credits and graduate. Bob could be about to learn an important life
lesson.
Another phone call. A Social 30-1
student was outraged that his paper on the relevance of Marxism had received a
poor grade. Stalin failed so how could Marx be relevant? A heated discussion ensued- had Jamal
contacted me to complain yet? No...and the next day I found out they had had a very good discussion with
some deep learning- on both sides.
A call about another student, suffering from social anxiety and an eating
disorder. She was seeing an outside
support worker and had access to a school counsellor but she would not talk to
anyone on the phone. Mom was
distraught. How can we help?
Well, we can listen. We can remember this student’s particular circumstances in our assignment feedback and communications. And, like a good parent, we can wait- patiently and supportively-as she works through her issues. Because sometimes
that is all you can do.
I may work
with my students online. I may never see even one of the dozens of students on
my class list. But I work with every one
of them one at a time. My students are
not a nameless mob lost in cyberspace.
Every one of them is real to me.
As a professional I would be derelict in my duties if I believed that the
education I offer my students is a pale second in comparison with face to face
instruction. In fact for many of my
students, it is the only instruction that will work.
