Success.

So, the trials and tribulations of being a teacher.  I have four students in one of my classes who are very much below average, and the chances of them passing the course are very slim.  This is not good on many levels, one we need to keep students in the program, and two, if they do not finish this diploma, they will not have a chance to do the Chinese exams, leaving them with very few options.

I have been struggling about what to do, how to group them, who to group them with. How do I engage these learners? Do we keep them in the program and try to get their marks up, or move them back into the Chinese school full time?  I have found that there is a sense of commrodery between the students, and they will help all of those who are struggling, and hide it so that the teacher does not find out until a test that one of the group members has no idea what is going on. This has been a huge problem for me.

In Ontario, you group struggling students with those who can help them, so that they have a someone to help them understand what is going on. There is extra help for students with learning disabilities, there are tests to find out what the LD is. Here, I am alone. There is nothing to help these students but me. Here, grouping the struggling student with someone who can help them doesn't work, because instead of helping the student, the student who needs help relies on everyone else to do the work for them, and they will.

So. I took a chance.  I decided to group all four of my struggling students together.  I didn't like the idea, because I thought they would see what I was doing.  They would see that I put everyone who is having a tough time in the same group, and feel singled out. It goes against everything we learn in school, however something in my heart told me that this was the way to go.  My hope was, that these students will have know one to rely on but each other, and they will have to step up and do the work.

So, Friday, I moved the last of my "struggling" students together and felt a little sick to my stomach, worried that they were going to either, one, shut down completely, or two feel shamed.  What happened couldn't have made me more happy. I was having a conference with one of the students who I moved into this group about his marks (report cards are coming out), and I asked him how he felt about being moved into the new group.  He said "Ms. Killens, I LOVE my new group, I felt that in all the other groups I've been in, I could not give my opinion because I was not sure if it was right, and now, in this new group I feel very comfortable to talk, and I think I will work harder in this group."  I was SOOOO happy.  I watched this group for the remainder of the period, and although they were speaking Chinese (which is NOT allowed in the classroom), they were getting the work done.  All four students were talking, writing down answers, working together to come up with the information. They were engaged!! They finally felt comfortable enough in their group to work together to come up with the answers because they are on an equal playing field.  This works in China because students want to get a good mark, they want to be successful, it is expected.  I'm not sure I would do the same thing in an Ontario classroom, or if there would be the same outcome, but this is a different culture.  The students are different, the way they learn is different, and I need to adjust how I teach to best help them. I hope these students continue to be successful in this arrangement, and their confidence in this program increases. Big dreams I know, but I am choosing to believe that this is what will happen.

In the end I am glad I followed my heart, because if I listened to logic, and all of the things we learned in school, I would have never seen these students engaged more than I have seen since the beginning of the year.

Success this week looked like four struggling students engaged in their learning and Ms. Killens being very excited at the possibility of turning their marks around.