This section of the article really caught my attention, "...teachers need to know something about their students' family makeup, immigration history, favorite activities, concerns, and strengths. Teachers should also be aware of their students' perceptions of the value of school knowledge, their experiences with different subject matters in everyday settings..."
The reason why this is so interesting is because last semester I thought I knew my students' backgrounds and thoughts. Wow, was I wrong. Our school offers a poetry class, and when I attended a few sessions I was blown away. I learned things about my students that would have definitely helped me when teaching them. It answered many questions as to why they couldn't make it to class on time, why they would fall asleep in class, why school was not important to them, etc. It was towards the end of the trimester when I learned all this, but I hope my schedule for next year will allow me to allocate some time for this.
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Hmmm... I've been thinking about the last line of your post. What does it mean to get to know our students, and is this necessarily something we need to allocate time for? In other words, does this mean that getting to know our students is a separate activity from "teaching?" How do we integrate knowing each other as human beings with content? Great observations and personal connections with the material. I'm enjoying reading your blog. (And yes, the other coaches are reading too, and they'll respond soon as well!)
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