"You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink."
-Old English Proverb
Some of my colleagues are in the doldrums right now because of students who just don't seem to care about their work.
Yep, they are in the doldrums. Their sails are slack. They don't feel that their boats are moving.
These are very involved, caring, innovative teachers. They do project based learning. They provide frequent, meaningful feedback. They give students choices. Still, they are faced with students who just don't care and who just won't do any work.
You can make the water as great as possible. You can put Kool-Aid in it. You can put crushed ice in it. You can even float a mint leaf on the top. You can give the kids a straw. You can let them pick the straw. You can let them put the Kool-Aid in the water. You can let them choose the flavor. You can use an electric mixer to mix the Kool-Aid in the water (but be careful with that!) You can call their parents and tell them their kid won't drink the water.
Some kids just won't do it. Period.
You lead everyone to the water and celebrate those who drink right away. You prod and poke at the ones who won't drink; you pull all your tricks out of your hat to get them to drink, but if they won't, you can't blame yourself.
Some horses just don't realize how much they are missing by staying thirsty.
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2 comments:
Pam,
I completely reject the notion that we have students who don't care. They may be good at hiding their caring from us and maybe even themselves, but still they care.
I implore any teacher who thinks their students don't care to dig deeper into the bag of tricks. Switch to a different set; maybe showing that we will not give up will be enough for a child.
If any student, for even a second, thinks that we've given up on them then we have failed them.
Think of the "don't care kids" as the ultimate challenge of what a team of teachers incapable. Make it happen.
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